Traded my truck

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

So I broke down (litterly) and bought a different truck....

I got stuck in a nice 9 mile long stop-n-go thru Shreveport last week. After heating up the clutch a bit, it started slipping pretty badly. I made it to the peterbilt dealer back in Indy and was going to have it fixed when I noticed a nice 387 that caught my eye. It was the same truck i had looked at a month ago. Aparently it was in having a few things done to it for the same little dealership I had seen it at before. So I drove on over and talked to the salesman again. He cut me a good deal, and a trade-in on my rig so I said WTF and jumped on it.

They gave me $10,000 trade (with the bad clutch) and sold me the truck for $25,000. I am also keeping all my brand new tires I just put on my FLD and they are swapping them over to the new truck for me.

2006 Peterbilt 387 w/513k miles
C13 475hp
13spd
3.36 rears
New brakes all around
full gauges ect ect.....

I figured it should net me another 1mpg, which will save me about $150 a week on my run, and I get the write-off which my accountant said I really need!!!

Anyways, i'm excited to get it on the road, but have a TON of paperwork to do so it should be ready for my run on monday.

pete2.jpgpete4.jpgpete3.jpgpete1.jpg

[solo379]

Well, congratulation! Sounds like a good deal for 15 grand. What makes you think about better fuel mileage? Did you look at ECM printout?

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

Well, congratulation! Sounds like a good deal for 15 grand. What makes you think about better fuel mileage? Did you look at ECM printout?

My old truck was a flat-top w/3.90 rears, this is a condo w/3.36's so it should net me at least 1 more mpg. I pull a 13' dry bulk tank and my old truck was 1500rpm at 62mph, this one is 1200 at 62mph..... just guessing.

[solo379]

just guessing.

Yes, i kinda figured that out. Don't forget, you've got a real engine now, and it's all different ball game. Your specs are good for a "yellow" motor tho.....

[tracer]

My old truck was a flat-top w/3.90 rears, this is a condo w/3.36's so it should net me at least 1 more mpg. I pull a 13' dry bulk tank and my old truck was 1500rpm at 62mph, this one is 1200 at 62mph..... just guessing.

3.36 will seem sluggish to you after 3.90. The truck will drive faster but acceleration especially when loaded will suffer. I had that when changing from 3.73 to the current 3.42. Mine does 60 MPH at 1270 RPM and I think it's too fast. I want to put on RY023 Yokohama 295 tires... they spin 520 revs/mile. With those tires on, the truck will do 1,300 RPM at 60 MPH. That's more practical.

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

3.36 will seem sluggish to you after 3.90. The truck will drive faster but acceleration especially when loaded will suffer. I had that when changing from 3.73 to the current 3.42. Mine does 60 MPH at 1270 RPM and I think it's too fast. I want to put on RY023 Yokohama 295 tires... they spin 520 revs/mile. With those tires on, the truck will do 1,300 RPM at 60 MPH. That's more practical.

My IH had 3.23's so this won't be a big deal. And you have to remember, when I'm loaded it's only 4,500lbs of product, and the trailer onmly weighs 10,850lbs empty. I don't think I will have any problems with getting up to speed, and i am looking forward to seeing how much my MPG really is!!

As for the speed I plan on going, I think I will start off at 65mph for my 1st trip and see where it puts me, then go from there. And since QC is switching to EOBR in May, i can use the extra hour each day

[Mackman]

Nice truck. Wish you good luck with it.


But it aint no rawhide

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

Nice truck. Wish you good luck with it.


But it aint no rawhide

Thanks buddy.... I'm thinking about a year in it then it might be time to look at them Rawhides again

[no_worries]

Weren't you already getting close to 9 mpg? Another 1 mpg...I don't know. All the new EGR engines are temperamental (yes, Acert is EGR) and I know the C13 has had issues. Hopefully you'll luck out and get a good one like Solo did.

[tracer]

Weren't you already getting close to 9 mpg? Another 1 mpg...I don't know. All the new EGR engines are temperamental (yes, Acert is EGR) and I know the C13 has had issues. Hopefully you'll luck out and get a good one like Solo did.

