looking for info
 

Is anyone here a comercial truck driver, I am looking for information on some of the tractors.

what I am wanting to do is get a class 8 tractor (leaning towards a volvo 770, 780) single out the rear axels, remove the comercial fith and install a RV one and use it to tow a new fith after I re-register as a personal truck or as a motorhome.

so one concern is if I am looking at a truck with 600 to 800000km am I going to worry about how long this will last me at about 25000Km/year use? also if anyone is familier with volvo's is there anything I should be checking real close?

Steve

We have around 200 Freightliners with Detroits in them we get rid of them around the million 6 with no rebuilds Detroits get tired around a million 5 but we have some with a million 7 still running strong but these are hwy tractors so no starting and stopping all the time.
Volvo's are good for a million or a million 2 but volvo are more expensive to rebuild, Detroits and Cats are cheaper.
Myself i would look for a freightliner fl70 or 80 these are mostly body jobs/daycabs you can pick them cheap tons of parts and still small enough to get them into any campground.

ya, a day cab will do me no good, thats why I was looking at the volvo 770 with the 77" sleeper. I am intending on putting 4 bucket seats across the back.

are you talking Km or miles? why are you guys running thoes trucks so long? most companies get rid of the old ones befor 900000km

Steve

KMs.......We run them so long cause they will and every fall almost have a line up to buy the old out going ones. A hwy tractor seems little over kill to haul a not to mention if the work to moving the back axle to the front loping off the rear of the frame and getting it re-saftied. And just the sheer size of it to get it into a campground....pulling it would not be an issue a 17,000 would hardly know it's there.

Myself I would got for something more like this...already to go

http://edmonton.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh...AdIdZ211504569
http://edmonton.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh...AdIdZ217401470

Or you could just go with a Dodge 1 ton quad cab with a six speed. Same money, same motor, and a dealer in every town.

I have been driving truck for 16 years,many differant styles of trucks many of them top of the line show trucks,But I cant imagine owning one without being friends with my shop and mechanics.They all seem to need constant upkeep and something always needs replacing,and you wont be able to write any of it off.

If I were thinking of that...this is just my humble opinion,but i would just get a smaller camper,save you tons of money, tons of headache....all my friends drive truck as well and I dont know anybody who has thought of a setup like that.

Besides you could buy a nice full size gm or dodge for the price it would cost you, buy a duelly if need be, then you would have something with some resale value.:neutral:

ok.. so.. guess a lot of people have never hauled a large RV :mrgreen: a 18000 lb rv is basicly maxing out any 1 ton truck you can get. will they pull it yup, but they will be slow up hills, and you will have to ride the breaks down every hill and they take a bit to stop, so from a common sence and saftey issue they shouldn't be towing them. what happens when you have a brake failure on your trailer? these electric brake systems are crap at best and a 1 ton doesnt have breaks rated to stop the truck and the trailer.

I can get a MTD like Murminator was linking to but I have another issue.

my two kids are at the age where they would like to start bringing friends camping, which is why we are getting a fith with quad bunks in the back. so in a 1 ton or even 95% of the MTDs out there still only are made for 4 people. ya they have a 3rd in the back but in my situation I am looking at 6 people plus a large dog. isn't going to happen.

where as with a HDT (say a volvo 770) I can pull the bottom bun out and put 4 air ride seats across the back of the sleeper. this would still leave about 3 feet or more for legroom for the back seats, which means the dog has a tone of room to sprawl out.

now that is the practical issues, now lets talk money.
the only trucks that will town something this big are the F350 1 ton dually and the equivalent chev for 2011. so new truck say $70,000.00 when all is said and done.

lets look at a MDT like a sportschassi. since they are a nich market truck they are very expensive, you are looking at 70,000.00 for a used one, 129,000- 200,000.00 for a new one.

so big rig.

