Bullheaded

I used to like driving, but given the current state of drivers on the road today, self driving vehicles can't come soon enough. Especially when our gov's keep importing more people to our countries. I can't even count how many times a day I have to take the shoulder because these new breed can't stay on their side of the center line....on a clear sunny day even!!!! i bet even the failure rate of them will be far less than the failures driving now, LOL.

Yes kscarbel, these are the latest Eaton's in brand new Star's, and some 2 years old at most. But it could also be like what I said about the M-drives....they may not have been spec'd with the proper programs or features? I've owned a few different brand trucks and dealt with different local dealers here and haven't found any that knew more about the product than I did. Apparently it doesn't take much to get a job in sales around here, LOL.

I see the 445 rating is a lot more popular than the 505. I have read in a few sources they say they pull just as good but have better fuel mileage? Can't go wrong with an Allison. I can't comment on gearing for them though. I've driven them but never owned one for myself. I do know they are geared a lot lower than a manual. What do you guys run in NY.....just one lift axle? I wish our government didn't force us to use these ridiculously long trucks. We have 21 foot boxes. So on hourly jobs under the shovel they just over load you that much more. I have 266 inch wheelbase, 20 and 46's also. Running 4.30 gears with 18 speed manual and 22.5 rubber. Not great for fuel mileage but probably better for DPF. Plus I am all hills here. And because of this SPIF law with the self equalizing steering lift axle it is working out better to use air-ride suspension, which I already was anyway. The load cells on mechanical suspensions hasn't proved to be as reliable as far as it working properly. I miss the articulation of my old HMX rubber block and Camelback though. And I find I get more odd tire wear with the air ride. But the air ride is better in sand and doesn't washboard the haul roads up as much. But you have to play with the dump valve lots to get traction in uneven ground.

What were you thinking of getting as far as specs Rob? I see you mentioned Allison auto. Not sure if I told you but I talked to my friends that drive for the big contractor here that we all haul for. In about 2008 they had Allison auto's, then within the last two or 3 years they got new Western Star 4900's with the Eaton 18 speed auto's, then just got the new Mack Granite's with M-Drive. Their opinions.....hate the Eaton's. Hard shifting, hunts gears more than the others. Love the M-Drive. Said the only thing that puts the Allison over the M-Drive for them is when working in the city they said the Allison is just so smooth. You don't feel it changing gears at all. Just like a car. And of coarse like most big companies and the crappy sales people and dealers we have around here.....I asked if their M-Drives have any of the new features that make them nicer for paving with spreaders, like where you can shift into gear to leave the spreader without touching the brake to put it in gear. And of coarse they had no idea and tried it, and no. The M-Drive has a lot of nice and useful features.....IF YOU ENABLE THEM, LOL. Here's what they got. Nice looking units.

You got that right Rob. We are just test pilots at our expense. Used to be a time you could pay your truck off and have a few years of profit. Now as soon as it's payed for you have to run out and replace it and back into payment. But hey, we get to live the dream of being truckers! LOL.

I am not a fan of this new emission crap, but they do seem to be improving little by little. But as much as the engine is an enemy in itself, the other bigger problem I experience is dealer techs that just don't know how to diagnose or fix them. So many times I have had some emission system problem fixed, only to have another failure then find out it was because both components should have been changed at the same time. And then stuff like I had the Detroit tech change a parameter in my ECM so that I can force a parked regen before the light comes on. That way I can do one after work every night instead of getting caught 3 hours into a shift. But then I go to dealer for a repair and all of a sudden that feature is gone? Now since the last repair I don't get a parked regen warning light. It automatically goes to malfunction and check engine lights. It's like every dealer tech that works on it does something different to it. On the next new one I was going to try going down to the DD13 now that it can be had with 1850 torque. The Detroit guy told me that should be better for my vocational application.

I'm sure we all could have some kind of reality show. Back when I was still pulling wood chips and bark in walking floor trailers we had a guy drive across town with the landing gear down on the trailer until he got hooked on some railroad tracks. Then he left town with a loaded trailer to go get a load. Then I had my new Mack CH and a new trailer and a guy I was running with had his new International. We get to the loading site, he jumps out of truck to talk to me, forgot to put his brakes on and rolled into the back of my trailer. Then he loads on a hill one time, had the tractor brakes on but not the trailer. Put his lift axles down and gets into loader. Drive tires lift off ground and away goes his truck and trailer down hill, jack knifing at the bottom, LOL. Then again, same guy on our way back from a trip, gets warned of a dead moose laying on the highway that someone already hit. So what does he do? Runs right over it and rips every air line off the bottom of the truck and trailer. Poor mechanic had to dig through blood and guts to get him fixed, LOL. Ahhh.....those were fun times. Always had a good laugh.

I saw GreenGiant and thought you were Al Quiring in disguise, LOL.

I talked to an engineer from Detroit at a big trucking industry trade show a couple years back. We talked about my issues with regens. His words of advice: "Even though these new motors have lots of low end torque and we advertise running low RPM to save fuel........in you application forget about fuel economy and drive it like you stole it like an old two stroke."

