Need truck spec to buy

don't by a Volvo,,lots of problems with them no resale and you will be stuck going to Volvo dealers paying high dollar flat rate labor for work get the KW ,,you should have no problem getting 6+mpg with the KW and it will pull hills very good,,

 

KW has a 50 HP advantage and 100-150 ft lbs extra torque over the volvo...and the 3.36 gearing will pull hills slightly better than 3.25, which will pull better than the 3.08's. In other words, if you want to climb those hills, the KW is more apt to do it.

Ability to get serviced/repaired on the road is another thing in the KW'ks favor.

 

I go to LA every week with a 15 year old truck that is not CARB compliant. I will not buy a new truck until someone with a badge and a gun tells me I can no longer come into their state with my truck.

 

I ran reefer with a similar spec truck.

2008 T660, 475/1850 C15, 18 speed with 3.25 gear. And like you, I was always near gross,.. many times over gross if I didnt watch my fuel.

I believe the 1650 vs 1850 torq difference is where your lugging up the hills. Mine lugged a bit too,.. but for the most part it did well. I ran coast to coast from NH to Cali,.. running the gauntlet of i80 out Sacramento up into the New England area. Heading west I usually averaged about 6 mpg,.. heading east I would get 6.3 mpg.

Personally,.. given the 2 choices you have above,.. I would go with the T660 and ISX. The stronger torq and 3.36 ratio should allow you 6.5 - 7 mpg and climb the hills a bit better than your current CAT spec. That and not sure how much experience you have with Cummins,.. but the Cummins jake holds much better than the CAT jake and this is coming from a CAT guy.

Also,.. and this is just me,.. but I need to be able to row my own gears. I think the Volvo may give you better economy with the Ishift,.. but for how years do you plan to run the truck? The Ishift is just something else to break down and cause problems in my opinion. Plus Volvo is a heavy truck. You wont be able to scale as much in the box. My T660 with 150 gal tanks and 53' Great Dane reefer, I could scale right about 42k. Up to 43k if I cut back on fuel.

Hurst

 

I've got a 2005 Columbia with a pre emissions C15 and I've been in and out of California at least a dozen times since they passed the law. No one has ever hassled me, not even at the Banning scale. I dont go looking for Cali loads directly,.. but if I am in Portland or SLC and everything going into Cali is paying better than whats going east,.. well,.. I'll be coming round the mountain when she comes,... I'll be,..

Hurst

 

Same here. No enforcement. Even big Co's have said they will just pay fine and don't expect any.

 

i would go with the kw also but would look into regearing it to 3:73 rears.will pull better and still get decent mpg