Looking for information on Freightliner M2 106 Expediter Or????

Wolf -N- Witchy

Rookie Expediter
Howdy.

We are new here and looking to pick your knowledge.

Many a years gone by, I was an Owner Op, coast to coast hauling household goods. Been out of the trucking world for 25 year.

Anyway the wife and I are selling our home to live full time in our 5th wheel trailer. I just had open heart surgery that we were told I should never have survived but beat the odds and here I am. ( the Doctor who was shot and murdered in Boston was the man who saved my life ) We were told to live each day as a gift. So our gift to each other is to pack up and travel this beautiful country of ours. Our kids are all grown and have their own lives, We dedicated our lives for 16 years to rescuing and keeping safe purebred gray timberwolves. Never able to have a vacation or leave the property together for longer than a few hours. So it's now our time to live and build memories we both can carry with us into the next life.
So it's very important to us to learn from you people that know the answers to our questions. Being that my hospital bills wiped out every dollar in savings and our retirement money will be whatever the house sells for, The market is very poor here in New England...So who knows...
So whatever we buy for a toter truck has got to last us with as little problems as possible. So the help you can give us will assist us in buying the best truck for our dollars.

This is my wish list truck, Now remember we are hauling our belongings along with our home so space is a must and weight the ending factor.

I have been checking out the Freightliner M2 106 expeditor/hotshot.
I know nothing about the MB motors and only read and hear it's bigger $$$ on breakdowns, The remaining field of motors I know more about.
Never had a truck with auto trans, But like the idea as the bones get older. The Sleeper/coach is very much needed, With that we can deadhead back home living in that saving on hotel stops. Single rear ex is good. The frame length is very important, I'm thinking at least 155 inches from behind the sleeper. That allows me to have a dry box behind the sleeper for storage some open deck and then enough room for the 5th wheel etc.
I also need the truck to be under CDL, Gave that up many years ago and really see no need for it now, Am I wrong? The trailer we are hauling is 36 feet long wet weight is 17,480 Plus I'm just now looking into adding a Idahotote to the rear of our trailer to haul my bike on. Not totally sure on regs through the states yet. So this is what we have been looking at. I'm not only sold on freightliner, Pete, Kenworth, Int, I know nothing about Volvo but I can read and learn.

So our question to you all is this. The truck above I spoke about is where we are leaning. We are looking to buy used, with mileage being under 300,000 of course the more under the better. What are your thoughts about this truck and it's abilities? Do you have any other ideas or trucks that you feel would be better for us to buy? The other thing I have to keep in mind, is if anything happens to me, the wife has to be able to drive this puppy until she decides to do otherwise. So any information on the good or bad of any brand truck you feel we should know about please share and know we will learn from your advice.
The more trouble free times we have, The more enjoyment we get being together and building a lifetime of memories in a short time.

Thanks for all your help and insight.
Look forward to reading your thoughts. It's also ok to email me if that's easier for you.

Again Thanks
Team Witch -N- Wolf
 

paullud

Veteran Expediter
I would never buy a truck with a Mercedes motor. They are notorious for having problems along with be more expensive to fix. Look for an older Detroit or Cummins motor and don't let mileage scare you away. The most important thing is getting the truck looked over to avoid as many problems as you can. Proper tests will set you back a little but it is insurance against much more expensive problems.
 

bobcmo

Expert Expediter
Team Witch-n-Wolf

I believe finding a used expediter with low mileage is going to be an issue. For the most part the only trucks for sale with low miles are either repo's or trucks with extraordinary problems, from what I've seen. However you seem to be on the right track with an automatic trans, as far as driveability is concerned. We had an M-2 106 that we drove, and made a good living with, to 850,000miles. It had a Cat C-7 engine with an Allison 6 speed automatic trans. We sold it and it is still working as an expediter. I have never been a fan of the MB engines but many have had good luck with them, they do command a higher price for parts than other engines, Cat is high as well.

As far as I know you won't need a CDL if you register it as a motor home even if you have three axles. You may be able to find an older class 7 truck for $15,000 or less but it will have many more miles than you were looking for. Even if it has a liftable axle and you decide you don't want it, it can be removed and sold. As far as the length, most expediters I've dealt with were built to the length of 40' overall. The sleepers are usually 96" with a 22.5' cargo box. You could have the box replaced with a shorter one or have the one on it shortened to accommodate the fifth wheel. The box would also be able to carry the bike inside without the need of the Idahotote adding to the length of the unit, just a ramp or some sort of lift to load it with.

The single axle would save on maintenance and fuel and I believe you will be ok as far as weight is concerned. The weight of the combined unit will be around 37,000 lbs and there will be enough axles to handle the weight. I'm not sure how many miles you are planning on running each year, but the typical expediter will run about 160,000 miles per year. That is running steady and i'm sure you won't be doing that. I think the average motor home owner travels less than 10,000 miles a year. If that is the case for you a higher mileage truck would work, with the mentioned modifications.

An M-2 112 would be a better option but will cost a little more. It has a class 8 chassis with the class 7 cab. better engine options and stronger components. A good class 8 tractor would be what I would look for, it can be stretched and modified as cheap or cheaper than a class 7 would be, also easier to find parts for. There would be more than enough power and you can get an automated trans for easy driving. There would be a sleeper trade off though, not to many used tractors with custom sleepers that are reasonable in price. A factory sleeper is nice enough for short jaunts without the camper in tow.

You could still remove one axle from a tractor to get down to a single axle, save weight, fuel and maintenance. Any tractor would do in this case. Volvo's tend to cost more than most to repair, Internationals currently have a bad reputation. Freightliner with a Detroit engine tends to do better on fuel and shops are everywhere. So here is what I would look for, an '02-05' Freightliner Century or Columbia, Detroit 60 series engine, Fuller Ultrashift Plus trans, with a 3.55 rear axle ratio, in any color. That would be a good place to start, remove the front drive axle and sell it to pay for part of the frame stretch. Add the storage box and fifth wheel and i'd be off to see the country. A reasonably nice looking truck, easy to drive with more than enough power. If you're not happy with fuel economy there are lots of things that can be done to improve these engines. It will have lots of miles but these trucks were built to get lots of miles and survive.

If you need anything else or this made your decisions more troubling send me a private message and we can call and talk.

Bob Caffee
 
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Wolf -N- Witchy

Rookie Expediter
I would never buy a truck with a Mercedes motor. They are notorious for having problems along with be more expensive to fix. Look for an older Detroit or Cummins motor and don't let mileage scare you away. The most important thing is getting the truck looked over to avoid as many problems as you can. Proper tests will set you back a little but it is insurance against much more expensive problems.


Paul.
Thanks for your input and suggestions. This kind of information is just what I was hoping for.
Thanks again for your time.
Wolf.
 

Wolf -N- Witchy

Rookie Expediter
Bob..

Thanks so much for the time you put into giving us advice and explaining the difference between trucks. You have given me a different approach to the trucks I am going to look at now. Like I said, It's been years since I was driving and so many different lines and models of trucks have come out during my time away from them.

I will be following your suggestions in the coming days as I investigate the different models. Also thanks for the offer to PM you with followups. I more then likely will take you up on that offer after I have done research and lined up my questions.

Thanks again.
Wolf.
 
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