buying my 1st truck tomorrow 8/6 and need a tripak..

Funny how OP has gotten all sorts of advice except an answer to the question he asked.

OP: Call your local TK dealer and ask them.

Dynasys has a decent offer via OOIDA. Call them for a quote too.

Either way you will be financing something in the realm of $10k installed. Divide that by a number of months and you'll see it's a chunk of change no matter how you slice it.

If you're not ready for a $500+ per month note for a while for one of those toys, try something else. If you have good credit, get a Northern Tool credit card and buy a 2000w Honda portable generator for $1000. You can get 6 months no interest. Pay 180-something a month for 6 months and it's like borrowing money from daddy. Just pay it back. Then go to your local big box appliance store and find a sensibly priced portable a/c unit. I found one at Brandsmart for $329. Do the same thing no interest on a Brandsmart card and pay $50 a month for a/c. At the end of the day you make a $225 payment for 6 months and own it.

When it gets cold go to home depot and buy a radiant electric heater that uses less than 2000 watts. Or maybe you made enough money and go buy an Espar (awesome to have by the way).

Also be aware that there is a tie-in to the truck title or something on the financing with these. The Dynasys guy touched on it, but my eyes had already glazed over by the time he got to that, so I don't remember.

 

I believe I suggested to him he finance his truck as much as he can.

That would allow him to pay cash for a used APU for his truck as well.

 

I bolded the important part. Everyone should quit reading the sales brochures and put a pencil to their actual use case. The manufacturers write it up as-if you sit around running the thing 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Maybe a few people do, but I don't sit like that. I considered a new apu for my son's truck and it didn't add up for that reason.

I will rebut you on the lifespan claim with one tiny caveat. They usually die from lack of maintenance. The same guys that are meticulous about the care of their truck will let the apu run till it falls off the frame then call it junk and a ripoff when it quits. The Tripac that came with my truck is coming up on 25,000 hours. I've put about 400 on it and it's used about 8 oz of oil. Apparently the previous owner took good care of it for me LOL. I've done oil and filters on it when I got it. Have since bought some a/c fittings (service port ends) and a drier, just under $200 from TK. The dealer did offer to cuddle & talk afterward so it was ok. Will also need to do the same with the a/c lines inside the cabinet, guessing another $50 at the TK parts counter. I'll do that when I get tired of charging another can of 134 every other week or so. Oh yeah I replaced the muffler too. My truck is a Wisconsin truck and the apu cabinet and any other exposed steel is ate up. I'll probably end up making a new bottom panel for the apu case before it falls off and takes out my rh drive tires LOL.

 

Im going to kindly disagree with about half of the statement u have made.

Big motors burn between 1 to 2 gallons per hour, especially if u bump up the idle. Apu uses well under 1/10th of what a big engine will, and they only use that much during maximum cooling demands.

You've used maximum APU fuel useage against Minimum big engine useage. Could u redo ur figures using fair math?

Apu's only need run when the AC is needed or batteries need charged. They will consume .04 to .1 gallon per hour. The .1 Gph maximum figure is used when AC clutch has engaged. Fuel useage drops to about half the rest of the time. Id guess 70% of time clutch isn't engaged unless its 110f out and u have thermostat set to 50f

My APU on a 25f night will only fire up a couple times for 10 minutes at a time to charge batteries. The rest of the time the APU engine isn't running. "If" you have a bunk heater and no APU, unless your batteries are brand new each winter you're going to get out of bed to start the truck halfway through the night. So..... For about 8 months of the year i sleep in total comfort and the APU uses about 1 cup +\- of fuel each night.

how about a 110f layover weekend in Phoenix? how much fuel used then?

i dont worry much about the cold w/ my APU, it has the extreme article package on it. Oil heater, water heater, and fuel heater, im covered. The only time ive idled at night was in Cheyenne Wy., and it was 30 below. Half the hoods at truck stop were open next morning and everybody was changing fuel filters. Not to mention the fact that it monitors battery condition, and ive never worried about dead batteries during a cold weekend at home.

My APU will stay w/ me when i buy a different truck.

Not to mention the best part of all. Low idle hours on the big engine. A selling point of my truck will be its low idle hours. Its an unarguable fact that each time that crank shaft goes around and around is 1 less time it will ever do it.


to the OP. Check around for govt. grants w/ places like OOIDA. My APU is the single best purchase ive ever made for this truck. I use it everyday.

 

Well my 12.7 S60 cranked to 600 hp burns less than half a gallon per hour. The Apu we had running the ac and my power burned 3/4 a gallon per hour and every truck I have ever owned used less fuel bumped up at idle than at idle.

Also I have seen and heard nothing but money pits for repairs on APUs.

Now if you truly want to save money buy a generator. 5 to 8k watt gen gas or diesel. This is the switch we made on one truck and that had true savings. the generator A window Ac unit and some wiring was just under a grand and we did the work. some guys cut a whole in the bunk wall for the ac others make a piece for the window and just set it in when they stop.

So at a grand for it and so far less repairs and better fuel usage than an apu or upwards of 14k for an apu and more repairs and less fuel savings I choose the gen

 

Good decision JMO

 

Huh.........