Just wanting to put some feelers out. The company I work for is looking for a few new (to us. They are insisting on used) service trucks. They are also insisting on Pete, KW or in a pinch Sterling trucks. In the 26,000 to 33,000 range are these really the only trucks to have. We do go in and out of rough ground (rock quarry benches), and the brass claim is that only the Paccar trucks can keep a frontend under them. I've seen several good deals on Fords (f650 and f750) and Chevys (c6500 and c7500) and International (4300). Are these the kind of trucks to look past and wait on a pete, etc. or is someone making a judgement on un-real-world experience here. Just wondering. I am currently running a 4700 binder and would take another in a heartbeat (just newer and with a suspension seat). Give me your thoughts....
All things being equal I believe any stock truck with the right specs to do the job is about as reliable as the other. With exception to cab durability,"I have seen a lot of busted up Freightliners" they are about the same in that weight class. That being said,I only own heavy trucks and they are all Kenworths.
If they want to spend pete money buy a pete. I wouldnt scoff at a nice used international though.
Pete's and KW's are like Chevy's and GMC's. Both are made by Paccar or General Motors depending on how you look at it. Both newer Pete's and KW's are also full of plastic, fiberglass and held together by rivets. If you want something to take off road, look at a late model Mack. If you have deep pockets and want to look cool, then Pete and KW is the way to go. If you want something that you cant get parts for, anything from the European market ( volvo, sterling, or anything with a mercedes diesel).
your making me laugh with the mack comments Pete. The new Mack's are the most plastic out of all the above. I know a fuel hauler that was on the brink of suing mack after trying to keep their trucks running and driving. Even though i don't think mack even has a MDT like hes looking for. Buying a USED anything can be a crap shoot anymore. Hell if your looking for the ultimate service truck ever for off road ENG's Motor trucks in Reno has a late model OSHKOSH all wheel drive service truck that is the cats pajamas.
"Late model" Anything new is made mostly of plastic and is full of crumple zones.
Maybe my opinion is skewed from experience, but the first thing I would be looking at is the capability of the manufacturer/dealer to give you the level of support that you need (even if it's only parts) the particular model or model of truck you are looking at. Even the best of trucks breaks sometimes and the key to keeping the wheels rolling is how fast you can get what you need to fix the problem. Unless support was available I'd shy away from anything "special", it usually means that parts for it are fabricated from that rarest of metals - "unobtainium".
See this is where I was looking for advise at. I'm a mechanic, so I understand the way the things are with stuff breaking. ANYONE'S interior widget can break (and they do). From what I can see engines aren't the issue. Most of the manufacturers are either running c7 cats or ISB or ISC cummins, so that is relatively the same across brands. (International is diferent with the DT466, but I'm running one now and love it so that point is moot too) Transmissions are relatively the same. So what I'm getting at is probably more chassis related. The reason I was given is that they can't keep front axles together under the f650s in the company. Are the front axles in ford or chevys that much weaker than those in a Paccar or sterling? The other side is their search criteria is a certain year (less than 3 years old), certain mileage (less than 60,000), certain equipment (minimum 8k crane, bed size to the large end) and all under $90,000, preferably $80,000. I really don't have a problem with any of this.... sounds like a heck of a truck. BUT they aren't out there. I have found ford or chevys that come close, but the brass doesn't seem interested....
Hi ! all truck are good when spec'ed properly but there is always some better than the other , My choice : 1- Oshkosh is almost understroyable 2- Mack (old models ) 3- Western Star 4-KW 5- the rest , but I would go with Volvo before any others Pete is not there yet but theay realy want to make there part of the market in the vocational industry . 99- Sterling nice cheap but make sure you weld some good flat bar to keep the cab on the frame ! lol By the way how come no one is talking about the new CAT truck ???? all the others can't tell never drove any
It has been several years since I sold trucks, but I doubt much has changed. I don't want to offend anyone here, but unless something has changed, Freightliner is the worst of the worst in medium duty, probably followed by Ford and GM. I would go for a medium duty KW as first choice, Pete second, International third. All trucks are not the same, regardless of what some might say.
