1999 sterling L8511 dump truck anyone know anything about them or sterlings in general. Are parts hard to get for them?
Lol. OMG. Let me tell you. Yeah, parts are hard to get unless you are very creative. Best way to describe a Sterling would be if Ford and Freightliner had a illegitimate child. Cab, body, interior, wiring, accessories are a no go. Engine, Trans, suspension is the regular stuff. Except steering and front suspension, that stuff is available, but difficult. I kept a unit in Haines going and one in Juneau. What a nightmare. Company finally allowed me to give them both away when the frame broke on the JNU rig.
Everybody knows Mercedes owns and or had controling interest of Freightliner and Sterling. When they aquared Ford they changed the name to Sterling. During the 2008-9 financial crisis they pulled the Sterling plug. Told all those long term American workers to have a nice life. The last Sterling left here about a year or two ago. We could get most anything from the Freightliner dealer with a little time. The bit older Fords are getting really hard to get cab parts for. The Sterlings will be following. Get the last 8 of the vin and call your Freightliner dealer.
80% of the ones I see for sale, the dash is all cracked and busted up.
No way to fix the dashes, either. Just a mass of brittle, crumbling, junk. The entire assembly moves about, creaks and makes crackling noises while you drive them. 80’s Chrysler products had a notoriously bad interior plastic. Sterlings are worse.
I have one with a busted up dash. I found a company in Miami that makes a replacement for around $2100.00 plus shipping. It's made of fiberglass with steel embedded in it.
That’s good to know. Thanks Can you post a link?
You can now get new dashes from a place in Florida
https://www.dashdesigncorp.com/
Thanks
My buisness partner had one for site work as a ten wheel dump truck, he loved that truck, c12 Cat, 4 way lock rears, heavy front, tight turning radius, comfortable cab. As a mechanic, the wiring harness and main distribution box are mounted on the splash guard over the left wheel, getting soaked constantly with sand salt dirt and water. Dash board was held together with random pieces of plastic. Half the engine was under the cab.
$2,100 is kinda spendy, but much cheaper than getting a new truck. There were a lot of national boom trucks mounted on the sterling trucks, and I've always steered away because of the busted up dashes. That and they liked to put the mercedes mbe4000 in them, which no one wants to work on.
But in the end you still have a sterling. Some things are best to walk away from. My advise to anyone looking at a newer used with air disc brakes, keep looking. If your set on it at least have all the wheels removed while you are standing there and inspect the rotors for cracks, pad thickness, wheel seals leaking, and the slider boots are in good condition. Because a major brake job could hit $5,000. Bendix calipers are as much as $1,400 each, Wabco $600, rotors $200, pads $200 a axle set, air chambers $160 to $190 ea. AIR DISC BRAKES SUCK.
Link belt has a new 100 ton truck crane out. A big selling point in their ad was the all new design hendrikson suspension and all disc brakes. I thought of you and kind of chuckled when I saw the ad. " Air disc brakes, another first for the hydraulic truck crane market, will improve brake performance and reduce maintenance time. " https://www.linkbelt.com/article/21_08_19_link-belt-showcase-new-era-truck-crane
Yup----Over the road crane service-fixing a problem that doesn't exist.
Some years back I inspected some Demag AT cranes that had all disk brakes. There was an oily mess on the back sides of most of the wheels. You would think that there would be plenty of room in something that big to work on things when needed. These units would have been a nightmare.
The state is selling a sterling semi in Haines, is this by chance the one you worked on ? I've been trying to find some info on those rigs. I wish it wasn't a sterling, but I sure would like having an automatic. Also interested in the equipment trailer they are selling. https://www.govdeals.com/en/asset/1956/8335
My old Haines Sterling is a single axle, 2,800 gallon tanker. I think it’s parked at a mine, out the road. I’ve seen that rig around, but don’t know anything about it. The State does a decent effort to keep their gear DOT legal along with a modicum of Mx. That might be just the rig you need. She’ll haul the mail. What’s new in Haines? I haven’t visited for awhile. It would be a good place to settle down, raise a family, have a little greenhouse. Sell some herb to the tourists.
I actually haven't been to Haines before. I'm in Wasilla but I saw the truck and trailer on the state auction website, so I've been trying to dig up any information I can on the truck, only has 4500 hrs. I really like the state folding neck 3 axle trailer compared to the 2 axle detach gooseneck I have. Also deciding if I need it, I have a couple older trucks that do the job, but I dont want anyone else to touch them. With the automatic, and low hours I wouldn't mind having someone else drive it if I ever hired someone.
Sterlings are probably less desirable than a Cat truck lol.
