Best truck for a construction company

The Triaxle is probably a DM600. The R model is a good truck also if it's got the right specs. For all around reliability you can't beat a Mack ENDT675 or ENDT676 or an EM6-300 as far as engines go,. Trans would probably be a TRL107 if a 5 speed or a TRXL107 6 speed or a TRXXL107 if you have the extra low 1st gear 6 speed. I would prefer the TRXXL107 but they are hard to find. As far as rears go I wouldn't go with anything higher than a 4.17 ratio (lower numericly). 44,000 pound rears would nice but 38,000 will do just fine. and you want cam brakes not wedge brakes. Forget about the Pete all you are buying there is the name.

 

if your worried about expansion, get a tandem axle day cab tractor to go with the tandem axle equipment trailer, should be plenty legal as theres a few companies in my hometown who use basicly the same setup to hual excavaters( around the JD160's wieght class), backhoes and even smaller (D-4) dozers legally, trust me they hafta be legal with our DOT guy.

 

Get some bids Macks are higher than Petes

 

Western stars have a higher ground clearance. Petes are really low,in construction sites and i have dragged the fuel tanks if stuck in sand or mud. You really need a full screw tandem that you can lock up and use both your rear axles. Also you won't have to worry about axle tandem weights as much,alot of lighter single axles get fined by dot for hauling overweight on truck and trailer axles. macks are good also,but to me in my experience they ride rougher. I would get air ride as air bags are cheaper than springs to replace and alot faster to replace and last longer,plus,you have the lowering and lifting ability of dumping your air bags to unhook and hookup. Also be sure and have a dump valve installed if that truck doesn't have one,it saves your tires if you run a spread or triaxle trailer. Just a few things to consider,cummins motors, 400 on up are cheaper and easier to fix,get fair mileage,the new cummins IX is hard to beat,the sweet spot can be set by computer for the most torque at the speed you are working your truck,thus giving you the best fuel mileage. Some companies in maine have switched to cummins for great mileage,if you lokup hart trans in me on your pc it has an article from cummins with the good news of the best torgue for the money.

 

If the R model is in any kind of decent shape I would fix it and run it. The camel back suspension works very well off the road, and even if it doesn't have a locking power divider it still has the Mack cam and button type power divider. The cam and button works a little bit like a posi. R models are hard to kill. One thing to remember with them is to always make sure the bar that runs between the rear spring hangers of the steering axle is tight. If that bar is missing or loose you will crack the cab in the upper corners of the door jam. Once that happens they seem to always crack again no matter what you do to fix them.