MDT-2003 FREIGHTLINER SPORTCHASSIS FL60

From what I hear, the FL60 is a great truck to tow a lot of weight. The transmission is about 300 pounds more weight than the one in the F-450.

I don't think it has the complications of air brakes, but will have very strong hydraulic brakes, probably huge ones! It should have a great exhaust brake as well. The Allison transmission is great at slowing a vehicle.

The vehicle value is what you can get someone else to pay when you try to sell it. Some cars are going for $75,000 - when they sold new for $8,500 in the 70's. I think that the $59,000 is what the current owner thinks it is still worth. And if he wanted exactly $59,000, he probably would have it for sale at $61,000! SO you might have some wiggle room in the price, so offer something like $50,000 and see where it goes from there.

Yet if you really like what you see, then $59,000 is not unreasonable for a truck with such low mileage, and well taken care of. It will be nothing like a standard fleet truck where the drivers might not see the same truck two weeks in a row. It might have started out as a fleet truck, but the plastic floor covering and vinyl seats where removed and replaced with leather, and carpet. It probably did not go down dirt roads, and gets a monthly car wash with tender loving care, not just a high pressure wash every 6 months.

It might not have as many horsepower as you have with the F-450 though. Yet the transmission will transfer that power to the rear axle better, so it might feel just as powerful.

Good luck!

Fred.

RAINEYTXX wrote:
GCame up on this one with 35k miles and they asking $59,000. Seems pricey but unsure where find their value.....
It's hard to find a book value. You may want to check with your state licensing agency as to what they think its value is. That seems reasonable to me, maybe a bit high, but that's also very low miles.

Are they a pulling machine over my current '12 F-450? Compared my 03 f450 PSD, yeah. Compared to yours, maybe not. I know they're starting to pack some real punch in these smaller diesels. My PST was 550ft-lb. My 2008 Cummins ISC 8.3 is 800ft-lb. Big difference.
How is the ride? Amazing. If yours has air springs, air cab and air seat (and maybe air hitch), it'll be whole new world on the road. My 450 was really uncomfortable.

Fuel mileage not towing? 11.5

Reliability? Can't complain. Maintenance history availability unknown. Take it to a diesel shop and have them hook it up to the ECM computer to determine its current health. I should have done that before buying mine, but I was inexperienced. I had to have $800 worth of work done on it within a few months of purchase, but she's good as new now.

Anything to watch out for being 11 years old? Oil leaks. Air leaks. The ECM will tell you everything you need to know about the engine. I am of course assuming that year did have computer controls.

I've read maneuverability is better with these any personal experiences? The wheel cut is much better than my F450. I never could get used to how much radius it needed to make U turn

Fuel tank capacity-I fuel filler on each side? Mine are 50 gallons per side. The fuel gauge doesn't work real well, so I use the trip odometer. When the fuel gauge reads 1/4 I'm at about 1/2. It's fun to pull into the big-rig diesel pumps and hook up a hose to each side and let 'er rip!

Looks like it has an auxiliary air conditioner control...? Don't know about that. Mine has an inverter, drop down TV screen and a kick-butt audio system. And a really crappy Pioneer in-dash GPS, XM/AM/FM radio. That's the only thing I find really cheesy about my truck. It looks like something out of the 80s.

Air brakes? No.

Air ride? Oh yeah. Drives like a cloud.

Brake life expectancy as a very general guideline (I know lots of variables) Don't know. You'll learn to use your engine brake (or exhaust brake) way more than your service brakes. Those brakes should be huge. I did like that about my 450. Big disc brakes I never had to replace in 120k miles.

Will I be looking at a change in pinbox adjustment over what my 450 currently rides at...? I did. I had to raise my 5ers pin box a few inches to get level. No adjustments on the truck.

A lot of engine/road noise?? There is some annoying wind noise on the driver door. Haven't tackled that yet. Engine noise? No. Just a nice rumbling purr of a real big heavy 6-cylinder diesel engine. I wouldn't call it real quiet in the cab. Newer pickups may have it beat on that issue.

It looks really nice and would appreciate a larger rig that matches the trailer and maybe doesn't get pushed around so much by a large heavy DRV. I want to do more research on this as I plan to see it/drive it this weekend.

Good luck with it. As I said, it's a whole new world of towing for you. Huge steering wheel, gauges all over the place, transmission buttons on the dash, 22.5 tires that feel as if they're not rolling at all, and weight. These trucks are heavy, and that makes a big difference when you don't want to feel your trailer pushing you around.

You won't be taking this truck to your local diesel mechanic for repairs. Depending on its engine, you'll look for a certified shop specializing in that brand. There are Freightliner shops all over the US, so it's not a big deal. These places are designed to get you fixed and on the road, and I find them a real nice experience over a regular shop.

A regular FL60 "work truck" will be considerably cheaper, and for good reason. The Sportchassis is a real snazzy looking rig, hence, more money.

Escapees forum has a section just for those MDT's. You might want to search/ask there. :)

There is a 1997 for sale near me for $14,000.says it runs great, needs some tlc. So, I think yours may be a bit high.