Wester Star glider, to do or not to do???

So I am looking at buying a Glider 4900SB with the fuel efficiency package. Deal said it will be better if I get the truck with the motor from the factory and they put in the 18 speeds and rear ends. This truck is used for hauling Reefer trailers in the summer and in the winter we heal dump trailer with salt in them and also fill in with reefer trailers when we have a slow winter.

So here are my Questions

1) Motor? I can get a CAT C-15 single turbo or the Detroit 60 both motors will be from the factory and year 2000-2003

I am thinking the C-15 will be the better motor but would like to hear what you all think.

2) Front axle? I am thinking that 14300 Meritor front axle.

3) Rear axle? for the dump trailer I know a 46000 rear would be the best but how is that going to work for us when going from NH to FL or GA with a Reefer trailer.

Right now I have two trucks, one we do just reefer trailers with and it has a 12k front and 40k rear and another truck that we do dump trailers with and I have 20k front and 46k rear in that. Both trucks are getting tired so I am trying to replace 2 with one. We would only be running dump trailers 3 months a year with this truck. Hauling dirt is getting harder and harder to make money but we still do good with hauling the salt. So more or less this truck will be doing refeer runs from New Hampshire and Maine down to the FL, GA, VA area other then 8 weeks a year when we do the salt gig.

What are your thoughts? Really wanted to stay away from the DPF and all the junk. Thats why I was thinking Glider.

 

So I am looking at buying a Glider 4900SB with the fuel efficiency package. Deal said it will be better if I get the truck with the motor from the factory and they put in the 18 speeds and rear ends. This truck is used for hauling Reefer trailers in the summer and in the winter we heal dump trailer with salt in them and also fill in with reefer trailers when we have a slow winter.

So here are my Questions

1) Motor? I can get a CAT C-15 single turbo or the Detroit 60 both motors will be from the factory and year 2000-2003

I am thinking the C-15 will be the better motor but would like to hear what you all think.

2) Front axle? I am thinking that 14300 Meritor front axle.

3) Rear axle? for the dump trailer I know a 46000 rear would be the best but how is that going to work for us when going from NH to FL or GA with a Reefer trailer.

Right now I have two trucks, one we do just reefer trailers with and it has a 12k front and 40k rear and another truck that we do dump trailers with and I have 20k front and 46k rear in that. Both trucks are getting tired so I am trying to replace 2 with one. We would only be running dump trailers 3 months a year with this truck. Hauling dirt is getting harder and harder to make money but we still do good with hauling the salt. So more or less this truck will be doing refeer runs from New Hampshire and Maine down to the FL, GA, VA area other then 8 weeks a year when we do the salt gig.

What are your thoughts? Really wanted to stay away from the DPF and all the junk. Thats why I was thinking Glider.

Thanks so much for helping me out...

 

I personally would get the Detroit better fuel mileage and cheaper to repair and easier to work on

 

As with most things, you will get a group of engine followers that claim their choice of engine is better. The Detroit will get, on average, better mpg, parts are very easy to find and inexpensive, and it is amazing what you can get out of a DDEC IV 12.7 engine. There are many people that are putting down 600+ hp out of them, while at the same time hitting mid 7's for mpg. It is all in how you drive it. They are easy and relatively inexpensive to do upgrade mods as well.

I ordered a glider (due in any day) that has a factory remanned pre-egr DDEC IV 60 12.7 500 hp engine in it. Parts are lined up to change out the exhaust manifold to a ported and coated one, getting rid of the wastegated turbo for a larger T6 borgwarner 171702 turbo with a blanket on it, and it is getting Walker megaflow mufflers on the stacks.

That is not saying a Cat 6NZ or even a 3406E wouldn't be a good choice. They are both great engines. But you will have an overall lifetime maintenance cost that is higher and, more often than not, they will not get the mpg you can out of the Detroit. Those are average estimates. Some will do better than others.

 

Unless you plan on running "off road", I don't see the need for the heavier axles... I mean you can only run 34K. But if heavier is working for you, then why change ? I do find Rockwell/Meritor does make a better axle. The heavier axle housing makes better sense because it doesn't allow for much flexing under heavy loads which will help your tires wear more evenly.

From what I was told by a guy promoting Gliders at a truck show I attended just a few months ago, was that you can utilize any new from the factory per-emission engine, in my case a N14. The issue you will find is that this truck will not be legal in Calif after 2014.

 

Unless you plan on running "off road", I don't see the need for the heavier axles... I mean you can only run 34K. But if heavier is working for you, then why change ? I do find Rockwell/Meritor does make a better axle. The heavier axle housing makes better sense because it doesn't allow for much flexing under heavy loads which will help your tires wear more evenly.

From what I was told by a guy promoting Gliders at a truck show I attended just a few months ago, was that you can utilize any new from the factory per-emission engine, in my case a N14. The issue you will find is that this truck will not be legal in Calif after 2014.

 

The CA issue is a good point but he is running the east coast.

 

Is this posted twice?

 

I have been told that the 60 is cheaper to fix but was told that I will not be able to get 1850T. I was looking to run 525HP/1850T.
The 46000 rears would be coming out of the truck that I haul the dump trailer with now. They are Meritor full lockers, we will be sending them in as cores and get factory rebuilds back.

One of my trucks is a 1999 and the other is a 2000 and both of them have the Cummins N14 now and we have really liked these motors but we have been told we can not get these in the gliders from Wester Star. The 1999 will be my donor truck so it has the 46 rears and a 18 speeds so we will turn that in for a core also so we can get a new/factory rebuild. My only thing now is I need to find out what gearing I want on the new 46K rears.

Do any of you know what the sweet spot is for the 2000-2003 Cat C-15? Around 1400RPM?
Also what gearing for the rear would be good for hauling the reefer trailer around 72mph and still give me what I need for some of the hills here and junk roads in the winter when hauling salt?

Right now I think those 46K rears we will be turning in have 3.91 and that might be lower then we want. I would like to be in the sweet spot around 70-74 mph....

 

From what I have found, you either get long legs or you climb up hills. My 3.36 rears with a 13A tranny and 12.7 putting 390hp to the ground makes mountains unbearable with any kind of weight, however I'm doing 70 at 1425. I really like the Series 60, and I've owned 5 of them now. I'm making the decision this week on buying a 625hp C15 cat powered truck, and lack of familiarity is what's causing my indecision. Good luck on your decisions. If you don't mind, could you give me a roundabout price on your glider. I like the look of the new SB and have thought about donating my complete running gear into one. You can PM if you don't want it public. Thanks.