Time to buy a new semitruck, but not sure what brand

I have one with the A26 and a little over 137k miles on it with no issues. I’m not a fan of Cummins, they haven’t convinced me they’ve solved the soot problem. Average is pushing 8.7 mpg, 73k average loaded weight, 17-18% deadhead, running East of 29 primarily Arkansas and Midwest to East Coast and back. There is a thread on here regarding the A26 I’ve made some posts in.

 

A glider with a Cat 6nz engine . A KW , Pete or Western Star will hold their value best and you can kiss all the new emmision problems goodbye. That’s of course if you don’t go into California then pre order a Tesla semi because pretty soon that’s all that will be allowed to go there.

 

But unless they get subsidy it's a non profit business model

 

Keep in mind- you are allowed a 500 mile exemption once a year to travel California if youd like,By signing up with ARB. Which is like maybe 2 trips per year in and out

But Yeah- The Glider is the way to go for reliability and performance-

 

It’s a 6X2 with a 2.5 ratio Eaton Advantage 10 spd manual Direct drive. When the time comes to replace it I’m planning on getting the Allison TC10 with a 2.54 and running a downsped Setup. I’m currently cruising at 1300 rpm at 60 mph, my target cruising speed. With the Allison I’d be at 1125.

 

I strongly considered getting a glider too. I had one spec’d and priced with Fitz the way I wanted it. I had the full build of my current International and the glider in front of me and I went with the International. I like the old motors a lot and they do very well but I don’t think it could beat the International. The A26 is not bad on maintenance, change the oil every 50k, overhead at 120k then every 300k, clean DPF at 600k, and clean DEF filter at 300k. The maintenance intervals are much improved over previous models.

 

Buy the motor, not the truck. C-15 CAT, Series 60 Detroit, N14 Cummins, manual transmission. You'll stay out of the shop if you do your due diligence and stay out on the road making money.

But you strike me as a the kind of guy to walk into a dealership and sign on the dotted line for the first thing the sales guy takes you out on a road test in.

 

Those motors can’t compete in terms of fuel mileage with what I have. It took almost 7 months of talking with dealers in my area until I finally decided on International. I didn’t just walk in and buy what they pushed. My truck is custom spec'd by me, not the dealer. I knew what I wanted going into the new truck process, it was a matter of who would build it and which motor would get me the best mpg.
The older motors need more oil changes, more overhead adjustment intervals, lower fuel economy, bearings and camshafts don’t last as long, in the case of the N14 you’ll have more intensive maintence of your injectors and ECM, they burn oil.
I do my research and while the old motors are tempting I think many guys only go that route because they don’t want an ELD so they can continue running illegal or they are basing their opinion off previous generations of emissions motors that weren’t as reliable as 2017 and beyond. There is a big difference between the GHG17 motors and something like an 07’-12’.

 

12.7L Series 60 Detroits get 7-8 mpg on the regular. I drive a C-13 that gets 6-7 mpg running 80,000 lbs on a flat deck. In a flat top 379 SH. It's 14 years old.

And running an older motor has nothing to do with "running illegal" (there are pre-emissions motors that exist after 1999), it has everything to do with cheaper overhauls, significantly less downtime, mechanical work you can do yourself at home and no DEF to buy. Do you integrate your DEF costs into your fuel costs when calculating how much you spend monthly?

And if you are only changing your oil every 50,000 miles, I hope you don't run into problems down the road. I've never trusted dealer intervals for anything, even cars.

Maybe we should have some other truck owners on this board weigh in on this discussion. @wore out @OLDSKOOLERnWV @Ruthless @Hurricane69 @Hurst @ShooterK2 @cke

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And if you are only getting 7 mpg in an aero cab with a 6x2 drivetrain and autoshift, you should ask for your money back. My company just bought 3x 2018 Peterbilt 389's with flat tops and X15E's (505/1850) that are getting over 7 with 13-speeds in Ontario at 95,000 lbs gross average.