Transmission choices

Honestly given what you told me i would go for a more general heavy capible truck, brand really doesnt matter as they are mostly the same parts with a branded cab save the engine. So find one you find comfy then spec out roughly as follows.

Detroit or cummins 500-550 horse set to 2050 torque but with the max size radator.

Eaton 18 speed manual

14k front 46k rears with a 3.55 or 3.72 gearing or therabouts and make sure you get air cooled diffs!

230-240 inch frame with a mid roof cab if you want a bigger sleeper without loseing too much turning radius.

Standalone APU without def, this is a requirment for any emissions truck.

Holland 5th wheel that can be pinned.

Dual use PTO with 55 gallon frame mount tank. instead of standard (gives you optuons from standard dump to lowboy to moving floor to ejector)

Addtional spotlights and reverse pointed lights

Ferring delete

24.5 tires

Trailer drop axle switches.

Air weigh system

Built in fridge.

And tell them you will feed them face first into a woodchipper if they leave the bendex safety system on it. You will thank me later.

A truck fitted simular to the above will give you a really general all around truck that can do just about any vocational job you can throw at it without adding a lot of extra weight. And if you dont need the PTO you can always drain the hydro tank and use it as a slightly fat road truck. The 230-240 inch frame keeps you fairly short so you can turn well (my bullfrog is a 232 fram for comparison) but long enough to avoid feeling like your in a paint shaker. No drop axle on truck limits you a bit on super heavy but also keeps you light. The 500-550 horse gives you a good mix of power and economy and the oversized radator gives you both better cooling and the option to bump up the horse more later.

The 3.55-3.72 gearing leaves you able to do 70+ without lugging in the mountains and with air cooled difs wont be prone to overheating. The 18 can be used as a 10 or 13 if your light but is great in slippery nasty conditions like mud, ice or snow. Gives you a lot more control. Midroof and aerodynamic (ferring) delete with 24.5s gives you extra clearance without being too tall to fit under a 12'6 rock dropper but keeps you tall enough if you pull a van for some reason it wont murder you on fuel mileage. While the spotlights give you much needed visual ques for dumping at night or backing in and are usually cheap. Air weigh is just an upgraded load guage and helps you stay nice and legal and the drop axle switch is pretty self explanitory. Fridge and safety deletes are just a flat out must for an OTR rig and will make life much better and ensure you dont go slowly insane to the tune of BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP also #### auto brake #### it with an unlubed pineapple with a case of gigantism and extra spikey nature.

Lastly it keeps your resale high because yes.

 

Good luck finding that truck used nowadays……..

 

Well he did say he is waiting for the ideal truck. If he is in no rush it or one very close will pop up eventually or he can just keep waiting and buy new instead.

 

Not really a white elephant truck thats actully a pretty standard rock truck or low boy setup. Found one almost exactly as discribed just missing spotlights, APU and pto with a 30 second search on truck trader. https://www.truckpaper.com/listings/trucks/for-sale/206271185/2015-peterbilt-389 (though this one is deleted and may get you in trouble)

As for what must be there at time of purchase. Engine, transmission, axle weight rateing, diffs, and frame length. These CAN be changed later but are a stone cold ##### to do and expensive as hell. Everything else i listed can easily be added later. Though if no apu is present and you get an emissions rig just plan to add one before you do anything else. Also on an emissions rig at time of purchase always ALWAYS have the def system fully serviced and have at a minimum both nox sensors, the def quality sensor and the 7th injector replaced. It will save you a LOT of downtime.

As to power bump to longevity of the rig, there is no effect. 500-550 is a standard horsepower setting and the engines are designed to handle it. Same with 2050 torque. If you push to say 650 you may see some adverse effects unless you get a stage 5 cummins but again if the factory certifys it and your engine is rated for it there will be zero effect.

 

Pretty much standard Western Canadian specs. Thought about importing one from up there? Might be easier than finding something similar in the US.