Would a cabover be a first good truck? Would my plan be economical?

I’d you’re gonna live in it
Get something with a stand up sleeper and room to build a shower and chemical toilet .

cabovers are ok , I liked my international 9700 with the set back steer axle , but having a stand up sleeper and room for a shower is a requirement if you’re gonna live in a truck .

if you’re gonna be an owner ,
You need to be a decent mechanic .

right now it’s pretty easy to make $90-100-125k as a company driver and get decent benifits vacation health insurance etc and let someone else worry about the maintenance and repairs and fuel costs .

 

What happens when you break down the truck is in a shop in bfe no where because you can’t afford the $7000 tow bill to move it to a better shop 300 miles away and you can’t stay on the premises, they are not going to be responsible for someone breaking into it and it will be there for at least a month thanks to no one even knows how to work on it because they are all parts changers?

be realistic, get a newer truck, something that can be serviced almost anywhere, where parts are still available, and something that wasn’t patched together through the years by morons who used nails for fuses.

 

if it's gota be a cab over .. I agree .a big bunk aerodyne
what's not really been mentioned is if your gona live in it you gona have to unload about 80% of all your personal belongings everytime the cab has to be tilted

 

Or you can be a bad mechanic but learn through youtube and here. I've saved thousands since getting my MC from these two resources. It's just too expensive to take your truck in everytime a sensor goes out or the AC starts acting up on your APU etc.

 

With a cabover you just have to have everything secured
Same as a big boat or motorhome .

 

At the end of the year, they will be within Pennys for cost to operate,

coming from someone that runs a 1997 every day

fuel isn’t really all that big of a deal though

 

Well, I'll tell ya', I like the cut of your jib, meaning, you are one of the 1st in a long time here to think logically. So many today, perhaps with grandpas money, go out and buy a new large car, that turns up at the sheriffs sale abandoned months later. Getting a cheaper truck is a great idea, if it doesn't work out, and there's every indication it won't today, you can still have a life not burdened by debt. Personally, I hated cabovers, but an old Schneider IH could be had cheap, some still very roadworthy, and for under $10grand, you can be in business. I think time is limited on pre-emission trucks, as all trucks will need to comply soon but for now, an older truck is the way to go. My advice, find an O/O old timer throwing in the towel, and the truck was their baby. They can tell you everything they did, and maybe a hauling contract to boot. Best of luck, keep us posted, eh?

 

Pop had a driver that was known for keeping his cheater pipe shoved down in the front of his mattress ( Cabover ) for use as a “hey get out of my truck”!

During a routine maintenance the cab was tilted to pull the valve covers and make adjustments. Cheater pipe found its way down on the ground in front of the truck by way of the windshield.

More to driving a Cabover than holding the wheel….

 

small camper in a campground is way cheaper than apartments.

 

That 78 Aerodyne was one of my favorites, still had to crawl over the doghouse but once behind the seat you could stand up no problem to shuck your britches on. No power steering but still a good truck, power steering would have made it a Cadillac for a Cabover in that time.

That Gray colored Shaker was a decent truck. I was setting in Mattoon, Illinois one night when driving it, big storm came through and I got awakened by water drops. Previous owner had removed the strobe on top but not sealed up the screw holes very well lol….