My buddy down the street has a fleet of 24 tractors pulling 40' dump trailers mostly on road but a lot of demo/landfill/scrap work.They were all Petes until two years ago when a smooth talking salesman convinced him of the low cost,cheap operating expense,great looking long nosed Freightliners powered by wonderful,powerful,fuel effecient Mercedes engines were the way to go. So he leases 12 of these Freightliners and instantly realizes he is not getting 6 miles to the gallon but 4mpg.The trucks won't pull a sick whore of a **** pot when he was promised they would smoke his remaining Petes with 475 CATs and within the first year the dashboards are literally falling on the floor,the Mercedes are blowing head gaskets and the cab roofs are cracking. You get what you pay for and he realizes that now so he is replacing the Freightliners with KWs and more Petes.
two big mistake ! ( no intend to be rude here ) 1- going with 12 trucks up-front !!! go with one or two 2- fetch around with people or other company thta has those machines ! Quality is never cheap !! up front but after 5 years the Pete still roaring but the freight might not roar or you won't hear it cause of the tons of rattles !!!!
I couldn't agree more Andre,but that was the guy's decision. Way back in 76' I think it was when we were all still running our Brockways which were nothing but good to us, one of our buddies traded in his Brockway for "the new to the market" Freightliner long nose,axle forward conventional with a 350 Cummins and a 13 speed. He did not have it a week and the drivers door used to open by itself as he would make a right hand turn and in two years it was a pile of junk and he was looking for another Brockway. BTW/The dealer never could stop that door from opening and the guy put a friggin' sliding deadbolt on the inside so he wouldn't fall out of the truck!
I've seen a lot of the mid-sized KW and Petes on the road and heard few complaints about them. When I was running a dealer shop we dumped all the GM units as everything that you could imagine could go wrong, did. The issue with the mid sized Fords was the cab and seating position which seemed to tip the drivers forward and gave plenty of neck and back problems. The local Cat dealer bought KW for awhile but speced the small engines and quickly turned them into aggravations instead of high mile service trucks. Now most of the dealers are running Pete or went back to the Super Duty Fords. Apparently Ford put different tires on the Super Duty rigs and the operating costs went back to a reasonable level. We had decent luck with the small Internationals. The biggest problem was the fiberglass hoods would crack and bust up. Most of my dealer time in the field was in a F550 and other than the tires and no power, the truck actually was cost effective. It was a pain when I had to run two hundred miles to a job and I would have loved the bigger truck with the air ride seat. For short hops around town though it worked good.
http://www.truckpaper.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=2859351& Last truck you would have to buy for a long time!
Now THATS a service truck. You are right, last one you would probably ever have to buy. I bet you will get sticker shock though. Quality like that don't come cheap.
We have 6 different lube trucks that run in and out of mines all day. 2 petes, 2 KW, 1 international,1 volvo, 1 Sterling, the Sterling has by far run better with less problems.
Pity Scania havent broken into the market over there, they outlast most of our other trucks we have had on site, Mack Sterling Volvo ect
They are heavily into the market here, and their trucks are excellent as is their parts & service backup. We've thrown all the US manufacturers into touch and gone for a mix of Scania & Mercedes.
Are you serious here about the Sterling ??? lucky you cause around here some of the Sterling I saw have no radio whatsoever only rattles that make so much music !! broken cab mount broken door mount !! used a gravel truck on lots of hills but not that worst condition than anyother trucks !!!! Still believe that OSHKOSH is way in front !! pricey maybe but the best , also lovve to see thos Scania , when I was in Europe we saw many of those and they are great .
sterlings of old were just the ford Louisville cab with freightliner guts. I still have a basterdised cargo 9000 cabover that wears sterling badges
The F/L door story reminds me of something What is the difference between a door to door salesman and a Freightliner? You can close the door on a door to door salesman
my favorite thing about freightliners is the fact that TO THIS DAY 5 years later they still cant figure out how to make the turn signals work with out turning on the windshield wipers in the M2's