Westernstar 4900SA
- Thread starter Rikk
- Start date
i had the very first 4900sa it had on it 16' box
proheat gen set , from tsi in north jackson oh , if it not a star it not a truck, rides so smooth air ride cab was great , lots of room in sleeper, was a 64" was just great, had a c unit that could carrie 13,300, never had to worry about being over weight, also had a c10 cat and eaton 10 speed slect auto shift cheaper than automatic
ran fast and up hill and down
proheat gen set , from tsi in north jackson oh , if it not a star it not a truck, rides so smooth air ride cab was great , lots of room in sleeper, was a 64" was just great, had a c unit that could carrie 13,300, never had to worry about being over weight, also had a c10 cat and eaton 10 speed slect auto shift cheaper than automatic
ran fast and up hill and down
I agree with Geo. This truck is the best out there, and has two hood options; a 123" cab and a 109". Clint Moore is the salesman, and mostly specs tandem straight trucks with 22' boxes on the 123" version for FECC guys (with reefers, etc). The standard 76" sleeper is fine and your OAL would be about 472". I would get the MBE 4000, but the C13 is available. These FECC units can go up to $150,000: you better be a team...
Pete has a new 384 (short 386) that has a 116" BBC, with the 70" Unibilt and a 22' box, OAL would be about 462". Pete will let you have the ISM or C13 for sure. This truck will replace the 385 which ends production soon, if not already... Bet this Pete goes for $90,000 or more, with the box. Got that kind of cash?
Pete has a new 384 (short 386) that has a 116" BBC, with the 70" Unibilt and a 22' box, OAL would be about 462". Pete will let you have the ISM or C13 for sure. This truck will replace the 385 which ends production soon, if not already... Bet this Pete goes for $90,000 or more, with the box. Got that kind of cash?
Great info, one note. I have driven a truck with the MBE4000. Love the engine. Smooth and quiet, but had problems getting parts and filters. I had done a dumb thing and ran over my oil cap. Took 6 weeks to get a replacement....
Oh one other issue with the engine that I had and found that it was a common issue was the number 1 injector feed line (Hard line as the MBE is a high pressure injection motor) broke... Was like $300.00 to fix it...
Other than that it's a great motor....
Oh one other issue with the engine that I had and found that it was a common issue was the number 1 injector feed line (Hard line as the MBE is a high pressure injection motor) broke... Was like $300.00 to fix it...
Other than that it's a great motor....
Diane and I drove this fleet owner's 2003 Western Star DR unit for several months.
http://www.expeditersonline.com/dcforum/User_files/4388634e610e97e9.jpg
Before that we drove Freightliner Century Class D and DR units. Compared to Freightliner...
Reilability: Superior.
Visibility: Inferior. (straight hood restricts vision)
Ride (comparing single drive axle with lift axle trucks of both brands): Inferior... until our fleet owner modified the sleeper air bag system. The addition of a second set of air bags improved the ride. The dealer and fleet owner told us our poor ride was due to the amount of weight we had in the sleeper; though, we carried the exact same stuff in Freightliners without a ride problem.
Fuel economy: Lower. Attributable, we believe to the non-aerodynamic design of the Western Star.
Maneuverability: Inferior. We could turn Freightliners around in spaces and make corners we could not with the Western Star, without backing up to complete the turn. That may be due in part to how the fleet owner spec'ed his wheelbase.
Quality of workmanship and components: Superior
Livability: Inferior. The Freightliner condo sleepers had much more storage space.
If forced to choose between a Western Star and Freightliner, we would choose Western Star without hesitation. One thing we saw little of when driving it was the inside of dealer waiting rooms as we waited for the truck to be repaired. We saw a lot of that with the Freightliners we drove. Also, the Western Star dealerships respected our time and treated us like human beings when we arrived, something over half the Freightliner dealers we dealt with did not do.
Freightliner purchased Western Star a while ago. To date we have seen no noticable decline in Western Star quality but with Freightliner execs in charge, it is something to keep an eye on. Western Star production numbers have been cut. In a news release about it, Freightliner execs said the Star was a "labor intensive" truck to build. It seems they are still building a high-quality product, just less of them.
http://www.expeditersonline.com/dcforum/User_files/4388634e610e97e9.jpg
Before that we drove Freightliner Century Class D and DR units. Compared to Freightliner...
Reilability: Superior.
Visibility: Inferior. (straight hood restricts vision)
Ride (comparing single drive axle with lift axle trucks of both brands): Inferior... until our fleet owner modified the sleeper air bag system. The addition of a second set of air bags improved the ride. The dealer and fleet owner told us our poor ride was due to the amount of weight we had in the sleeper; though, we carried the exact same stuff in Freightliners without a ride problem.
Fuel economy: Lower. Attributable, we believe to the non-aerodynamic design of the Western Star.
Maneuverability: Inferior. We could turn Freightliners around in spaces and make corners we could not with the Western Star, without backing up to complete the turn. That may be due in part to how the fleet owner spec'ed his wheelbase.
Quality of workmanship and components: Superior
Livability: Inferior. The Freightliner condo sleepers had much more storage space.
If forced to choose between a Western Star and Freightliner, we would choose Western Star without hesitation. One thing we saw little of when driving it was the inside of dealer waiting rooms as we waited for the truck to be repaired. We saw a lot of that with the Freightliners we drove. Also, the Western Star dealerships respected our time and treated us like human beings when we arrived, something over half the Freightliner dealers we dealt with did not do.
Freightliner purchased Western Star a while ago. To date we have seen no noticable decline in Western Star quality but with Freightliner execs in charge, it is something to keep an eye on. Western Star production numbers have been cut. In a news release about it, Freightliner execs said the Star was a "labor intensive" truck to build. It seems they are still building a high-quality product, just less of them.