No mistake, the truck was assembled on December 22, 2003; the first "service day" was January 26, 2005; which means it sat as new on the dealer's lot for a year... and the dealer bought it back sometime in 2006. I'm guessing the truck worked only 1.5 years that's why the mileage is so low and naturally that was Reason #1 why I became interested in this truck. Yep, the mileage was 260 something thousand km or around 160k miles only.

I guess it was my reward for doing research and putting all my goals in writing

No, that's Canada alright. Some of you guys have some weird notions about my country but 99% of Canadians live right next to the U.S. border. I'm in Cambridge, ON which is 3 hours away from Detroit, 2 hours away from Port Huron, MI and 1.5 hours away from Buffalo, NY! I'd say it's a perfect location for a trucker as most U.S. border crossing point are a stone's throw away

Canadian magazine called the Truck News just sent me a check for Part 1 of my story about how I became an owner/operator. Some extra cash never hurt anyone, did it?

By the way, big thanks to G-Man and heavyhaulers for their instructive posts on this forum as I learned a lot from those. My choice of the make (International) was in part influenced by G-Man's favorable comments about this truck (s).

 

Right now 10,000 pesos is $211. and change. The pesos are gaining on the Dollar

 

I found it's no use trying to 'translate' one currency into another. For example, if I tell you I'm getting Cnd$1.30 per mile going to the North-East USA, it's not going to do you any good if I say it's US$1.13 per mile. Our prices and taxes here in Canada are totally different. Our 6-pack of beer costs 10 bucks Cnd for example, while you pay 5 US. On the positive side, I pay Cnd$1.25 for a medium size coffee at Tim Horton's and when I cross into USA I pay US$1.25 for a medium size coffee at Flying J.

So, when I say I paid Cnd$64,500 for a 2004 truck with 260,000 km; in reality it means I paid US$64,500 for a 2004 truck with 160,000 mi

 

Congrats Tracer, on both your story and your go at O/O! That is one beautttttttttttttttt of a truck.

 

Tracer yes, I understand, I was basicly answering Pep about the pesos. here in th e PI. Sorry for the slight hijacking.

 

I noticed the engine had some unpleasant metallic vibrating sound on top of the regular din, when I was going uphill with a load... Called Toromont CAT in Cambridge, ON and the guy over the phone deducted it must be an exhaust leak. I brought the truck in last Friday, and sure enough they found some missing clams on the exhaust. Because of that the exhaust was leaning on the frame and hence - the weird noise (I thought something was wrong with valve adjustment). Paid $50 for the parts (2 clams), $147 for labour, plus GST tax and I think I got off pretty easy ... of course if I knew it was just the matter of missing clams, I might have done it myself; but the hardest part as always is finding the cause of the problem... They also upgraded the software in my ECM for free (covered by my extended warranty), so I'm quite happy with their service. These guys know their stuff.

Another thing I did to the truck was find the right size GE "NIGHT HAWK" replacement headlights. I ran into them at the Glitzy Ritz truck stop in Perry, MI but the sales lady couldn't tell me if they were for cars or trucks. These headlights are supposed to be much brighter than the standard lights. Funny thing is none of the International dealers in my area heard of them, and they are not even listed on their Parts' computer... I emailed Customer Service at GE Lighting via their website www.gelighting.com but the reply from the agent was all propaganda/advertising in favour of the lights and had no specific information if I can use them on a highway tractor. But today I found these headlights in Guelph, ON at ..."Canadian Tire" superstore. Canadian Tire is a chain of huge stores (I'm not sure what the equivalent will be in the USA) that sells things related to cars and household. One light cost me around $30 after taxes (it was roughly the same price in US in US dollars) and it took me less than 5 minutes to install each one. Haven't had a chance to test them in the darkness. The model is called "NIGHTHAWK H6054 2B1" and they fit perfectly the sockets of the regular lights on my International 9400. Will report the results later after I check aiming.

 

exactly 11 miles from my house.....and it's labor

 

headlights aren't for trucks or cars, they're fully interchangable as long as they are the same type.

I use sylvania silverstars, they work awesome but only last about 1.5 years each.

 

I installed the NIGHT HAWKS and tried to aim them to the best of my ability, but I'm getting lots of complaints from other truckers who swear I have my high beams on... Will probably have to use professional help

On a funny note, I noticed the bezels around the lights were scratched and in bad shape, so I went to an International truck dealer here in Cambridge, ON to get a replacement. A pair of 2 bezels costs around US$40 and I paid almost the same for the headlights! This is one screwed up world we're living in. Too bad, Traction Heavy Duty Parts doesn't carry these bezels.... I just ordered a 33" by 18" galvanized catwalk from them for only 50 bucks, so these guys are much cheaper than dealerships.

 

Hey Tracer! I noticed, you are pulling the box, in case that you'll ever run over 55mph, the roof fairing could get you another 0.5mpg! 8)