We are a farm operation needing to add on a single axle truck for minimum duty - hauling hay and light equipment etc. We have found a 2006 Sterling 9500 - 400k miles that was a transfer truck not a dock bumper. It is in solid shape with a Detroit 400hp - 90 percent tires and brakes - no leaks, rust - 10 speed Fuller etc.... I trust the dealer and he has provided the PM Records for the life of the truck. Am I looking at a good deal @ $17,500.00 - Should I look to a truck that is still in production for parts? Is this truck built to snatch farm loads and stay together for several years. Will likely put less than 30k miles per year? I am a farmer - ask me about grain and cattle production and I can talk to you for months. Ask me about a truck - i can give you ten minutes of what I know. please help with your advice thanks
That don't sound to bad to me, and the Detroit is a big plus. I am a farmer to, but also in the construction business so I pretty we'll have to know about trucks, although an 06 is newer than I know much about, so hopefully you can get some more input from the others.
Does the truck have a body on it? and is it the length you are looking for? Or will you need to modify it?
I bought a 2006 sterling tandem day cab a few years back with the 515hp detroit. It has been nothing but trouble, we dont run ours everyday either. I think its only had 15,000 miles put on it since we bought it. The troubles havent been major but enough for it to go to the dealer, which accounts for half the miles! I have not and am not pleased at all with this truck. They are put together very very cheap. The interior of the cab is falling apart from poor construction, bad wiring design, cheap wiper motors constantly broken, etc...etc. The truck has been very well taken care of, and only has 160,000 miles on it. Its out on a job right now but when it comes back its getting sold. I would avoid a Sterling but i know guys who have had pretty good luck with them so its tough to say what to do. I dont think that asking price if very good though. I bought mine for $22,000 at a local auction. It is a 2006 with a 13 speed, day cab, 515hp, aluminum wheels, good tires, 145,000 miles. That would maybe give some perspective. I couldnt say for sure what its worth but i would think around $10-$12k would be a start for auction prices. Obviously a dealer is going to be more than that. Good luck!
We have a 95 Pete with a 12.7 Detroit that runs great very few issues an a ton of miles. We also have a 04 Freightliner with the 14L Detroit that is the biggest piece of garbage I have ever seen, nonstop wiring/ECU issues, fuel leaks, fix the fuel leaks an it loses fuel prime for weeks after. In the past year it spent 40 percent of the time in the shop. If it was my money I would buy something with a N14 or a Cat. Just my 2 cents.
It is in good shape regarding the body. Paint is good with no rust or signs of neglect. It was a Penske lease truck to Jake Foods Just not sure about the miles and dont want to open a Pandoras Box of repair bills etc.
Thanks for your post Barklee. I am really on edge now. I have heard some say that the Detroit is solid as a rock and others say to stay with the Cats etc. I can see that the cab has its problems. Loose dash that has been worked on and seat controls that are in a bad place etc. Compared to the price you paid - and considering miles makes me stop and think. Used truck prices have climbed back up since 2008/09 and finding anything on a lot for 10 or 12 seems to be hard to do. Thanks for your help. We might need to think about this a bit more.
