Engine preference and which trucks to start with.

Man you are all over the map.
Figure out what you're gonna use it for. An oilfield truck isn't really built for the highway and a highway truck won't cut it in the oil field. Same goes for will it pull tanker? Van? Flat?

As far as engines - same thing. Will you need to comply with California arb? If yes then deleting is out of the question. If no and you decide to delete make sure you do your homework there are plenty of engine ruining delete people ready to take your money. If you buy pre emissions all the engines fared pretty well. S60 will be easier on fuel but only slightly, cheap to rebuild, not the fastest to the top of the hill. Cat also live forever, high dollar rebuild, also good on fuel if you don't drive like a madman. A 6nz or earlier 3406 model engines are a real treat to drive. Cummins I have no personal experience with the older ones, but largely the same story. Good engine live forever as well.

Ps. They don't like us talking about deleting emissions systems on here.

 

There is a big difference in operating cost between a Cummins n-14 and an ISX. Completely diffrent engines

 

this is a real good post thanks

 

CAT is a great engine if you take care of it. Change the oil, take samples at every interval. The parts are only expensive when they break. In 9 years I've had to replace the Pac-brake springs (less than $400 and that was having a CAT house do it), Platinum inframe plus some extras ($26,000 CAT house did that), and thermostats replaced by me (3 hours going slow and $190 in parts). You be the judge. Yes that inframe was expensive but I dare you to price an ISX or Detroit inframe for anything less than a basic no extras $18,500 platinum CAT inframe done by a CAT house. It won't be much less than a CAT. My engine starts when it's supposed to (ever since I replaced the MT42 with an MT39 starter lol). Stuff rarely breaks. I'll take it. Maybe next time it needs overhauling I'm smart enough to do it myself and save about $10,000... So $3,000 a year (beyond the expected filters and oil) for a motor that had 700,000 on it when I bought it and has 1.4 million now. Not bad.

 

My buddy paid 30,000 for a inframe on a cat please tell me where you can get that done for 18,500?

 

Detroit 60 is the way to go as an o/o.Easier to work on,parts cheaper,fuel mileage better,inframe cheaper,etc.don't believe me call around.Best of all you still can get good horsepower over 700 plus ask pittsburgh power.

 

@poppapump1332 Any CAT dealer in the country should be able to do a platinum inframe for under $20,000. Mine was done 5 years ago at Thompson CAT in Manchester, TN and their quote on a print out was was a little under $20,000. I had them install a brand new 4 core radiator, brand new camshaft (a platinum inframe uses the original camshaft), had them install all new fuel lines everywhere on the truck, and all new silicone coolant hose everywhere, plus a lot of extra seals and such that they don't normally replace, I had them add an extra year to the normal 3 years unlimited miles warranty (which was 4 years total - and money wasted for that extra year warranty with the benefit of hindsight). If I had just done a basic platinum inframe it would have been less than $20,000. I'm pretty sure all these years later I could go get a quote tomorrow and it would still be close to $20,000....