Boss man 54
New Recruit
I have been told not to buy one, that they have a lot of motor and transmission problems. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Freightliner business class
- Thread starter Boss man 54
- Start date
these are probably the majority of the expediter straight trucks on the road.
tons and tons of them are on the re-sale market now, its like anything else that you buy, you have to be careful and do your homework on anything.
there are dozens for sale on this website now, it is a good starter truck for this job.
i was lucky, found a 2007 with high miles about 2 years ago, it has good power, economy, and pulls loads up hills really good.
it has the c9 cat, but the mercedes are pretty good too, the smaller c7 engines have not been so good, but c9 and bigger are good fits for this work, at least 300 to 350 hp is good.
tons and tons of them are on the re-sale market now, its like anything else that you buy, you have to be careful and do your homework on anything.
there are dozens for sale on this website now, it is a good starter truck for this job.
i was lucky, found a 2007 with high miles about 2 years ago, it has good power, economy, and pulls loads up hills really good.
it has the c9 cat, but the mercedes are pretty good too, the smaller c7 engines have not been so good, but c9 and bigger are good fits for this work, at least 300 to 350 hp is good.
paullud
Veteran Expediter
Mercedes are notorious for being under powered and problem plagued.
tknight
Veteran Expediter
Right do lots of homework and start saving at 200k for the eventual mb gouge for parts and repairs.... I'm currently a about 15k on my mbe900 engine swap . It'll be a month in 5 days , not going as planned the engine I bought that I thought had 250k miles was a lie, take a look at the bearing in the pic, I'm now replacing all before even attempting to start er up!
after I get it back on the road the first stop will be freight liner or Detroit diesel shop to have the ECM read, if it's over 10% miles stated my second call will be to my attorney to see what I can do about it, this bearing looks worse than mine did, Jim's not happy!!
paullud
Veteran Expediter
I know Cummins has been having a lot of problems with their newer class 8 truck engines. It's a shame because they used to make one of the best engines. I believe Detroit has done the opposite. If I remember correctly they were known for their older engines running backwards occasionally but have become one of the best motors.
I've driven an M2 Business Class, '06 or around there. it had an MBE900. The EGR cooler failed at around 400K.
It was an ok truck, but I believe a class 8 truck is a better choice for durability and comfort. Test drive one of each.The class 7's just don't handle the open road as well. IMHO. Good Luck.
tknight
Veteran Expediter
Well all the parts are finally in and it's going to be finished today! Oil system will be pressurized and fuel system purged Of any air before they turn the key will get turned cross your toes for me! It's been just about as bad a month as I've ever had, not even my transmission nightmare freaked me overboard like a blown motor did not generating income during this crisis didn't help any! Tuna and dog food aside I will survive .