Looking at new truck

[Springerdad]

Originally Posted by Mr. Cob

Howdy All,

Check your State laws, in some States such as Washington, you can convert a semi to a "motor home" and use it to tow your trailer and do so with a regular drivers license, quite a few States allow this.

If you have room to park a semi, depending on wheel base my Freightliner is only 40 inches longer then my Ram dually, they really aren't that much larger then a typical quad-crew cab dually pickup again it depends on type of truck and wheel base but my Freightliner turns in a smaller radius then my Dodge dually.

You can buy or build an older semi to tow your trailer MUCH cheaper then you can buy a new pickup truck. I paid $25,000 for my Freightliner already converted and ready to tow. I have had this truck now for two years, have towed my trailer over 36,000 miles up and over most of the mountain passes east of the Mississippi river, with no worries about getting up or down the grade safely or in a timely manner. Fuel mileage is better then with the Dodge, insurance is cheaper, maintenance is cheaper, the semi is quieter and more comfortable to drive and ride in and is a stand alone motor home that I often use for short trips when I don't want to drag the trailer.

"IF" you have the room to park it, consider getting a used semi as a tow vehicle and NEVER worry about being over loaded, getting up the hill or down the mountain safely, my only regret is I didn't do this MANY years ago, I wish I could sell my Dodge for what I paid for the Freightliner.

Once you tow with a real truck you'll never consider doing so with less again, my wife loves traveling with the Freightliner, when she gets bored she just goes back into the sleeper, puts some pop corn in the micro wave, puts a movie in the DVD-TV and crashes out on the lower bunk to watch the show or take a nap.

Heres the Freigthliner and the Dodge that I towed the old Weekend Warrior, with before I bought the Voltage 3818.

The rig I drive now, what can I say, I love it.

I had to respond, that has to be the ultimate rig. Just showed this to my wife; we are at a KOA SE of Orlando,,,,,, She told me not to get any bright ideas.

[ewacowboy]

Look what I just bought

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by ewacowboy

Look what I just bought

Nice!

It will probably outlast any big three dually on the market.

IIRC a standard F-350/3500 type truck has a life expectancy of 500k miles on a good day. The Class 7/8 somewhere north of 2 million. I had this discussion with a buddy of mine about buying a bus based motor home versus one of the conventional units. The true bus chassis is rated for something crazy like 3-5 million miles, engines over a million miles. If they are taken care of (and most aren't) they will out live most of their owners. I used to own a share in a 1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge, it is still going today. I have talked to the guys that own it recently but when I bowed out of the group 7 years ago that bus had just shy of a million miles on it and was still running the original engine.


Aaron

[Mr. Cob]

Originally Posted by Springerdad

I had to respond, that has to be the ultimate rig. Just showed this to my wife; we are at a KOA SE of Orlando,,,,,, She told me not to get any bright ideas.

Howdy David,

Save the 2nd week of October 2016 for a trip with your wife, travel to Hutchinson Kansas for the HDT-RV rally, there you will LOTS of HDT's used as RV haulers, you'll meet some great people, see some beautiful rigs, if you want there are always folks who will let you walk through their rigs and even do a test drive to show you what its like. About 25% of the wifes also drive the rigs, my wife has voiced interest in driving but she cuts corners with her PT Cruiser, she'd wipe out a full city block trying to make a corner with the Freightliner and the Voltage. Click this link to be taken to videos and photos of this years HDT rally and the trip to and from.

https://mr-cob.smugmug.com/2015-HDT-...and-fall-Ural/

Dave

[donzinger]

Originally Posted by ewacowboy

Look what I just bought

Sa-weet! Some day!!!

[DesertRat]

I use to have this to tow my Teton.

Air ride seat was nice but if you it a bump in the road you knew it. Fuel mileage wasn't any better then my F-350.
Biggest problem is it's only a tow vehicle & if you need a truck to carry stuff your out of luck.
I sold it & got my 2012 F-350. Has more power to tow than the Freightliner did plus it's 4wheel drive so you can go places like this.

