Anybody consider a semi for a tow vehicle?
Been looking around for a newer truck to pull our new 5th wheel and several people I know have gone and purchased semi trucks for towing. Have been pointed towards a single drive axle type truck for b...
Forum Discussion
Don't automatically discount a manual transmission out of fear. I ordered my class six with an Eaton/Fuller ten speed and mitigated my learning curve with a Gearmaster readout on the dash. after a few months of towing with that set up, I rarely looked at the readout panel.
With all the available power,it's not like you're going to routinely use all of those gears anyway. Once you're rolling set the cruise and forget about that stick.
Look into the cab of any big rig and ask yourself the query: "if that guy can gear jam, why wouldn't I be able to"?
Buying a good used Volvo is very easy as they have gained popularity to the extent fleets have gravitated towards them for their comfort and over-all performance. Searching for a single axle is not the priority issue as removing an axle and positioning the remaining one as per your needs and practicality are completely doable.
Having it singled or not is your choice but you can perform that after purchase by any one of many competent shops located all over the U.S.
Ride quality is not even debatable as the seats/cabs are so much better designed for over the road 24/7 driving.
Class 6 and under trucks just do not on average, make available the same ride characteristics as the class 7 & 8's. the minimum air bag rating I could get for my rears was 15,000lb bags and even with mods I did myself of machining the tops of the bags for larger air lines and the addition of a 7 gal ping tank increasing my volumetric capacity of the system in the rear, it still rode rough even loaded to it's travel weight of 17,600lbs with Tools/Harley/200gals of fuel on board.
It only gave a "reasonable" ride when the trailer's pin weight of over 4500lbs was on the truck.
Class 8's ride better, even while bob-tail, right out of the yard..
Attending the HDT rally and talking with some of those boys along with their well known willingness to "climb on in and let's go for a ride" engage you will be the point of no return.
Now let's hear some of the pluses about registering the sleeper equipped truck as an RV itself; thereby avoiding a whole other bunch of MTO/DOT aggro and costs presented by the class 6's and below. That's a whole other option open to you, should you investigate further.
With all the available power,it's not like you're going to routinely use all of those gears anyway. Once you're rolling set the cruise and forget about that stick.
Look into the cab of any big rig and ask yourself the query: "if that guy can gear jam, why wouldn't I be able to"?
Buying a good used Volvo is very easy as they have gained popularity to the extent fleets have gravitated towards them for their comfort and over-all performance. Searching for a single axle is not the priority issue as removing an axle and positioning the remaining one as per your needs and practicality are completely doable.
Having it singled or not is your choice but you can perform that after purchase by any one of many competent shops located all over the U.S.
Ride quality is not even debatable as the seats/cabs are so much better designed for over the road 24/7 driving.
Class 6 and under trucks just do not on average, make available the same ride characteristics as the class 7 & 8's. the minimum air bag rating I could get for my rears was 15,000lb bags and even with mods I did myself of machining the tops of the bags for larger air lines and the addition of a 7 gal ping tank increasing my volumetric capacity of the system in the rear, it still rode rough even loaded to it's travel weight of 17,600lbs with Tools/Harley/200gals of fuel on board.
It only gave a "reasonable" ride when the trailer's pin weight of over 4500lbs was on the truck.
Class 8's ride better, even while bob-tail, right out of the yard..
Attending the HDT rally and talking with some of those boys along with their well known willingness to "climb on in and let's go for a ride" engage you will be the point of no return.
Now let's hear some of the pluses about registering the sleeper equipped truck as an RV itself; thereby avoiding a whole other bunch of MTO/DOT aggro and costs presented by the class 6's and below. That's a whole other option open to you, should you investigate further.
