Engine preference and which trucks to start with.

hunter peterbilt charged 36,000 and cleveland brothers was close to 30,000 within this past year.I know everybody loves cats but I think they're overrated and expensive to maintain best bang for your buck is a cummins.Cheapest and most reliable is a detroit,imo

 

Your buddy either got ripped a new one or had a lot of extras above and beyond the standard platinum inframe that he didn't mention to you. My buddy had a 12.7L Detroit in a '99 KW and the price quote he got from Covington Detroit in Nashville, TN very similar to my own inframe wasn't much cheaper than what my CAT cost. If you DIY you can save. If you have a half rate shade tree shop you trust you can save. If you get a dealer shop to do it none of them are much different in the cost...

 

CAT's are cheap because they don't break. Them guys paying $30,000-$36,000 for a standard platinum CAT inframe at a CAT house got ripped off big time. I know that is way off. No way it is more than $20,000. You're putting out misinformation.

 

Best bang for the buck is the old school 12.7 500HP Detroit. For 48 state, 80000 lb, all around economy and performance. Strong pulling mill, great fuel economy, good jakes, reliable and cheaper to maintain.

 

fav motor a cat of course seems like a cat has more to it we had trucks with both cummins and cat just more motor hauling same loads

 

A larger displacement CAT can't compete with a smaller displacement Detroit on fuel economy but is every bit as reliable. You don't spend money on expensive parts when they don't fail.

 

Lmao. It’s a 23k parts bill guy.

 

Fortunately one of my closest friends cut his teeth 20 years ago working on Cat motors at a Petercar shop. He gave me a VERY specific set of parameters to look for. While he is partial to Cat motors, he said that the Series 60 Detroits were also a good choice. I wound up finding a Cat C-15 (6NZ) with a fresh Gold Kit and Head. Pretty #### happy about the choice. Yes, a 15 liter Cat is not going to get the fuel economy that a 12.7 Detroit. All of these engines are good engines. Its more about maintenance and driving habits. Stay on top of PM's and don't run it like you're in the Indy 500 and any of these engines should give you reliable service. (Please note that my comments / opinions are limited to PRE DPF/DEF engines)

 

When I drove a 6nz (company driver at the time) it ALWAYS averaged in the 6.4 mpg neighborhood +/- maybe .3. I had my own truck with a s60, also pre emission, it averaged almost the same. Idling time about the same. Only differences: 6nz was in w900L, s60 in condo classic xl, 6nz was pulling average is say 65000 pounds gross weight and s60 average weight 78000.

A properly tuned engine either one and driven easy will result decent fuel economy. And either one of them has a good chance of performing without any major issue for a longer time than you care to operate it. Take a $20000 rebuild vs $40000 rebuild each at 700,000 miles. 0.0285 vs 0.057 cents per mile. Not much difference over the long run. Also - for similar rebuilds - the cost would not be that wide.
Just get the cat you'll be glad you did.

 

Drove a cat, was pre emission, thumbs up, now you have to be a active part of the truck with emissions and computer operated everything, Pick your devil, learn everything about its working, you good to your power plant it will be good to you. Look at parts availability in your area for a clue, getting parts easy will help.