Pullin with the dreaded PACCAR Mx13

The 485 spec doesn't look altogether that impressive on either chart, but it beats the crap out of the 405s I was driving as a company driver. There being 455MTs could explain why some of the 455s pulled away from the higher rated trucks.

I asked about rerating the engine to 510 1850 and they said I'd need different turbo, injectors, etc. Does anybody know if that's true?

I'm also kinda curious about the 455MT/1650/1850. It looks like that spec has higher horses and torque in most situations than the 485 1650 does. The 485 spec on my truck only has more power above 1450rpm to about 1850. The 510 is generally higher but the 455MT 16/1850 even has places where it beats the 510.

In any case, I'll be doing dry van/reefer for now. Biodiesel is something I definitely need to avoid. Other than Minnesota, what states are to be avoided for fueling for avoiding biodiesel?

I'll mostly be running the middle of the midwest. Do Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas have much tomfoolery afoot with biodiesel? I'm looking to use the cheapest winterized diesel I can find since I'm based out of SD.

I'm using mudflap. It defeats the discounts I get from the company fuel card by like 30 cents/gallon which is kinda crazy

 

South Dakota now requires you create an account to get plates/title a semi truck that will have IRP, and the account can take up to 10 business days. I really don't want to title through the company I'm leasing onto, because I'd have to get re-titled in South Dakota in February to get my own plates.

You can't create the account until you have a DOT number or a lease agreement with a motor carrier that has a DOT number, so this adds invariable extra time for anybody who is a first time owner operator in South Dakota.

Extremely silly. They won't even let me put in my title application until it's approved. Once you're approved and all that you can get temp plates almost instantly and so on but the initial setup has been extremely chaotic and dumb. You can't walk in, it is all online now. I did walk in to receive my title. Had to jump between government buildings and call like 8 different government numbers for 6 hours to find my title and get somebody to hand it to me, but I got it.

Apparently it's even worse in Iowa and Minnesota but this seems wild to me compared to everything I've ever heard about timeframe for getting plates/titles.

 

I'd be surprised if the MX13s were meaningfully different between the trucks, but I haven't heard much good about most years of 579 as far as the trucks themselves go, and from what I remember they were consistently cheaper than T680s on truckpaper. The only time I ever found the two consistently priced similar was looking at used MX13 T680s, because being a PACCAR powered T680 brought the price down in line.

Bad MX13s injector wise seems to be an EPA21 onwards thing.

Just anecdotal I suppose.

There is a shifter stalk recall out on the Next Gen 680s that they can't seem to get enough parts out for.

 

Ok, I've now run the truck regional for a week and a half, now taking thanksgiving off with the family. Happy Turkey Day fellas

I'd still be waiting if I titled in SD. I ended up titling in MN, which I will rectify in a couple months. Still, I find it extremely annoying.

I had to get a fuel line reseated for $50, other than that, the engine has done everything I asked. No sign of injector trouble yet, though at some point I'll probably make the dealership run a test with the engine running to confirm that absolutely nothing is wrong with any of the injectors.

Averaged 8.5mpg running 65-70mph with gross weights between 65,000 and 75,000lbs. I can think of a few ways to pump the mileage up even more, by getting the side skirts, uninstalling the useless passenger door side top-down mirror (I have no idea why those even exist), uninstalling the load-facing lights that were on this truck because it was hauling flatbed, getting the aero package for the steer wheel wells, and maybe even getting flow-below. I'm not in a hurry to do any of the aero enhancements, though.
The biggest reason I want the aero stuff done is the crazy wind out here in the midwest. My lightest load had the worst fuel mileage! I was only hauling 6,000lbs and was at only 6.5mpg on the way home because of the 45mph winds across the Dakotas and Minnesota these last couple days. And that was at 63mph! Earlier in the week I averaged 9mpg at 75 with an empty van running from one shipper to another. The wind has an outright apocalyptic effect on fuel economy. If a headwind, aero will improve it, but that's all you can really do other than avoiding the wind altogether.

I have abandoned the idea of upsizing to 24.5. The truck actually gets better mileage outside the fuel-efficient-rpm-range stated by manufacturer. I've been getting better fuel economy at 65-68 than 58-62, unless I'm at very low speeds/have VERY low torque demand. To actually get better economy at the lower RPMs, I basically need to be in flat terrain or have a very light load. I'm grateful that the truck displays torque usage % now. I can figure out stuff that I would've had to just guess at based on vibes otherwise.

And gearing wise, the truck will very happily go 90 miles an hour if it has the power. I have no reason to push speed upwards relative to RPM. I am extremely pleased with the 12 speed's ratios+3.08 rears+485 horse. I only wish it were, perhaps, a 510/1850 instead of a 485/1650, again with the same ratios. If I'm in the good area of the engine's horsepower curve (68-75+), I lose almost or outright no speed in a hill, but if I'm down low, theoretically with the same or even more peak torque, in the same gear, in the mid 60s, I lose speed.
Maybe all trucks love running up hills and I've only ever experienced trucks governed to have pathetic power in top gear, I don't know. But this truck LOVES running up hills compared to anything else I've ever driven.

I've compiled a list of things to replace/check in the near future
1. New brake pads for the disc brakes, previous user hated engine braking
2. New engine air filter, HVAC filters for truck and APU
3. New belt/oil change for Thermo-can-so-far, it has begun to squeal. But it only squeals for like 20% of the time it runs. Does it have a clutch for the alternator or something like that? I don't know. I didn't think it did.
4. Cat eyes for the drive axles. Should pump up fuel mileage just a tad and generally make life easier. To go with this, a way to inflate tires from the gladhands. All the trailers I'm hauling have CTIS, so I don't need to worry about it being super long so I can reach trailer tires.
5. Test and consider replacing batteries. I have the APU on standby mode while I'm in home time (and pretty much always now), and it's running a bit more than I would expect it to, or than it did before. It should just be maintaining batteries and temps, and for temps, the engine heater is plugged in so I doubt the temp is getting low all the time. The batteries are probably 4-5 years old, as it is a 2022. No actual warnings or indicators of excessive draw are appearing though. Idk. I turned off the inverter and fridge and all that stuff.
6. New set of drives. I've still got 8/32nds but within the next couple-few months I'll need new ones anyways. I'd prefer to NEVER have a flat on the road, let alone a blowout, so I plan to replace these kinds of things on my terms.
7. Whenever PACCAR decides to make enough stalk shifters, I'll be having that recall serviced. No problems yet but the truck knows something is funny per the ECM dump I had at time of purchase.
8. I've heard you can buy DEF in bulk for like 25% the price? If anybody has any experience doing that, I'd love to hear about it. Leave that crap in my garage and never buy DEF at pump again. I'm certainly home often enough to not even remotely worry about it if I could get it at home.

Fuel tank equalization has ceased to be a problem thankfully. Bunk heater works as desired, fridge, inverter, APU AC/fan all work as desired. On this trip, I idled so little that my engine averaged 55 miles an hour! The highest I've EVER seen on a truck before is 45, so I like to think I'm doing something right to prolong the life of this engine forever.

This is actually my first time living in a sleeper. Before this, I really only ever took naps in them when I worked at 10 Roads Express. The T680's sleeper is way comfier than I expected it to be. Storage is a little less than desired but I've thrown a bunch of stuff where the top bed was and that is no longer really a problem. Fridge was way bigger than I expected/it looks. I meal prepped and only ate one meal purchased out on the road over 9 days.