best used semi truck to buy. Debating on a Mack or freightlinner

Discussion in 'Questions To Truckers From The General Public' started by abangela, May 22, 2012.

  1. lovesthedrive

    lovesthedrive R.I.P.

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    Macks also tend to have a smaller cab for what it is worth. I tried to get a job with a local dirt contractor. All they had were Mack's. Alas my fat feet couldnt get in there and push on the accelerator with out stepping on the brake as well.

    The point about a Freightliner??? There are so many of them. Parts will be cheaper to come by. In this business, high overhead does not make for a good business plan. Get a Mack if you want. Yet dont go crying to the board that you needed to get some work done and find out you could have bought 2 used Freightliners for the same cost.
     
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  3. j_martell

    j_martell Light Load Member

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    E6 and E7 are industructable....mostly

    I have had very good luck with the EPA10 MP7-405M in the granite. Volvo/Mack seem to have figured it out faster than most

    :)

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    MACK E-6 Thanks this.
  4. markk

    markk Medium Load Member

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    Employer bought 3 Got rid of them fast due to repair costs . mechanic said he could not pull starter and had to take it to mack . unhooked can mounts and hacked up back as far as they could and had a skinny little guy crawl from back up to starter and hang upside down to get bolts out . 2k for starter replace. That's why I did not buy the 2013 I wanted from arrow
     
  5. Tonemag

    Tonemag Bobtail Member

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    Ufo could not of put it better. Been in this buisness my whole life as my dad and uncles were all owner ops as i was a kid. I have been driving last three years. One year into being an owner op. I bout a freightliner with a detroit. Love it. Paid 45000 and its already paid off . I pull containers with along with some of my frie ds and cousins. Ive seen alot of people around here be all about volvos. Beware they are ####ing junk. Kw and peteys are good but overated and again u pay for the name. Internationals i have no exp with nor do i have an interest bevause i have heard nothing postivie. When looking to become an owner op pay attention to the succesful ppl in the buisness. Majority of them are running freighliners and nothing shiny and special. Get that the truck you can afford. Amd remeber breakdowns amd expenses are a guarnetee so plan for. When u take home 3000 a week after fuel. Dont be an idiot and blow it.
     
  6. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    Mack is a very... special truck made to go places that will break a freightliner. Ive had a mack against a 35% grade of shale rock rising 70 feet in front of me empty after delivering concrete once here in Rosebud Arkansas and I took a few drinks from a flask to tame the terror in my stomach (Pretty much the only time I drank and drove...) to hammer that Mack up there. I had tires on the drives that were very specifically cross rib for straight ahead pulling. It made it.

    Another time I backed a mack up a similar grade until the engine stalled out and the rear drives started getting light thinking about rolling forward nose over ###. That scared me. She started rocking forward to start the end over end roll. I lightened my service brake a moment allowing her to slide down the shale rock a few feet until the ### end planted better and that rocking forward to somersalt quit feeling me. Whooo... talk about scary times...

    That sort of #### will break a freight liner. I once loaded a 60's mack offset cab to 135000 and broke the stephens city VA platform scale it was the max before the loadcells were destroyed to citation me for the fines. The box was a 40 foot container loaded to the max. That will break a freightliner.

    With that said.

    I have spent many happy years over the road in a freightliner, KW, pete, mack etc. And freightliner done right such as the old XL's or 120's back in the day turn miles for good pay all year with maybe a alternator burn out now and then at most. Or a front end alignment off a bad frost heaved dakota road.

    Notice I did not talk too much about freightliner. The old ones are history now a days and do not apply. We had a 2001 Century brand new I got at 20 miles, put my wife into it for 306 days of FFE and McKesson Reefer Team that year and the automatic failed twice because we never shut down at all 24.7 trucking to the max, 1500 miles every 30 hours fueling same 300 gallons per. The engine accumulated almost 8000 hours without fail except a bad alternator twice and a low coolant once. We did 220,000 for FFE and however many more thousands for McKesson in both a Freightliner and a big nice KW.

    That's all folks.
     
  7. sdaniel

    sdaniel Road Train Member

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    Did not know freightliner made your our alternators. Nor autos in 2001 . So the items you are fussing about could been bolted into any brand truck!
     
  8. wheres da $$$

    wheres da $$$ Bobtail Member

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    #### that is so good ####.im actually thinking of getting my own truck right now I'm doing 50/50with i guy I know....so I see what I'm getting into by basically being on my own his stupid ### bought a max force '12 international he's been putting work in it since he bought it I know this ain't going to last for long so becuase his maintenance
     
  9. poppapump1332

    poppapump1332 Road Train Member

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  10. lovesthedrive

    lovesthedrive R.I.P.

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    Sorrento Maine
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    Until you have to buy parts. Good luck then for something Mack proprietary.
     
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