I am curious. (Companies running cabovers)

3406E, and 60 series are not mechanical. Very few N14's are mechanical.

You can think a mechanical is simple if you want to. They use fly weights, oil pressure, spring pressure etc to achieve what the ECM does. I have seen thousands spent over a 2 dollar spring.

I have 2 B model CATS that I depend on 1 daily the other I am attached to that don't mean I never use it. They are both north of 6 mpg, pulling a hopper or reefer. About 4.5 with a cattle pot. Both will pull hell off the cross, and both will travel if you relax your right foot. But again your mpg goes in the tank. If you don't learn to pick your right foot up at the right time and give her some air you gonna have way more than fuel mileage in the tank

 

You can try some of those moving companies they have or have guys that own condo cabovers

 

That double head gasket design on thoose cats is pure stupidity to me. Give me a N14 anyday over cat. And I won't. Have to worry abt cracked liners!!!

 

I love nosebleed trucks. I just sold my 89 Cornbinder last year. I would love to have a K100 Aerodyne or, and someone will give me a hard time for this, a 372 Pete. Most thought they were ugly, but I always thought they were cool looking. Ahead of their time, they were. I remember seeing them all over the place, usually black with orange stripes dragging a black and orange trailer with Harley Davidson all over them. Also, if I remember correctly, the first truck to achieve 10 mpg was a 372.
I wouldn't want to drive one for a living. Too old and out of shape, but I would love to have one to fix up and show off.

 

You don't on a CAT if you take the time to do it right.

I have seen N14's so pitted that special inserts for each hole had to be made. The bottoms of N14's can be described as weak if I wanted to pick on them between main journals fretting and thrust washers being #### out in the pan and crank being shot afterwards. They all have strengths and weaknesses it's what you can live with at the end of the day. Yea a Rolex is harder to fix, but keeps better time at the end of the day

 

You evidently haven't been in a Freightliner Argosy. That had the flat floor and a double bunk and steps that swung out when you opened the door. It had air bag mounts at the back of the cab and was a great handling truck.

 

Tell me about it.

And you don't know fun until you're cruising down the highway and the steering box freezes with a super-B of gas strapped to your...

 

Steering tire blowouts are fun in a CO, too. I had three. I had no power steering and Freightliner's "center point steering" is pretty much useless when a front tire blows.
Only one of the blowouts resulted in an actual wreck...we're talking upside down in the ditch...but all of the incidents were wrestling matches.

 

Should have been standard issue with FL CO...