And drive to the edge of the north Rim of the Grand Canyon & take pictures like this.

[wahoonc]

Buddy of mine has a KW Class 7. He tows a 16' utility trailer to Lowe's to pick up lumber for his home projects. Always freaks people out.

Aaron

[Mr. Cob]

Originally Posted by ewacowboy

Look what I just bought

Howdy ewacowboy,

Lookin good, what size engine, type of transmission and rear axle ratio does your truck have?

Dave

[ewacowboy]

It's a 2007 pre-emission Mercedes 330hp with 1000 lbs torque and 4.33 gears. My Dodge dually was getting 14 mpg empty and towing around 8-10. This truck got 12.2 driving it home empty and around the same with a load. I was also tired of the value of my tow vehicles dropping half their value at around 100,000 miles. This one has 24,000 on it and should last 500,000 plus....that will probably outlast me and the wife I also really like the 100 gallons of fuel capacity. Filled her up in Texas at $1.85 per gallon and didn't need fuel for another 1000 plus miles. Driving this rig is like driving my easy chair

[Mr. Cob]

Originally Posted by ewacowboy

It's a 2007 pre-emission Mercedes 330hp with 1000 lbs torque and 4.33 gears. My Dodge dually was getting 14 mpg empty and towing around 8-10. This truck got 12.2 driving it home empty and around the same with a load. I was also tired of the value of my tow vehicles dropping half their value at around 100,000 miles. This one has 24,000 on it and should last 500,000 plus....that will probably outlast me and the wife I also really like the 100 gallons of fuel capacity. Filled her up in Texas at $1.85 per gallon and didn't need fuel for another 1000 plus miles. Driving this rig is like driving my easy chair

Howdy ewacowboy,

I know what you mean about pickups losing value, I only have 89,xxx miles on my Dodge Ram 3500 with tons of money in it and am still trying to sell it for what I consider cheap, probably just end up keeping it as I won't give it away setup the way it is. I also like having fuel capacity makes driving long distances across the wastelands a whole lot less stressful then constantly looking for fuel, I am packing two 140 gallon tanks when I am down to half on the gage I start looking fuel and have enough to shop for cheaper fuel and don't have to fill at some high dollar place.

I don't know much about the engine, transmission, rear axle, in the medium duty trucks such as yours but it should easily reach the 500,000 mile mark. My heavy duty truck, had 727,xxx miles on it when I bought it, two years ago, got 765,xxx on it now and I am sure it will still be running years after I sell it to the next person when I am through with it and have finally settled down. Give a holler if your ever up near Granite Falls.

Dave

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by Mr. Cob

Howdy ewacowboy,

I know what you mean about pickups losing value, I only have 89,xxx miles on my Dodge Ram 3500 with tons of money in it and am still trying to sell it for what I consider cheap, probably just end up keeping it as I won't give it away setup the way it is. I also like having fuel capacity makes driving long distances across the wastelands a whole lot less stressful then constantly looking for fuel, I am packing two 140 gallon tanks when I am down to half on the gage I start looking fuel and have enough to shop for cheaper fuel and don't have to fill at some high dollar place.

I don't know much about the engine, transmission, rear axle, in the medium duty trucks such as yours but it should easily reach the 500,000 mile mark. My heavy duty truck, had 727,xxx miles on it when I bought it, two years ago, got 765,xxx on it now and I am sure it will still be running years after I sell it to the next person when I am through with it and have finally settled down. Give a holler if your ever up near Granite Falls.

Dave

If you find a buyer see if s/he wants to buy two. My Ram 3500 has about the same mileage and a ton of toys added.

Jim

[Mr. Cob]

Originally Posted by hddecker

If you find a buyer see if s/he wants to buy two. My Ram 3500 has about the same mileage and a ton of toys added.

