Are the newer trucks really that bad, no longevity anymore?

WTH are you talking about? Today’s cars, pickups, and SUVs run many much longer than older vehicles and with much less maintenance. All you have to do today is keep the oil changed every 10,000 miles and you’re done. Vehicles from the 60s through 80s? They were constantly needing something done to them if you were to keep driving it.

And class 8 trucks made after 2017 are not perfect and have lots of things that CAN go wrong, but they are typically very worry free if you buy quality fuel, DEF, and perform preventative maintenance routines on time. And if spec’d right, newer trucks will out-pull older trucks and still get 2 mpg or more better fuel mileage.

 

I own new, I lucked out when I bought an older truck and only had one big maintenance bill in 2 years. My new has more power both on paper and driving it, the old sounded better with straight pipes but I was a little bit younger. Fuel mileage is similar. Going with the old hot rodder theory of plugs in the exhaust system are bad I'm not happy with the layout of it and am looking for legal ways to have better flow out of the engine

 

Thats true. My dad had 237hp and 300hp macks with the 5 and 6 speed trans. I had a co 9670IH at in and around that time, as he still had the macks. We did same work everyday and my 350 big cam got just a wee bit better mpg. Usually he had to rebuild engines 3 to 450,000 miles. The 5 sp trans went 1 mill. miles though. 1 mil miles before rebuild, i don't think showed up until 3406, and 12.7s came out. A guy i knew bought a 6v92(?) detroit in a ford , and detroit even had a decal on the engine calling it a "fuel squeezer". Not!

 

DEF systems are a PITA, especially the first 10 years as they were working out the bugs. But the thing is, they seem to be here to stay. I can't imagine anyone driving a 1995 truck in 2025. They're going to spend as much time on the shoulder and in the shop as they do making money. Besides it's not about power and "flow" (whatever the hell that is). It's about available torque and it's management. The cost of raw power is too great for too little to zero gain at the end of the trip when you're comparing old-school to modern tech.

 

That doesn't take much imagination. Where do you get "they're going to spend more time on the shoulder or in the shop than on road" other than out of your ###? I'm assuming that at some point some ninny is going to decide that trucks are still too dirty and we need to put more #### on them and you're new trucks will be pos again or still whatever. You need to look on truckpaper and see just how cheap a 90s truck can be, you could buy a pretty decent truck for what your downpayment should be on a new one. The older trucks may not get great mileage but they don't sit in the shop for weeks with nobody being able to figure out what the hell is wrong and yes I'm aware that's not all the new trucks but it only takes one to bankrupt a one truck operation.

 

I agree but I disagree with the notion you can’t keep new trucks running and out of the shop. My experience says that’s just not true unless you bought an international. Fewer parts does not guarantee fewer problems over the long term.

 

It all depends on how they're spec'ed.
Most are detuned for efficiency.

A Cascadia with a DD15 with a 12sp auto shift turned up to 600hp/2000ft
Can run like a soaked cat and shift like butter.

The engine and transmission choices are pretty wide open for your boss .he can do 18 speed EF with a Cummins or a DD 13 wish a fully auto 5 speed.

...in a Freightliner

I run hard and I've spent more time in the shop for new tires than I have maintenance or repairs since 2014.

Only flaw I've experienced in my newer trucks was programming issue in 2015. The high/low sync was off. Needed a tow. Gps located the truck. Tow was there in an hour. Repair took 15 minutes. All was covered by warranty.
Down time is literally a thing of the past.

You're an experienced driver. Read the owners manual before you drive your new truck and after a month you'll, wish you switched sooner.

 

From 04 to 10 we went from nothing to egr and then dpf’s and then def systems. From 2010 to current it’s allowed everyone to work their bugs out so just by natural progression a new truck now is more reliable than a new truck in 2010.