Who works on there own trucks

I'm a big fan of Harbor Freight. Got some of the equipment to overhaul my pre 12.7 from them. Cherry picker, sled gauge, plastic putty knifes for rolling bearings. Check em out if you have not already.

 

Funny thing is I have fired "mechanics" that ended up at dealerships. Even the so called mechanics do not know how to perform a test as simple as a voltage drop test. Once had a new Sterling with customer having several starting problems that were "fixed" on the road. Had to eventually stand over my union mechanic and over see this test. found a battery cable from the factory with the terminal held on with shrink wrap. No solder, no crimp.

 

There are companies out there that do a very good business building gliders with proven and reliable components. Detroit 12.7 pre emission. Eaton 10 speed. 3.55 rears. These trucks are getting 7+ mpg. and are durable. In my mind Freightliner is the best because of there larger than all others parts distribution. Although KW and Pete offer better rides, parts can be more expensive.

 

My old truck was a freightliner 02 Columbia. Wish I had it back! Lol

You have to adopt a different mindset as an O/O vs a driver. Which truck will be the most dependable and cheapest to repair. Freightliner with a Detroit whether a pre emissions 12.7 or a brand new truck with the DD15 or 16... those trucks win the "cost to operate" battle with ease.. in my opinion. Freightliner cabs hold up fine for otr use. If you were to put one out in the oil field or other rough environment, I would imagine it would come back in boxes...but for otr they're fine. A WHOLE LOT of that is dependent on the driver. My old Columbia had over 800k on it when I sold it and the cab was still fairly tight and solid. I spent the first couple months of owneship tightening screws and stopping squeaks and rattles, but after that...pretty decent.

You can get Pete, KW and FL gliders these days..all with a good choice of pre emissions engines. Personally, I would have nothing but a 12.7 myself in a glider.

 

Just over hauled my 12.7 for under 5k that was with all the special tools. Have a classic flat top. the sleeper is cavernous compared to others.

 

What is a DOT fixes?

 

I will tackle many things that I used to wouldn't bother with out of sheer laziness. I don't have a shop for now but a couple of years ago I bought a gas powered compressor and put it in the back of my pickup. I have all the tools I need to do tire work and just about anything else really - then started doing all of that on my own tire work after I got a compressor. People can say what they will about paying someone else to do tire work, rotations, etc. I never waste time during the work week, or out of route miles to a shop, when I could be doing something productive, with minor maintenence issues like that. I deal with it on my weekend off. Have always done my own pm's. I do minor stuff outside of the engine - swap a turbo, change a water pump - that sort of thing. Do my brakes. Self taught on all of it. Saved a lot of money and headaches doing what I could myself. I still use a shop to run the overhead or for things I'm not comfortable tackling. Clutch job comes to mind there. I know basically how the A/C system all works but I really don't know how to work on it so I farm that out.

 

I was the same on a/c repairs. but a friend that runs a shop taught me. it is pretty simple now that I know.