New to trucking need your opions on a GOOD RIG?

How long have you been around trucking?

Also are you SURE you want to make this jump?

There isn't really enough information to help with you're question I've got more questions than I can give you answers right now. Owning truck sent a game, its not fun either. Have you done your research and know what you're getting yourself into?

This ain't for the faint of heart and if you screw up and fall on hard times you can lose everything in your life I'm not trying to scare you I'm trying to get you to realise what you're getting into and what you can lose if itndoesnt pan out.

 

The only good truck is a paid for truck.

 

I swear its the same guys posting these over and over just to see if they can get an argument going about a "newbie" buying a truck.

 

MBE (mercedes engines are trash far as im concerned) other than that take what ever truck you get to a good mechanic you trust and have him do a detailed inspection. gear ratios, horse power, how much weight your pulling and where you run and most of all driving style will have much more impact on performance/economy and longevity than anything else. CAT Cummins Detroit all just words its all about how you take care of your equipment.. take any engine down the road without checking the fluids and your bound to run into a problem... just my opinion

 

You mean the guy that's looking for advice, but already knows everything? It may just be the same guy.

 

Schneider has good used trucks in your price range.

 

I've been a driver (construction industry primarily, with a little OTR time), an equipment operator, and a mechanic with experience working both on heavy equipment and OTR trucks.
I'm not going to tell you to do it or not to do it.. I'm not your keeper, and every time I have said anything to that effect, I'd just get blown off because someone new to the industry with a hole in their pocket always decides they know better. So do what thou wilt... but I will offer some advice... take it or leave it as you please...
Give up on comparing equipment to trucks. The engines, the maintenance, the costs... and especially not the industry. Do not project the two onto each other, because you're dealing with two very different worlds.
As for the notion that Volvo has no power, I don't really think you're grasping the concept of the drivetrain as a whole, and not just the engine. And the same would hold true for the Pete. Aside from the engine output, you have to consider the final drive ratio of the transmission, and the rear end gear ratio. Volvo seems to like coupling a .74 overdrive transmission with 3.42 rears and running that behind a 12.8 liter engine... that to me seems less than ideal... when I first got into this, an engine like that with an O/D transmission was turning 3.70 to 3.90 rears for most major fleet trucks... some did have 3.58s, but 3.70s, 3.73s, and 3.90s were much more commonplace. Now I see Volvos with an engine that size turning 3.42s, I've seen Intertrashionals spec'd with 3.36s with such an engine/transmission combo, I've seen the same our Paccar-powered Kenworths at my current employer... maybe if a vast majority or all of your running is on flat ground, that would be fine, but you'd really be sucking hind tit when you ran through the Rockies like that.
Personally, I tend to fall in line with the camp that says that the older trucks with less electronics and emissions controls are much more reliable. However, there's also the realities of what you're facing to consider. If you're going to run California, you'll need a CARB-compliant truck, and those will break down. When it does, you're going to have a whole lot more access to places which can service a Peterbilt and/or a Cummins engine than a Volvo truck and engine. Volvo trucks use a lot of proprietary parts, so consider that. If you ever plan on expanding to a fleet, the Cummins engine is available in a lot more trucks and can be used to get matching specs amongst different makes of trucks, if you don't keep a homogenous fleet, not to mention that you can use one software program to connect to the ECM... so if you have a fleet of trucks from different manufacturers, but they all run Cummins, you can use Insite on all of them... get different trucks with different engines, and you'll need to buy multiple programs... last I checked, this software was rather expensive... over $3k, if I remember correctly. So consider that, particularly if you plan on having your own shop to service these trucks.

 

You willaways read horror stories about every motor under the sun. There's always a few lemons that slip through from time to time.

CAT's top 3
3406B
3406E 2ws prefix (5ek has crank problems)
C15 6nz prefix

CUMMINS
N14 redtop
Signature 600 (the cylinder walls are a little thin because they were built to be put in short hoods and aeros don't try to push too much power or you will throw a rod!!!)

Detroit
S60 470/500 horse PRE EGR!!! they were probably one of the best motors ever produced the 470 was better than the 500 from what I've heard the Detroit guys say. And I have heard of at least 1 that went 2 million without an overhaul Detroit gave the owner a NEW crate engine they tore the old one down for analysis to why it went so long.

The wrapper is the wrapper get your motor backed with an Eaton 13/18 And a set of Eaton rears and you'll be fine. Personally I don't care for Rockwell rears (meritor) I have a set in 1 of my trucks and finding parts for my 36k rock wells is nearly impossible if I could find a set of 404 rears they'd get swapped in a heartbeat.

Your cheapest money maker is going to be a Detroit powered freightliner from 98-2001 they'll run might have a lot of miles but if its got a reman motor trans and rears you should be ok. Might not be comfortable or pretty but its about making money and getting the job done right?