My New (to me) Money Maker

[landman873]

An APU, thats crazy, just like my Jet. How much diesel does the APU burn?

Not much prolly just a 2cylinder diesel. My freightliner only has 300hp and throws down 800 of torque and one thing to also remember they do all this on inline 6 cylinder. I haven't driven one of the new auto trannies i would sure like to get behind one to see the difference in no shifting than 10-18 gears or a super 10 witch turns into 20 shifts.

 

[HMCS(FMF)Ret.]

Very nice!! Congratulations.

 

[dieseltech09]

Nah, thy don't need too when they put out between 1200 and 1800 lb-ft of torque. Plus have hellacious gearing.

If I remember that motor is rated to 1550ft-lb at around 1200rpm. We have the same motor in a few of our fire trucks.

 

[radarmonkey]

Mind if i ask what your price range was? Also what kinda miles does she have on her?

573k miles and I was looking for a truck under 40k.

 

[radarmonkey]

An APU, thats crazy, just like my Jet. How much diesel does the APU burn?

Not much at all, it's a 2cyl diesel that will cycle on and off to maintain the temperature (between 50 and 90 degrees) in the bunk. Drivers say they only burn between 1 and 2 gallons of diesel per night depending on weather, the temp you have set in the bunk etc. It also circualtes and warms the engine coolant for the truck's motor.

 

[radarmonkey]

Wow, so will a HP upgrade of 25hp really do much for that thing? I would think the torque increase would be the biggest thing you would be after.

No, a slight HP increase really won't do that much for me, I probably won't even have it turned up. I think dieseltech is right, this truck is somewhere in the 1500 ft lbs range on torque which is plenty for what I will be doing with it. I have several friends that have HUGE 600+ HP Caterpillars that put out better than 2k ft lbs of torque but they haul oversize and overweight loads to the west coast.

 

[radarmonkey]

Thanks everybody. I will try and get some better pics of her after I get on the road. I'm really hoping she will be a money maker. My wife and I prayed and prayed about it before I made this decision. I wasn't getting anywhere with my old job and didn't have the money to start my catering business so, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

 

[338Shooter]

My dad drove a truck for pretty much my whole youth. I still love looking at big rigs. I remember the 100' antenna on the side of our house so mom could see what dad wanted for dinner. He hauled crude oil and was usually in range of the CB at home. I'm glad he wasn't a long haul driver. That would have been tough.

 

[radarmonkey]

My dad drove a truck for pretty much my whole youth. I still love looking at big rigs. I remember the 100' antenna on the side of our house so mom could see what dad wanted for dinner. He hauled crude oil and was usually in range of the CB at home. I'm glad he wasn't a long haul driver. That would have been tough.

Yeah, with kids it's a whole different ball game. I started driving long haul after my first divorce so I missed most of my kids growing up (my fault). They are just with me in the summers now so I take as much time off as I can then to spend with them. My new wife and I don't have kids so it's not quite so bad. We miss each other but thanks to cell phones and laptops we can stay in nearly constant contact. Those truckers back in the day really earned their money, they made big sacrifices at home, in safety and comfort just to make a living. Hats off to your dad.

 

[338Shooter]

Thanks. He would still be driving if not for the grace of god. When Texaco sold their trucking branch TTTI he was left with the option of buying his truck and being an owner operator, finding a different job in the company, or saying so long. He ended up finding a job with the company in OK and has been working his way up through 3 or 4 companies since.