New LT

Well I was able to get a peek at the new trucks today. Hopefully will have mine by Friday. They appear to be very nice. Leather interior. In dash rand mcnally gps, xm radio, microwave oven and tv installed too.
Hoping it rides better than my Cascadia does. Its def earned the Freight Shaker name...

 

Well it showed up on Wednesday. I moved into it that afternoon. So far so good. It does in fact have a fridge, tv and microwave. They installed the tv but did not run a cable from the tv to the antenna so no review on that until I get back from my weekend off.microwave works fine, it is a 750 watt unit. I don’t know if they ordered this way but the shifter does not work in manual mode. It just beeps until you go back to auto mode. When you go into reverse it mutes the radio. Never had one do that before. Taking my first heavy load up to Grantsville Utah on Sunday/Monday so I will have a better clue as to how it pulls, I just did a run to Phoenix and back but they were both 20000 lb loads.

My biggest complaint is the upper bunk. Once again I cannot sit on the bed with the bunk down. I had this same issue with the Western Star. The Cascadias is high enough so I can sit under it with no problems.

Other than that we are moving down the road. Love the built in Xm radio and the Bluetooth system works great too.

Back with more on Sunday evening.

 

Also ours did not come with the windshield curtain only the middle drapes. Which were not installed yet so I put them in my garage. Hate them, always in my way. Going to get a windshield drape at the TA and use it.

 

Well so far so good. Except I may be moving out of this truck and into a Cascadia again. Evidently we did some two year Penske Cascadia leases for our longer distance drivers, of which I am one. They are not the new style Cascadias though, which is fine by me. The guy in charge of trucks had to go on emergency leave, his wife delivered three weeks early, so things didn't go quite as per his plan. I rolled into the yard from my Utah trip and ran into him. First thing he says is what am I doing in this truck.....I was supposed to be getting one of the leases. He said things were all fouled up and he would have me in the right truck as soon as possible.

I'm actually quite happy in the LT. I found a way, two aluminum broom handles, to raise the bunk at night so that I can sit under it in comfort. Is not a big deal, just takes a second or two to put them under each end. And I did get the windshield drape at the TA and so all is well. The LT does have an improved ride and it handles very well. The Cummins 15 has adequate power for our hills and mountains in California.

The Cascadia will have the windshield drape and it does have an inverter but no installed tv or microwave. I have both sitting at home so its not a big deal. I have to admit the storage in the Cascadia is alot better than in the LT but there area always ways to work around these issues.

We shall see.

 

Found some PVC pipe in my garage. Got my brooms back! LOL

 

I found it to be a nice in LA traffic, but they sure are dogs off of the line. It shifts reasonably well on the Grapevine and once I figured out the jake it works ok too. It uses a hell of a lot of DEF, but I don't know if it is because it is brand new or not. I still idle a lot and it hasn't demanded a parked regen yet. Some of the gauge packages were not turned on in the computer so if I end up keeping the truck I am going to go by and see a Navistar mech friend of mine and see if his computer will activate them. And turn the truck up to 70mph.

 

Well I have 18,500 miles on it and time for an update. I was able to keep the truck after all. I am moving onto our Fontana to Tolleson Shuttle team asap. I have an appointment on Monday morning to have the truck turned up to 65 on the pedal and 72 on the cruise to keep me moving along in Arizona. Have had zero problems with it so far, which surprises the hell out of me. Yes there are still some things I dont like about it but they are not worth asking for a different truck over. Rumor is we might be getting some of the new redesigned Volvo 780s in and that would be worth checking into first as I hear they are something to behold.
Going to ask the Navistar service guy about the Jake system and the manual trans mode. Not too worried about the manual trans mode as much now that I will not be going over the grapevine on a regular basis.
The LED headlights are so bright that I am constantly getting the high beam flash at night. One driver called me on the CB and asked me to pass him so I wouldnt be blinding him anymore.

 

In regards to the Jake Brake, if you turn it on to any of the three switch positions it does nothing until you apply the brakes. It will then work like every other Jake system I have ever used. Truck does not have the adaptive cruise control.