I have found a few now for $8,000.00 - $30,000.00 , I was at volvo yesterday talking to the service manager it is 3000.00 to single a volvo out, more expensive for other trucks but not to much and thats if I keep the old parts, if they keep them he figures the price would be about 1500-2000 and I get the best 4 tires and rims.

he recomended any truck I buy to get a dyno and inspection done on it for a couple hundred (not much more than doing my F250) and he said for insurance anything over 500000km to roll the berrings for 1500.00
I can get 4 used airrides in good shape for 200 ea so 800.00

so lets say I splurge and get a even newer volvo 780 with an "I" shift trans. there is one with 500000km right now for 45,000.00 add 1500 for singling, 1500 to roll the berrings (which they will do free dyno/inspection also if I am doing that) and the air ride seats I am at 50,200.00

for maintenance it is going to be less than a F350/3500 ect.. and projectted maintenance costs are going to be less than a 1 ton. think about what you guys were saying about trucks costing a lot to maintain. you have to make it apples to apples and break costs down to money per Km. you'll find bit rigs are a lot cheeper to maintain than normal cars.

now factor in the fact that what I will be towing is going to be equvalent to twoing two empty flat decks so the wear and tear on the truck is going to be nothing compared to normal operation.

now fuel efficency. from everything I have read, a rig singled out driven nice should be able to get 12 to 15mpg. Towing 10-12 ,so say I get 11 out of it. my F250 towing 8000 lbs gets 15 to 17 but towing 13500 I only get 13. a 2007 ford diesel towing 18000lbs get about 10 mpg. a 2005 sportschassi MDT gets 10-12 mpg towing 18000lbs so looks like everything is pretty damn close.

now also by doing the truck up I can leave the fold up top bunk in it and there will also be a fridge, microwave, sink, porta potty, ect as I have to do this to re register it as an rv, so I don't have to stop at weigh scales or fill out the log book, and can drive with a normal licence with and airbrake endorsment. so if I am going on a trip to the island for somethign I can just take the truck and I have my acomadations with me for a lot less money on the ferry, or say a quick run to edmonton to see my parents like I am doing on monday.

now spending 45K is mostlikly out of the question butI have seen 3 trucks in good shape for 15K now, so take that number of 50K I had above and change it to 20K then add 5K for a couple pop up things. so now we are at 25K wich would be very acceptable to the wife

Steve

you sure like your freight shakers eh:mrgreen: my buddies won't touch them.. but they like KW.. go figure. :wink: the FL are not realy that good, as they are not aero dynamic in any way haha. I am looking for the full ferringed, hiden air cleaners, no exposed exhaust. it can make up to 1 to 2 mpg, and since the 5th I am buying is 13' tall I figured a full 13'3" truck is good for keeping crap off the front of the fith and helping reduce the drag caused by the trailer. with the volvo 770 you get all that hight as interior room, no bolt on deflector at all. and from all the trucks I have sat in the 770/780 was the most comfortable by far. which makes a differance if I am pulling a long day for the wife.

Steve

http://www.hotels.com/

just sayin'.......:)

:rofl: I think that was the only thing I understood out of this whole thread :razz:

Do you have a class 1 licence and air ticket?

got air, don't need a class one once it is singled and regestered as non comercial. I also found out that if I buy one I can get a transport permit which will alow it to be driven home with out a class 1 also befor it is re-registered. I already found out that info, now I am just waiting for cvse to get back to me on what I have to add to the truck to declair it as a motorhome.

so far I know it has to have the comercial hitch removed, a fridge or icebox, cooking apliance, bed, 110 power (I think there has to be an outlet on the outside also) sink, and some places require a toilet, which a porta potty works for. the problem is every provence has there own requirments. in Alberta for eg you can add the stuff above and declare it as a motor home with out singeling, or you can single it, remove the comercial hitch and regester it as a personal truck as you would a F250. some provences also want "not for hire, private rv" on the truck also.

both ways only require a regular drivers licence with a air brake endorsment. so I am waiting to see the different options for BC now. one other thing you need in BC is if you are going to tow a trailer over 4800kg you need a heavy tow endorsment on your class 5.

its funny as I went to ICBC and they told me what I would need drivers licence wise to drive it and yes they have seen it done lots. but to check with a insurance place on how to re-register it. the place I went to said it is no problem to redescribe a truck and to just bring it in and they will do it but couldn't tell me the exact requirments to be eligible, so they sugested trying CVSE to see if they had the regulations for doing it.

so I think I am going to e-mail ICBC head office also and see if they have the requirments

Steve

now your just being silly. hotels suck, to damned expensive.

just because you don't like camping :mrgreen:

Steve

Whats camping about taking a mobile home on wheels with ya? :lol:

no kidding. Camping involves hiking and a tent. I visited Steve the last time he was here "camping", it was small city of RVs all lined up. Didn't see anyone camping in the whole bunch. :)

ya, that place sucked and we won't use that one again. normaly we camp with out hookups, but we had to come to victoria for 5 days so it was cheeper going there than a hotel. I personaly hate rv parks, sometimes we want full hookups but normaly we don't care.

lets see you hike into go camping with a couple little girls and the wife who doesnt realy enjoy camping.

thought I would throw in the deff of camping for you as you seam to think that hiking is part of it.