My avatar tractor came from Haines. A trade for a long overdue fuel bill that never got paid. A ridiculously short wheelbase, Yukon Territory speced rig. She’s up in the oil patch pulling tanks around for Colville, nowadays. I should probably post a new avatar, but nobody would recognize me. Welcome to the HEF, Austin AK. It’s great to have another Wasillabilly hanging out with us.
The Cat may develop a quirky following or gain some collector appreciation 20 years from now. Someone like Cletus McFarland will start gathering them up for his future Caterpillar CT660 museum.
Cool that it's still out there working. thanks! I haven't been active on forums since AK euro days when I was driving my rally car VW haha. I'm in equipment more than the trucks nowadays. The trucks support the jobs and if I have time I'll run loads for buddies or the random call. Most of our jobs are residential. I have a 01 f-liner classic XL I got from RL trucking. My first truck. I love the n14 it has, the rest of the truck is tired but it hasn't let me down. Most comfortable truck. A 04 t800 ism. End dump I bought from my neighborhood, my nicest truck, least amount of hours / miles. 99 t800 ism, tiny super short wheel base. at 6ft 4 with long legs I can barely fit in it. Surprised at the changes between 99-04 So far it's earned it keep on the 1 pre-season job I used it. I just got in January for $6k. Old Lynden yard truck that came up from Dutch harbor (judging by cards found in the cab), Hydraulic lifting 5th wheel (super cool!) For 6k It was a score. Engine and suspension seem to be well cared for. Some trans gear whineeee But work fine. I got it so I can get my big end dump into places the f-liner can't fit. And it make the low boy usable. For our equipment I use one of the tilt decks, just so much faster to load / unload than the lowboy. One is a 3 axle talbert with the airbag ramps. I only have a big machine for the occasional big job with lots of material to move. The lowboy was another recent addition, so far I've only used it to leave at a job site to load with stuff since I knew for sure I wouldn't need it to move a machine haha.
Them sound like fighten words!!!!!
That’s a mighty fine looking girl. Lipstick red and She’ll knock em’ dead. Rolling heavy with ten, quick. Remember to swing wide, when throwing that stick. Gripping your wood, don’t it feel good? Like polishing the chrome on your red Sterling hood.
Okay, how busy are you? Wanna dig a hole for my crawl space foundation, up the Valley? Tried to get @skyking1 to mobe, but he never shows up.
That'd be the first Sterling I've ever seen that wasn't pounded into the dirt. Worked at a place that had one as a water truck and it was a total piece.
I know, right? That thing is insane. First Sterling I’ve seen with any resemblance of pride of ownership. Reminds me of these words of wisdom from the great Philosopher, Butthead.
'If does not Run, Paint it Red, Still won't Run Chrome it!' Old Saying, in Continuance: Too Fast for the Field Too Slow for the Road, GO International, If does not Run Paint it Red, Still Will not Run, Chrome it, GO International!! Now applies to Sterling.
They will turn on a dime. We had 2 10 wheelers with dumps. One got wrecked years back. The other is still on the go. I can hear the fan roaring and that sound of the air tanks filling up now. The 3rd is a tractor with a 380 cat. Kind of a spare truck, mostly hauls a water tank. All 3 had braces put in to hold the dash off the floor.
interesting - when I look at torqueking, the refer to Dodge & Stirling, not Ford & Stirling. https://torqueking.com/ if you are looking for axle parts, they are really good at finding it. I've been using them on 1500 and 2500 Dodge trucks for a few years now, and they do a good job. I am not affiliated, only think is they are also in the state of MT - so I tend to like that. TorqueKing sells parts for small trucks... not for these big rigs. I just replied only because when I read the first part of this thread talking about Stirling being GM and Ford making a world rig... I thought first about the Escort, then the Geo, and then how TorqueKing matches Stirling to Dodge! Funny world.
Sterling still has a Louisville keyswitch. All that is missing is the push button start
Our 2001 had a push button start must have been a option or something
I always remember that sunk in key switch. The squeak of the clutch. Hit the key, and the buzzer then push that button and that old 290 Cummins would roar to life. Even the smell of fuel, armor all, spice air fresher, cigarettes, and since William Gregan limited hauled fish, maybe a hint of rotten herring. An old am fm radio, the ones with the buttons presets, and some of the guys had an 8track. Keep on truckin
Or--before time--the only key was for the door locks. Before the 70's it wasn't unusual that the starter was only a toggle switch to power on and a starter button. My 66 only had a door key, it still worked too. And sleeper access was from the outside even though there was a crawl through. No bunk heat cab only, and no AC. Was a fan on the dash to waft the farts around.
Fella in the grading business years ago, had a Long Nose OLD Pete, 1693 cat in it. Only Ign switch was the Cat Rotary Glow Plugs one direction, Start the other and a master to shut it all off.