If you know very little about trucks, do as you want, but if your basing your buying on others advice, your never going to buy anything, you'll always get every answer under the sun, your asking the ford, gm, and dodge debate on trucks, but with trucks you need to remember one thing over pickups, most of the components in trucks are universal, meaning fuller makes most of the transmissions for all makes, allison makes all the automatics, engines are the same too, detroits, cats, cummins pretty well cover them all, throw in a few odd balls like volvo, mack and others, rear ends are mostly rockwell, susupensions are air ride and a few make them. So the bulk of the guts of a truck are mostly the same, the differences come in with the cabs and how they are assembled and who you get parts from. Mack is pretty much all mack, they use their own engine, rear ends and for many years had their own tranny, not sure of today, but they still have their own engine. Some prefer cat engines, you couldn't give me a truck with a cat in it, no matter what, I'm a cummins man and never owned a detroit in a truck, but would buy one from what I've heard about them, I'd never buy any truck with a spicer tranny in it, mainly because I've owned some spicer's and hated them, I'm a fuller eaton man all the way, love my 13 speeds the best in any truck, allisons are good too, wouldn't do anything other for an automatic, as for what make to buy, I like the internationals and my wife loves the pete's, I don't, why, its like asking why I like cummins over cat, personal preference I guess and history, I've owned fords, now sterling and I'll pass, mainly because of my dealer, I've also got freightliner trucks I call freightshakers, the doors are crappy but the trucks are descent enough and my dealer is excellent to work with. If I were you I'd base my decision off of dealer support and history of others as far as dealer support, if people in general like your local dealer and get decent service and have someone there that can fix something and trouble shoot problems and your dealer isn't 200 miles one way away, that's where I'd start my search with. The make model and year mean nothing to me since you asked. Right now I own a freightliner, one international and two pete's and three have cummins and one international engine, one cummins has been nothing but trouble from day one, but my dealer finally figured out what was wrong with it after years of fighting and solved the issue, now its just like all the rest, I also farm and do excavation and put very few miles in any of my trucks, but when you need them you need them, so I have them. As for buying newer to have fewer problems, good luck with that one, as one old timer told me once, buy whatever you want and when your tired of putting money into it, get rid of it and start over again on the next one, that statement pretty much covers it, its a truck not a pickup, or car your always going to put money in it, if you have the idea of buying newer low milage and run it for years without spending much on it like a pickup or car, your in for a considerable shock after your first purchase of whatever you buy, just my two cents worth, do as you please.
Randy Thanks for the reply. What you are saying makes sense. We take the same approach to our farm equipment and most of that is way out there in price. I guess it was the 460k miles and the Sterling name that threw us off. From what some operators are telling me - i shoukd add it all up. Some say that they don't worry about the Detroit 12.7 until a million miles others have different opinions. This one is a Eaton Trans and no frills - and it is clear that the inside of the truck is built on the cheap. The outside is in good shape. If it will tow our smaller tractors and snatch hay loads from our meadows without blowing up or catching fire - it is a win. No preference on the make or model - was going on price and a push from my friend. I will take your advice - i just hope my "good luck" fairy is out of town when i buy one. He seems to throw my plans into the fire more and more. Dont want to step over a dollar to pick up a dime. Thanks for your consideration
psbhouston, you mentioned maintenance records, does the unit have an hour meter on it somewhere, and do the records record oil changes, I'm not really worried about a day cab single axle, but heads up on something larger, I know some fleets run oil changes on miles, but run the engine 24/7 and they idle all night long, putting the hours at a change every 1000 hours or so, and the run data to know to dump the truck before that 500-600k miles just slightly before engine problems occur, just something to ponder over and remember. But to a point your right the engine should go a million miles, now saying that, I've known a dozen that didn't make 600k too before something major happened, you farm you know how things go in life, trucks are no different. Just a heads up, there are 10 speeds and there are what's called super 10's, avoid the super 10 like the plague, they are nice to run, but since your paying the repairs, you will not be a happy camper when that time rolls around, again its just one persons opinion, to tell the difference a regular 10 has a button to switch from high to low range, a super ten does it by sliding the gear shift to the side is all. The truck your looking at I bought one similar to that for my first truck, to do about what your planning on doing with yours, mine was a ford, with a cat and 10 speed, we just grew out of it is all, I'd do my best to talk you into a tandem right from the start, they are about the same price and far more out there to chose from and I never knew anyone who bought a single that didn't after a short time buy a tandem to replace it. Best of luck on your search.
Is the detroit a 14 Litre? I dont have any experience with these detroits, but I think a small engine would be all you would need in a truck like that. We have a sterling dump truck at work, and never had any problems with the dash. I guess you either get a good dash or dont. It seems more truck interiors are being built on the cheap thee days, so it can be hard to find a good one.
Randy, always interested in your point of view...can you elaborate on why the tandems are a better buy?