"Camping is an outdoor recreational activity involving the spending of one or more nights in a tent, primitive structure, a travel trailer or recreational vehicle at a campsite with the purpose of getting away from civilization and enjoying nature. Camping describes a whole range of activity, from survivalist campers who set off with little more than their boots to those who arrive in large recreational vehicles equipped with their own electricity, heat, and patio furniture."

hmm don't see hiking anywhere there.. hiking is for people who can't aford to drive :mrgreen:

Steve

just one form :mrgreen: I started out in a tent, untill our middle daughter was 3 2, then got tired of hard ground inflatables and sleeping bags, so we bought a tent trailer. that was nice got us off the ground as camping in victoria includes rain 90% of the time. then we upgraded to a travel trailer as while we loved camping in the tent trailer it sucked for traveling and stopping for the night as although it was only 15 min for me to set up we would have to have the kids up at 6am to be able to pull out by 8 as you had to feed them, clean up and then tear down the tent trailer. also with the tent trailer we would go camping untill about rememberance day then it was getting to cold.

with the travel trailer we went camping for new years 4 years in a row.. best way to do it.. if it got below 0 we were fine if I used onboard water.

but to much below zero and were done so needless to say the first time I have winterized my trailer was last fall when I moved to kamloops.

times change and the kids want to start brining friends so were looking to upgrade to a fith wheel now with quad bunks which I can get away with towing with my truck but I am pretty close to maxed. and if we do that we have to take the car also when the kids bring friends as we have the golden retriver also now.

later when the kids are gone we will look at a bigger fith wheeel and probably start doing the snowbird thing, but unlike my parents I cannot sit in one place for 3 to 5 months, so we will probably go to messa for a month, then somewhere else for a month and so one for a few years till we decide if we want to start being real snowbirds.

the reason for looking at a big truck is that I can sit 6 adults in comfort and still have room for the dog, and when I build the bed on the back I can put the motor bike on that also.

Steve

Cheap shot, only reason you can afford to drive is you don't have a reef tank!! :p

or 3 dogs :mrgreen:

Steve

6, but who's counting :)

its amazing that you can have that many in Vic. here there is a 2 dog limit unless you apply for a kenel licence then you need the aproval of all your niebours. even cats are restricted to 2 and there is a max pet limit of 4 per house hold.

Steve

There could be a limit here......

I think all campers should just go away...and leave the hiways to me...lol..just kidding:biggrin:

haha, well all the stupid ones.. I agree. I curse other campers on the roads and I curse idiot truck drivers who shouldn't be on the road, especialy the drag racing trucks going up the kamloops hill. the truck in the right lane is going 30kmph and the truck in the left lane is going 35kmph. :rolleyes: and trafic is backed up 5 miles. thats why I make sure I can tow up a grade 8 at or above the speed limit. I don't want to be one of thoes :mrgreen:

Steve

I drove up that hill for three years straight,used to do edmonton to vancouver,i miss the scenery,but not the stress....some times at night the road would be so bad...the snow as you come into snow shed would be higher than my rig and it would be like going into a tunnel to stop at the bathrooms on top.

But yeah i used to love seeing the campers all burned up or broke down in the summer because some guy was trying to make it up the hill pulling a 20 foot trialer with a little car or some such thing. I know thats mean,but a guy gets bored,:twised:

I now go from edmonton to dawson creek,not as pretty,but faster and less stress.More money too.

I hear you guys now allow rockies (53 foot and pup,extended length) in the summer,I cant believe someone doesnt complain,they have no place on the coch.

yup, its a trial right now, hasn't been to much problem with them as of yet.

the original plan when I retired from the military was for me to get my class 1 and start driving, but the wife pointed out that I was retiring so I could be home with the family more, so that went out the window. but I was thinking if I can find a local company that runs day trips i stilll might do it.

Steve