Pittsburgh Power says they can change a CAT from being an Acert (EGR) to a regular engine, including a switch from dual turbos to a one big one. They say, it's 'expensive' but that you can gain a mile per gallon after the conversion.

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

Weren't you already getting close to 9 mpg? Another 1 mpg...I don't know. All the new EGR engines are temperamental (yes, Acert is EGR) and I know the C13 has had issues. Hopefully you'll luck out and get a good one like Solo did.

I was averaging about 8.5mpg if I didn't idle the truck (which I did all winter and it dropped to 7.5) but I think I will gain with this truck. Not just the gearing, but also the fact that it's a condo and will cut back on the top section of the trailer dragging in the wind. There is a guy who runs the same gig as i do but out to Norfolk, VA and he has a 2006 T-600 w/C13 and 3.55's. He drives at 70mph and is getting around 10mpg, so if I can net 9mpg I will be happy.

As for the problems with the C13, can you please elaborate? I haven't heard anyting about that, but my C15 had a few problems, but were mainly electrical.

And tracer, for the $13k Pittsburg want's to do the changeover, I'd rather buy a rebuilt 6NZ motor and swap it into the rig

[tracer]

And tracer, for the $13k Pittsburg want's to do the changeover, I'd rather buy a rebuilt 6NZ motor and swap it into the rig

What was the last year they made non-Acert CATs? 2003? Mine is technically a 2004 but was assembled in December 2003 and it is an Acert

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

What was the last year they made non-Acert CATs? 2003? Mine is technically a 2004 but was assembled in December 2003 and it is an Acert

2003 was the last year for the non-acert motors, tho some 2004's have a NON-acert motor if they were assembled before 2004, but since your's is a 2004, I'm guessing IH must have ran out of 03 motors in stock early and started putting ACERTS in it.

I'm not worried about the C-13 i am getting. I had them run a oil analysis and all came back good. Also, it was too cheap to pass up. If I can get 2yrs on it w/o a rebuild, I will be very happy, and I don't see it being a problem since I don't pull anything close to heavy.

[no_worries]

I agree, if you can pull 9-10 mpgs that's just the icing on the cake. I don't know specifics on the C13's. I've talked to several guys over the years that have cussed them to no end regarding component failures. Since I haven't run Cats in years, I didn't pay much attention. It seems like there were the usual issues with the new emissions gear and guys were having to do rebuilds fairly early. Of course, this is merely anecdotal and a small sample size, so who knows how indicative it really is. I know there's an attorney in TX trying to put together a class action against Cat. I thought it was just the C13's, but I think they've added the C15's to it. They're running ads in several industry rags.

One thing about it, if you've got a clean bill of health now, it's not like you're going to be putting any strain on the motor. It will probably serve you just fine.

[solo379]

Pittsburgh Power says they can change a CAT from being an Acert (EGR) to a regular engine, including a switch from dual turbos to a one big one. They say, it's 'expensive' but that you can gain a mile per gallon after the conversion.

There might be a legality issue, since it will still be required to EPA standards.

he has a 2006 T-600 w/C13 and 3.55's. He drives at 70mph and is getting around 10mpg,

He is full of it!

[Heavy Duty]

He is full of it!

Very full of it.

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

No, he is not..... we run basically empty tanks for our entire run. They don't weight more than 15K lbs loaded and only 10,900 empty. My FLD flat-top with 3.90's got close to 9mpg in the summer...... but I will do my very 1st run next week and i will start a running total on my fuel, mpg and so. I'm just hoping to see the same if not better than my old truck

[Heavy Duty]

Fuel mileage figured the old fashion way, not off the computer.

[no_worries]

I hate to call BS because you never know, but the only time I ever consistently hit 9-10 mpg was as a company driver bobtailing in a Schneider pre-egr Century.

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

Fuel mileage figured the old fashion way, not off the computer.

yes, at the pump