14 seems a little high for a single axle road tractor... they run 6-10 or ex fleet stuff... where you will get in trouble with a single axle is in rear axle weight. lets say you have a 48' flat bed with the trailer axles all the way back, your weight will run almost 50% 50% between whats on the trailer axles and whats on the truck depending on load configuration. With a single rear your limited to probably 23k on the truck. Also when you add up all your axles, your short the 80k legal limits. 12 + 23 + 40 = 75k. Also as a farmer your not going to keep the tractor on clean dry pavement, so heavier rears with lockers or power dividers would be good and maybe a double frame. A configuration similar to this would not be a bad farm tractor... http://www.truckpaper.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=4137763
Thanks for your post. We are considering another day cab with tandems. For price and better hauling ranges it makes sense. The only factor in us looking at the single axle is how we intend to use it. We are mostly towing hay dollies and containers which are not heavy. Yes we will also pull a smaller trailer but no heavy loads. The safety factor in stopping ability is a big plus. I have slid thru the last stop light with that one ton - makes me drink too much.
Sterling - run the other way I worked for a local Sterling / Ford Truck dealer. For a good while, I was the service liaison between the shop and the customer. I would ALWAYS get skinned alive by customers I visited that were TRYING to keep Sterlings on the road... One customer took 5 trucks off the road and kept two on the road and used the spare 5 trucks as parts...Zero product support. Even at $12,000 - it is not a good deal if the product does not have durability and reliability. As a strong suggestion run the other way....
Shenandoah, sorry I didn't get back to you on your question, somehow I missed your post, as for a tandem over a single axle, I've done both over the years, and if your only going to replace a one ton truck or something like that, single axles are fine and work great, but for any farmer, bigger is never big enough, one step leads to another and they are always trying to pull something just a bit bigger than they should. A tandem is far easier to find than a descent single axle truck and most times the trucks are the same expect for the second axle, with more available, tandems are most times cheaper and with far more available to choose from, you have more choices to look at and a better chance to find one worth taking home, at least in my area, not sure of other areas. If there is any difference in price, its not much, now that said, both have an engine, transmission and rear axles, with a tandem you have two rear ends verses one, all the rest of the truck has the same amount and number of everything, a tandem most times has heavier everything throughout the truck, from clutches to drivelines to transmissions verses a single axle truck. As for brands, I prefer those that have good dealer support in your area, for me, that international or freightliner, ford flat out suck for dealer support. Nothing does me any good if I can't get parts to keep it running no matter who high priced or cheap it is to buy, my wife likes peterbilts, but I fix them and don't share the same appeal to them, mainly for parts availability in my area, same for kenworths, we won't discuss mack or volvo's in my area because I'd have to build my own parts if I needed them as bad as the support is for them from my experience. I prefer cummins or detroit over anything else again dealer support in my area, I love a 13 speed and would want full lockers on the rear end, a jake and would only consider a tandem, mainly because the dot frowns on pulling 80,000 with a single axle, personal experience speaking on that one of course, but then again they are not fond of hauling over 100,000 lbs of grain on a tandem either, something about never big enough did I mention that before, again from personal expereince so for any farmer I'd definately go with a tandem right from the start, same goes for grain trailers, tandems are by far easier to find and buy used over a single axle trailer. If you end up with a single axle, you can buy shorter neck trailers to pull behind it, the problem with that is, only you can pull them, I had three trailers to match my single truck, when I got the first tandem, none had a long enough neck to hook up to the tandem, so the trailers sat most of the time, I finally got tired of them and sold them all along with the single axle truck, now all trailers hook to any of my trucks, meaning, if something has a problem, we just take another, no more does it fit behind this truck, or can I pull this trailer with the truck I have today or do I need a different truck, simple in sounds, but a total pain in the butt in reality. Then comes the wet kit verses a pony motor debate on trailers and the single line wet kit verses the two line wet kit debate, now all my trucks have both, so I can hook to any trailer sitting on my lot and not need to worry about which truck I have even with a tandem axle.
This has been fantastic advice, I upgraded from a one ton truck to a single axle 4700. For what I was doing, its great! For what I think I want to do, i dont know how well its going to work. I think Im going to end up buying a tandem day cab and a step deck to do my hay and equipment hauling and leave the 4700 to doing the horse moving even though I have a small GN that is very easy to get in and around places! I enjoy reading threads like these because I tend to stew on something quite awhile before I make a major purchase. Thanks for all the helpful insight fellas.
Check to see if they have done oil analysis on the motor oil, trans and rear . If they have done them at least on the motor at the oil changes it will give you a better feel about that, also they may offer to do the trans. and rear if you ask. Paul