Too Big/Pricey/Soon for Me

[BubbaChris]

2008 Freightliner with 11K Miless

I was doing a search last night when I stumbled across this one. A 1-ton SRW is bigger than my current need, so this is an entirely different animal.

Makes me wonder what they've been doing with it for the last 10+ years.

Best regards,
Chris

[RobertRyan]

SidecarFlip wrote:
You can purchase a used Freightshaker or a Pete or a Sterling or any make for that matter of Class 7 or 8 single axle tractor with a mid range diesel and an automatic or a 10 speed road ranger for a song compared to a new pickup and that SA tractor will out pull, get better fuel mileage and run longer with less upkeep than any new pickup truck today.

Any used truck dealer will have them or access to them and easy to modify for towing use too.

I would expect to pay less than 20K for a nice unit and another 5 to set it up to tow.

I used to bobtail everywhere and air ride makes that tolerable. air ride and a long wheelbase.

Same applies in Australia, not as many Freightliners available in Australia

[blt2ski]

What is chick-a-fil? Never heard of it! Is it like something called wal-mart? never been into one of them either!
My MDT is around 10' tall, with the cab guard from dump bed over the cab! I just park out a bit, and walk, good for me and you!

Marty

[apr67]

Big tractors do something no pickup does. Go straight down the road for thousands of miles in all weather without requiring you to saw on the wheel.

[Bedlam]

My Ram 5500 is just under 7' tall and that one was about a foot taller. On another forum, someone using a truck like mine for work was asking about converting to full air, so he could get the work truck into 6' parking garages by dumping the bags and driving in on the bump stops - I think it would be a squeeze...

[mkirsch]

Chick-Fil-A... minor inconvenience, though I suspect that you could get it through MOST drive-thrus... I take my dually pickup through all the time.

Parking garage at work... Anyone who is driving one of these to pull an RV isn't working anymore, or doesn't need to work.

[Fordlover]

I want to see someone take that thru the Chick-fil-a drive thru, or a parking garage at work.

[blt2ski]

Their is an older FL RV hauler near me for sale. 13k IIRC. as 345K miles on it. Still looks good.
THere is something to be said of the class 6 lopro trucks vs a 35 series. Kinda like going from a SW25 to a dually 35. BUT, with 12K lbs of payload capacity, no issues with hitch weight. Turning radius is way better. My IHC is a bit anemic at 175/335 no turbo IDI 7.3 diesel. But with a 10-1 1st gear in trans, I can get a lot of weight moving, just not too fast.......
A lot of good things can be said for MDT's vs LDT's, which a 35 series is. Also bad too! lol

marty

[colliehauler]

In Kansas they rip you a new one on taxes for a class 8 compared to a 1 ton. In addition if you go over 26k you have to have a non-commercial class A.

[Bedlam]

twodownzero wrote:
Medium duty trucks are cool. I wonder if the day is coming where they can be more pickup-like for our uses. If they offered one with 4wd, more power, and a cab that was more pickup and less semi, I bet they would sell the snot out of them.

Ford, Ram and GM offer Class 4 and 5 trucks with what you are asking. I looked at these when shopping but the 22.5" tires and cabs were too high for a truck camper and few were 4wd. If you are set on air ride, Kelderman makes suspension kits to replace steel springs. My Ram 5500 is about 1' longer than a typical crew cab long bed and turns almost as well my short bed extended cab it replaced due to the wide track front axle. Overall width is not any different than other DRW trucks.

[Grit_dog]

There’s a couple guys on another forum who blow their horn about using a class8 for hauling around their 5vres as well. No different than a guy driving a dually to the corner store I suppose, but back to real life....
First of all unless your a life long cab lizard, who the he!! Wants to drive a freakin Kenworth? The answer, based on how many you see pulling personal “things” is not very many.
Talk all about how “well” semis pull campers.....no sht Sherlock....it’s a friggin semi!
Half the people pulling campers can’t even use their mirrors to back up though. And somehow it’s a good idea to give them 13 gears and jakes?? Pulling a camper with a Mack truck is like using a chainsaw to cut window trim.....just silly.

[BubbaChris]

I'm glad my post generated replies from some folks with real MDT and HDT experience. Fun to learn a bit more about them.

Best regards,
Chris

[blownstang01]

I have had several friends that owned them as race car haulers. Every one loved them. I almost bought one when I was still racing and had a friend loan me his for the weekend. We went to a racetrack about 700 miles away and it was pure heaven towing my 40' featherlite gooseneck with it. Fully loaded, with the race car, tools, etc, the trailer was right around 12,000 lbs. His Freightliner had the 450hp engine, and if memory serves we got like 7-8mpg with Lots of hills. My normal tow rig was a 2001 Ford dually with the 7.3 and the Freightliner made the trip way less stressful, absolutely handles like a dream. Granted, my old 7.3 dually was not up to par with the new offerings, but it was like night and day towing with this rig. Had I not gotten out of racing I surely would have owned one. The low mileage example in the link is a little pricey but I've come across several of them at pretty attractive prices.

[PDX_Zs]

I'm down. If I were really going cross country with a big trailer, this is the route I would go. I love the idea of running single rear axle. Maybe even super single tires.

Seriously, and several dudes here nailed it. The price gap between a real Class 8 and a diesel pickup is narrowing quick.

The only real downer would be what do you do once you drop the trailer off at camp, but that could be managed. We can walk a bit to the taco shop...

[RoyJ]

No doubt they're very nice trucks, and probably more durable than a 1-ton class dually in terms of durability. The frame is larger, larger axles, brakes, and an engine with lower state of tune (8.3 ISC making less power than ISBs in pickups).

However, in terms of pure PERFORMANCE, it will be out-classed by the latest 400+ hp duallies. Its GCWR will be less than the latest Ford / Ram duallies, while giving up around 100 hp.

For the price, I'd be inclined to get a Class 8, and single it. Now that will out perform any 1 ton dually! MPG will be a wash as you're not running a torque converter automatic, especially if you stick with a "small block" engine (12 - 13L).