Jim

Howdy Jim,

I bought my Ram brand new in 03, spend more money on it after I bought it then I paid for my Freightliner. I have it setup to tow anything within its rating, SuperHitch for towing bumper pull trailers, B&W turn over ball to tow goose necks and the matching drop in Companion Hitch to tow a 5th wheel, not to mention and exhaust brake and transmission with more billet parts in it then custom Hog, its a very nice truck just won't do what I need to do anymore. Kinda pisses me off to look out the window and see it or walk by it every day but from time to time I still use it, oh well should have bought a real truck back then.

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by Mr. Cob

Howdy Jim,

I bought my Ram brand new in 03, spend more money on it after I bought it then I paid for my Freightliner. I have it setup to tow anything within its rating, SuperHitch for towing bumper pull trailers, B&W turn over ball to tow goose necks and the matching drop in Companion Hitch to tow a 5th wheel, not to mention and exhaust brake and transmission with more billet parts in it then custom Hog, its a very nice truck just won't do what I need to do anymore. Kinda pisses me off to look out the window and see it or walk by it every day but from time to time I still use it, oh well should have bought a real truck back then.

Mine's an '07 and I hate that damn 6.7L.

It has more than enough power for me, but it's a fuel pig. Haven't had any problems with it, but it makes me sick to see the 5.9L guys passing me at the fuel stops.

I have improved my mileage since I bought it, with some mods, but it's ridiculous the amount of fuel that gets dumped into the DPF to regenerate it.

The dealer keeps wanting to give a great deal on a new one. I get a letter about every second month telling me that they have a buyer and what a deal they will give me. Ya, right.

Jim

[Mr. Cob]

Originally Posted by hddecker

Mine's an '07 and I hate that damn 6.7L.

It has more than enough power for me, but it's a fuel pig. Haven't had any problems with it, but it makes me sick to see the 5.9L guys passing me at the fuel stops.

I have improved my mileage since I bought it, with some mods, but it's ridiculous the amount of fuel that gets dumped into the DPF to regenerate it.

The dealer keeps wanting to give a great deal on a new one. I get a letter about every second month telling me that they have a buyer and what a deal they will give me. Ya, right.

Jim

Howdy Jim,

I hear ya on the dealer bugging you thing, heck my truck is 12 years old and I still get at least 3 or 4 letters a year telling me how much they need trucks like mine as trade-ins and what a great deal they'll give me on a new one, what a freckin joke.

I have the 5.9 HO engine and have a very small box on it, "EdgeEZ" I never got more then 17mpg averaged around 15 empty, on a good day I could average 7 towing a 15,000 pound trailer with the EGT gage pegged while climbing a mountain, those days are long gone, I am a very happy camper now. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours.

Dave

[Handyman]

Originally Posted by ATCguy

My opinion... for what it's worth:

If you don't know the weight you're going to be pulling (or, at least, want to be able to pull)... then you can't make an informed decision, and we can't begin to help you.

Perfect answer....

[ewacowboy]

Originally Posted by Mr. Cob

Howdy ewacowboy,
Give a holler if your ever up near Granite Falls.

Dave

We will have to look you up when we're over your way. The post about the HDT/MDT truck rally sounds like fun. I'll do some more research and see if it fits in our plans....thanks!

[Mr. Cob]

Originally Posted by ewacowboy

We will have to look you up when we're over your way. The post about the HDT/MDT truck rally sounds like fun. I'll do some more research and see if it fits in our plans....thanks!

Howdy ewacowboy,

Click this link, it will take you to the HDT list, TONS of information that you will find enlightening also discussions about the past rallies and it won't be long and they will be setting the dates for the next one.

HDT - Escapees Discussion Forum

Dave

[Mr. Cob]

Originally Posted by ewacowboy

We will have to look you up when we're over your way. The post about the HDT/MDT truck rally sounds like fun. I'll do some more research and see if it fits in our plans....thanks!

Howdy ewacowboy,

I should have included this link in my last reply to your post, this will take you to the MDT list over on Escapees, info more suited to your truck.

MDT - Escapees Discussion Forum

Dave