That's the problem Rob. You don't want to get stuck with them when the axle laws make them unproductive. Then the resale value really goes to nothing on them. Another reason we have to keep new. Like with here, a non-SPIF lift axle will lower your allowable gross to the same as a tandem. And nobody will hire that. Best advice I can tell you is get all the extended warranty you can get, and get on a 5 year trade cycle. That is when they really seem to start costing money, but you can still have 2 years of drivetrain warranty on them at that point which helps in resale. And unlike the trucks of old, now you need to only get as much power as you need. No more big power to save fuel. You need them working hard and making heat in the engine and exhaust. I have winter fronts on as soon as the temp gets close to freezing. I've had them on for a month already. Then there's always the option of deleting. But they are really looking for signs of it here. Even the dealers and they won't give you an annual safety if you are deleted. But many are still getting away with it. So depends on if you like gambling or not. Only other thing I can tell you is the SCR/DPF catalysts were $1600 to replace in my Detroit versus $6800 for the ISX (Canadian prices here.) But I know a few guys that have the new X15 Cummins and they tell me Cummins has a very simplified emission system now with fewer sensors than anyone else? (what I was told but I have not done any hard research.)

Still one of the best reality shows on tv. I enjoy watching it. Not as phony as all the other shows....other than now that they are sponsored by Toyota they always have to show a Tundra saving the day when a big truck can't seem to pull something. LOL. But that's easy to take compared to trying to sit through 10 seconds of Ice Road Seatcovers or Goldrush.

I don't know if i really buy all that. he says he had to sell everything and is broke. But he doesn't readily tell that he owns a couple other towing companies of different names. Not to mention every time they do a camera shot of any of them driving you see Western Star, Peterbilt and KW seats, LOL. Remember the first episode of when he got the first new Star rotator and was driving it home from the factory and the driver side step fell off? That is about how the build quality of my new Star was too, LOL. I laughed my ass off when I saw that.

LOL.....you caught that too eh?

The new trucks do excel in one area though. They have a wonderfully comfortable cab interior with all the comforts and luxury. So you will be really comfortable sitting waiting for the tow truck to come get you.

But the drivers love the M-Drive's. They say they are way better than the Eaton auto's but not quite as nice as the Allison's they replaced in their city dump truck application.

Unless your old trucks are really tired, I would not buy a new truck for city dump truck work. We had to because of the new Ontario government weight laws requiring us to switch to self equalizing air ride with steering lift axles. Makes it cost prohibitive to convert an old truck. But my point being....we have ISX 600 and DD15 505 Detroit's. Running steady on the highway pulling the pony trailers at 140,000 pounds, not much issues. When working construction in town as just a straight dump truck (80,000 gross) they do nothing but require parked regens (30 to 45 minutes burning 4.7 gallons of fuel.) And the constant glow of check engine and malfunction lights, and replaced NOX sensors. In winter hauling snow, my DD15 can't make an 8 hour shift without calling for a parked regen. Both trucks have 18 speed, 4.30 rears on 22.5 rubber. I had thought about trying a new Mack, but the big contractor we hire to just bought a Mack dealership group, thus buying a bunch of new Mack dump trucks. The first three nights they were greeted with check engine lights, a shutdown requiring a tow, and parts falling off them.

Anyone watch Highway Through Hell on Discovery Channel? It follows Jamie Davis Towing. I saw in the latest Bulldog Magazine Jamie was at the Mack factory bolting the Bulldog on his new Anthem. All the pic showed was the him at the front of the hood. Anyone see the truck yet? I imagine it is just a tractor and not getting a tow body on it?

Well my last truck that I really miss is my 2005 International Paystar. It was as reliable as the old Superliner's and R model's I ran. Same with my old 9900i International. Both were Cat powered. But from 2013 up I can only comment on two personally. And I can say the Mexican built Freightliner Coronado 122SD has superior build quality compared to my US built Western Star 4900. This Star has made me hate trucks and trucking. I love the truck, but it was built by disgruntled drug addicts I think, who hadn't slept in days.

Yes, as Logtruckman has said, I am not happy with my 4900 Star. Love the looks, the interior, dash, everything about it.....EXCEPT the build quality. It's like they built it drunk, or put all their most disgruntled employees on it. And considering it was a fully loaded unit and not just some cheap dealer stock order, you would think they would have put a BIT of care into it. And yes, they are all junk now. Got a big heavy haul fleet here that has been Kenworth forever and they are thinking of switching, and the contractor I haul for bought a fleet of new Granites and a Mack dealership chain, and their new Mack's had parts falling off them the first day they went to work. All they care about now is getting your money.

And they need the stylized bulldog mirrors.

I think it looks better like that with the big steers and flat top than it does as a highway truck. I just wish they could find a designer than can come up with some better looking air intakes than those screen doors on the sides of the hood. At least those goofy mirrors can be deleted.

No more....those are the last new ones they ordered before production ended. I have two friends with Titan's here. One just burnt and the other was sold and replaced with a new twin steer tri-drive 4900 Western Star because the price of a same spec 505 h.p. Granite was way higher than 600 h.p. Kenworth's and Star's.

Yes, the green ones are Anthems.

Nortrux is one of the few dealers in Canada where I see they still spec all pedigreed trucks. Mack transmissions and rears and suspensions.

Ontario Canada is all about big spreads to get max allowable. And now we have SPIF......where all trucks and trailers must have self equalizing, steering lift axles. And you can pull a pony trailer with a twin steer tri-drive, but you get penalized with a twin steer tandem. Just more government stupidity dreamed up by people that have never driven a truck.