MEDIUM DUTY TRUCKS
we are looking to move up to a medium duty truck, our fifth wheel is an 2007 forest river "all american sport" toy hauler at 38 feet long and 14,000 dry weight, so who has one and what do you have, ju...
Forum Discussion
wirenutz wrote:I pulled with a 2003 F450 7.3 diesel, standard cab for 10 years. It was underpowered and uncomfortable. I put air ride on it, which helped some.
right now I tow with a 1 ton older diesel and just feel at 6,000 lbs its not enough truck and with the rough ride, the air ride cab and seats would make it so much easier to put 500 miles a day behind us
I picked up my SC (SportChassis) in July. I bobtailed home from Denver and drove 350 miles at 75mph the first day without even realizing it. I couldn't drive even close to that far in the old truck without almost passing out from fatigue. I never wanted to get out of the SC - it's that comfortable. I got 9.75 mpg. Air ride cab and seats are amazing. The kneel feature (rear end lowers) is nice for hitching up. The TrailerSaver air hitch is real smooth. The Allison transmission is HUGE and shifts smoothly. The Cummins 8.3 purrs real nice, like big rig. I like that sound.
These trucks are not for everyone. Their mere size is intimidating.. wider and taller than most pickups. It was difficult at first hitching up. Since I have a 4 seater cab, I cannot see the hitch by eye, I must use the backup camera, which is tricky. I had to put a strip of white tape on the king pin to help me see it.
As for the licensing and insuring, that's different for everyone. State Farm insures me, no problem. I just had to come to the office where they took photos. I have comprehensive which is surprisingly affordable. Licensing was a bit of a struggle however. The gal at the WA office spent almost an hour trying to figure out how to do that sans declaring me a commercial vehicle. She got 'er done, but another person there had no idea what to do. They don't do a lot of these.
I tried some HDTs but they had clutches. Not for me. However, Volvo has an iShift now.. totally automatic. You can probably get into an HDT, converted, for about the same price I did, but you need to find an installer and wait. There's a guy in Calgary who does this, but he never seemed to have time for me. No matter - I'm perfectly happy with my setup.
