Work related, just wanted to share.

[Grim 82]

Best of luck to you sir.

[gto109]

Best of luck to you

[1980c10]

I started running Dec 2 and blew the exhaust apart Dec 3. The complete exhaust minus the stack needed to be replaced. The parts alone were priced at about 1700 total. So I welded up my own with universal pieces, 8 angle pieces, a flex pipe and some modified mounting brackets, an otherwise perfectly good Saturday and about $300 is all it took. A few other more minor things also had to be done to the truck that I had to foot the bill on but nothing too drastic.
Then I cashed in on my 60 day power train warranty and got a new clutch cylinder(noticed it leaking) and the day I after they fixed that I brought back the truck back to them to replace the egr cooler which they did and they did it as quickly as they could get parts.
Other than that all is going great. Just a little over 11,000 miles in all since I started, checks are on time and it is good to be on the road.
Here are some pics of my adventures...........       
Heres the Truck cleaned up and ready to go.

2nd run to downtown St Paul

added the alpine bluetooth radio, gps and cb radio

Thought this looked a little chilly

[ehjorten]

Did you look into any Kenworths before you bought?  Too expensive?  Not to say that Kenworth never have any issues, but their total cost of ownership is less than the competition.  They are a little more expensive than the competitors up front, but over the life of the vehicle you actually save money.  Plus the KW Dealer Network is the J.D. Powers winner for Best Customer Service!

Good luck to you man!  You guys are the backbone of America!

[1980c10]

I looked at just about everything this one ended up being too good of a deal to keep looking. It was about 5-10k less than anything comparable. I don't really look at cost of ownership as much as some owners might.
My considerations were;
Had to have enough power to pull 70-80k, didn't want it to look like a farm truck and comfortable enough to drive all day and reasonabally priced and most importantly fuel mileage.
Fuel mileage is my largest variable expense-1mpg differance comes out to about 10k a year.
I will complete all of the maintenance myself except for alignments. My brother is a lead mechanic at a shop down the road so I bring it in and work on it there and he can do my DOTs and brake work etc.
The only kenworth I have looked had very little leg room and a narrow cab. I would definatley buy the right one as they don't seem to have a lot of the the small issues.
In the end I would love to drive the nicest looking best truck on the road but I am doing this to make money. So many large companies such as walmart and penske and many more run freightliners more than anything else on the road. So there must be something to it.
So far the truck has been really good, it pulls nice, I getting 6mpg on a heavy winter blended fuel and it rides good.
I also imagine each dealer will make the cost of ownership numbers work for to be lowest on whatever truck they are trying to sell.

[gto109]

when i drove cross country back around 2002 i was driving a kenworth t2000.  I averaged around 6mpg then with that truck it had a Cummings with 425hp.  then i switched companies and ran northeast regional and was giving a freightliner FLD and i hated that truck it was slow had no power and couldn't pull the mountains very good at all.  I think it averaged around 3 mpg with that thing.  I just drove a truck like yours a few weeks ago.  I drive a jockey truck now and the company sent me to get it for a back up truck as all 4 of our jockey trucks went down the one day.  there for a little bit we only had 2 jockeys running so we had it for a back up for 2 weeks till we got one of the new trucks back from major repairs.  It's kinda funny our old trucks are 9 years old and for the most part just have little issues and our 2 new trucks are a little over a year old and have both been sent out on a flat bed to fix major issues.

[1980c10]

The winter blend fuel hurts mileage. I am hoping to see an improvement when that lightens up. The mixture will get lighter as it gets warmer. The station I buy my fuel has 3 mixtures and they are at the worst now. Also i have no air deflector on the roof of the truck so it would probably would help to get one on there, but Its going to be about 900 for all the peices. Its also quite a bit of work as the entire headliner has to come out to install it. If I do it then I'll redo the headliner as well as the corners are starting to come loose.
The truck is rated at 435 at pulls pretty decent. I knew going in I would be pulling close to 80k. I know some people who work in the distribution center I haul out of, they load the truck-scale and load it until it is as full or heavy as it can get. I haven't pulled a flatbed under 70k. The vans range from 50-70. I am averaging better mileage on the flats as of now. The return trip is always light and sometimes empty.
As far as the newer stuff goes I decided I needed a truck '05 or older due to the emissions rules. They seem to have the bugs worked out now so if I look for another truck someday It'll have to be a '10 or newer. I have 27 more payments to go and this truck will be all mine. I don't plan on replacing the truck at any certain point. However if I came acrossed a hot deal I might just take it and sell mine or lease it out.

[gto109]

you could prob get away with one of the chrome wind deflectors that you see mostly on peterbuilts, but there is a lot of day cabs running where i live and not a single one of them use a wind deflector other then ward, extes, ups, FedEx and them kind of major carriers.  if your Shaker is like the penskee it does drive nice.  none of us used it other then when i went to get it and take it back.  use jockey drivers don't like cranking dollies it takes to much time and we have a lot to do most nights.

[1980c10]

The chrome deflectors are universal and can be bought in various sizes and seem to be around 600 or so.
The issue is that my cab is made out of stamped aluminum and needs a lot of bracing under the top of the roof to keep it from ripping out. Factory fiberglass should be the easiest and most effective.
If I save a tenth of a mile per gallon in fuel I will make up the cost in one year. I have heard of up to 1 mpg. I am realistically hoping for .5 per gallon improvement.

[gto109]

every penny counts when driving the big trucks so i understand.  yea i would get the fiberglass one then also.

[1980c10]

.5 mpg improvement = 5,000 per year at current fuel prices
$900 and a days work is a no brainer
The key is understanding the math

[gto109]

like i said i understand i drove cross country and the company i worked for had a fuel bonus every month and it you got 6 mpg they offered 150 if it was better then 8 mpg they offered 500.  i was always just shy of 6 mpg but when it was hot out or cold out i idled the truck for heat or ac.  now they have little motors on there trucks to work that stuff and i think its a great idea to save money and keep the drivers happy.

[1980c10]

I talked to a driver who had a similar bonus plan for mpg. He said some drivers would pay some of their own cash for a little fuel to boost the mpg to get the bonuses but some of the would avg over 10 mpg. Though it was kind of funny. but if you could do a little math you could step up the bonus and come out ahead.

[1980c10]

Here is a pic of the console I made for in between the seats. I houses two additional 6x9 speakers, 4 cup holders, two 12 volt power outlets and lots of storage. It is wrapped in automotive carpet on the sides and inside and vinyl on the lid and around the cupholders. It is set at the same height of the seats and fits behind the shifter. I left enough room behind to slide in my atlas that I have never opened(its the back up to the back up gps). The thought of making it level with the seats is that if i want to catch a nap; I can lay across the top. but so far only my daughter has made good use of that the couple of times she rode along.

[gto109]

Looks good.