Are typical flatbed loads usually heavy?

I haul heavy, plated for 117k lbs pulling RGN's. That may seem bad, but when you think that I have had PM's done every 10k miles from when I picked the truck up new, and every single issue the truck has had has been addressed sooner rather than later, I think it would fare better than a company truck that gets PM'd every 20-30k miles etc. Example is when I had a head gasket leaking slightly, I had them replace all 6, as well as the injector nozzles etc. A good owner operator's truck will always be better in the long run than someone that hauled 10k loads for the past 5 years, but didn't have a clue about preventative maintenance etc.
I have always bought used vehicles based on overall condition and service history myself, and it has yet to let me down.
I would look more for the history with the engine manufacturer or dealership. That VIN can be telling at times!
That will show you any and all recalls that have been done, common issues it has had, and so on.

Martin

 

Having some other party do an inspection was previously mentioned, but I would add to that to collect 2 oil samples and send them to different companies for analysis.

 

A truck and it's components are built to pull under a load. A truck that has always pulled light loads will sometimes have more issues than one that did not.

I ran with 4,500# in my tanker for 2 years and as soon as I went to pulling average loads (30-40k) things have started to wear, leak and break. I never had any "load" on my engine before and now it works hard, but it also rides better and smoother. My tires had lots of tread on them, but would always get choppy and wavy because I had no weight on them and rough roads did not help. a trucks suspension is built to operate properly and at the correct symetry when loaded. Mine never had enough weight to put the suspension to work properly and now I am in the process of adjusting, or replacing everything from running to light.

Just my .02

 

how does the ecm have different miles then the odometer?

it's against the law to tamper with odometer readings. but ecm's can always be replaced.

the odo says 100,000 but the ecm says 600,000 (example)

but if the ecm were stock. doesn't it get the same mileage as the odometer? or how could it be different?

 

Lots of reasons......... cable breaks, for example.........

 

My speedo had went out and needed replaced, so the miles on the speedo were different from the ECM. On the FLD it has to be calibrated to your rear gears and tires. I had it set for 3.95 rears and not 3.90's. SO the ECM read the sensor as 3.90's but the speedo read it as 3.95's

On my WS it only has an electronic odometer on my Datarstar readout, no ODO on the speedometer. It has a seperate ECM for the gauges, and then the ECM for the engine. My dash ECM is off by 4,350 miles from my engines ECM. No idea.....

 

get the maintanace history on it that the only way you can realy see if it was well taken care of or not. if it hauled heavy or not makes little or no diff. you engine is not at its peeke performance untill you put a load on it so depending on what size motor you got in it will determin if that truck was hauling heavys or not. no one in their right mind will haul heavy with a 350 cat, 475 plus is HP is for heavys i have a 475-550 cat in mine and we haul heavys on a day to day basis

 

No disrespect,but you should look at the dates of these posts. And yes i have made the same mistake.

 

Yes indeed, I've been to that truck stop too!

 

Wasnt a truck stop... Those were jobsites... Amazing where they think we can shoehorn a 48' trailer and a condo sleeper into.