What is the best newer semi truck to work on yourself?

FLD120 with Detroit ( I’m biased) if you are concerned about MPG. Well, thats if you are doing basic on highway trucking. N14’s are good but getting good injectors I hear is difficult. Cat 3406 is great. I think it can get decent MPG too in the right set up.

Nothing new is easy to work on. Nothing new is easy to diagnose. I wouldn’t take a Cummins if I was given ten of them. Or a Paccar. Detroit would also win here.

 

Just throw this out there your thinking about pre-emissions truck you should remember you looking 15 + year old trucks with any where from 1.5 to 3 million miles .. I not a expert but I’ve work on a fair amount of those trucks they be hard on your check book too there’s things that wear out and then when you fix that issue you find there more issues that need to be addressed and it starts getting costly in a hurry to fix things .. And if you are limited on your ability or tools to fix some of these thing labor plays a even more costly effect .. Just saying
Now that said would I buy a newer emissions truck? No way in Hell would I … But there is very little I can’t fix on a older truck but parts still cost money and down time just remember that

 

Couple questions, are you going to be living in the truck, where are you trucking, and most important, where's the money coming from? Older trucks are okay, but not to live in. A condo sleeper type is best for that, and where are you planning to truck, mountains, midwest flatland? And last, very few lending institutions will finance an older truck. If you fail, there's nothing for them. Someone here a short time back, posted a mid 80s Ford LTL 9000, BC 400 that was one sweet truck in its time, but today, to make any money, I'm not so sure. I say, if you do go the used route, get a big sleeper KWhopper from someone throwing in the towel. Usually their baby, and can provide all records, and you still have a shred in resale. Not sure if you do Facebook, but the Marketplace is the new hot button for selling stuff. How about a '72 Diamond Reo cabover,,$5500 bucks,,needs work. Good luck, keep us posted, eh?

 

lookin cool ain’t cheap

 

00 is more than likely a 2ws or 6nz, everyone gets all hot and bothered over the 6nz but they are pretty much identical to the 2ws other that a few small changes and very few of them are Elog exempt, the 06 is probably a MBN which were actually pretty decent, but the acrts were a lot harder of fuel from the factory, they really need a good tune

fully restored pre everything trucks are 100k, whether you spend 100k for one all done or 20k on a truck and put 80k into it no matter how you slice it