TRUCK FINALLY PAID OFF BUT NOW...

I have a 2007 freightliner Columbia , 852,000 miles on it, finally paid off the loan...But now it seems like it is turning into a money pit with repairs needing done to it.

This weekend it is in the shop again getting a synchronizer put in and the bill will be $2062 come Monday to get it out.

Within the last 4 months I needed to replace all 4 airbags, both torque arms, 4 batteries, bell house gasket, flex exhaust pipe from the motor back to the stack, new shocks, alternator And misc smaller stuff done to it.
Those repairs the number came to around $10k with the labor and parts....Seems like every time I get a 90 day inspection on it, some kind of repairs need to be done to pass and be compliant.

Last year, I had the number one U-Joint break and when the driveshaft come apart, it took out all my wiring and airlines under the truck.
I had to have all new wiring from front to back, all new airlines, new drive line from the motor back....That bill with the labor was $20k

You might say that I almost have a new truck built from scratch with some of the stuff I needed done.

I found a 2014 Pete 587 with 439,000 miles And a warranty that I am thinking about trading the money pit for.....Should I trade it and be done or just keep sticking money into it?

 

I do a lot of the minor things myself so I do get under the truck and I want to avoid doing repairs on the side of the road, that is why when something is wrong it gets fixed before I end up on the side of the road.....I don't make it a habit to have 4 airbags for spares riding around with me in case one springs a leak, I do have smaller parts in case something goes wrong that I wont have to go into the shop for but I cannot change the synchronizer myself on the side of the road, nor the bell housing gasket...

I was foolish when I was younger because all I wanted to do was drive the big truck,,,,I should have went to school to learn how to repair them from front to back but I was not smart enough when I was 18 to know any better

 

The U-joint was new, it was replaced 2 weeks before it gave out, it was not put in properly at the shop and that shop paid for some of the costly repairs that were need because it was their fault it was not put in properly.....SO I DO HAVE COVERALLS AND I DO GREASE REGULARLY....When a u-joint is bad it needs to be replaced....No matter how much grease you put into it, if it will wear out,,,That is why they make replacement parts

 

I typo'ed the mileage on the 2014...it has 336,000 miles and it was produced in August of 2013 which made it a 2014 model in manufacturer year