looking at replaceing my service truck with another one, found an 06 sterlin with cat 3116 an auto Allison trains, bout 300,000 miles guy asking 10,900 truck looks good, but I don't wanta get another lemon, im currently in a 01 international 4700 190 hp dt466e, automatic , not real impressed with it.
Sterlings are now orphans. Parts are hard to get. Sterling was a victim of the 08 recession. Daimler ended up with Sterling and chose to bury it instead of competing with Freightliner, which they also own. The 3116 is a decent motor, but not know for having much power. Probably equivalent to the 466 you describe, though maybe a little less reliable. Nothing wrong with the Allison.
Personally I would look for a business class KW, Pete or Freightliner with a 3126. Or a Freightliner FL70 with an 8.3 cummins with air brakes. Either the 3126 or 8.3 is a decent engine. And look for something you can buy cab parts for.
Don't rule out the medium duty cab over trucks. Most are Japanese in origin and run far cheaper than their conventional cab cousins.
Shouldn't an '06 truck have a 3126 instead of a 3116? Same here on the sentiment of Sterling, no longer in production so parts availability will only get harder to source. It's not the mechanical parts that'll be hard to find, it's that one off ball electrical part specific to Sterling that will getcha'.
Where I worked they had a 2006 LT 9500 with the Mercedes/Detroit Diesel engine. It is used strictly as an off-road water truck in the quarry. It actually was spec'd as a snow plow truck for the county but apparently dealer ordered one too many! I always thought it was crazy to take an over the road truck like that and put it in a job where it was not designed to go was crazy. Just in the gearing it's a waste to have a truck that is probably geared for highway speeds to be used where the top speed it will ever see is 25 mph and while watering the roads maybe 10 mph. Then there are the tires. That truck eats them up like Doritos at a pot party! Sorry got off on a tangent a bit, I have to agree on staying clear of the Sterling. As for electrical things one time I was trying to figure out a problem and was asking for some advice on a wiring diagram and was told that the Sterling engineers could barely figure those out!
wow,, makes since,,, ya don't throw a city slicker truck out in the field for hard work,,,,,sound liketo me ya needed an ole lat 70s or early 80s auto car for a good ole water trucking in the quary,,,, talking bout low geared thanks for input too
Well up to this point water trucks we used in the quarries around the state were mostly old DM800 Macks that had been used as stocking trucks in the plants and were being replaced with newer Macks. Most of them were geared for top speeds of 45 mph and many had the old twin-stick QuadraPlex trans. I will agree the water system on the Sterling was a major improvement over the home-brewed systems we had used. Would have liked to had a good old DM800 and maybe a budget of 50% the cost of the Sterling to put into refurbishing it then give it to the water truck company to install the tank and pump system they put one the Sterling. That would be a truck that would laugh at abuse that would kill the Sterling!
That right there is a "Keeper".....