[Darin Younce]

Hey, I have been looking into the car hauling business for sometime. Some of you have been very helpful so far and I need to get a few more opinions. I went to SC for thanksgiving and talked to a couple of old contacts in the auction business concerning car transport . While questioning a car dealer that I have known for years he told me about a fellow in pelion SC that I needed to talk to who hauled cars for a living.
I called the guy and low and behold it was another old friend that I had not seen or heard from in 15 years. He used to be a lineman for SCEandG power . He got tired of the bs working for them and got into the hauling business . I had no idea he was doing what I am interested in doing. Anyway he gave plenty of advise and is getting me some more contacts . I have talked to a couple of ins companies and gotten quotes
and found out that with a truck and no trailer I can go unlimited miles
( even as a new driver) . I have been looking at different trucks such as
4 car rollbacks and 5 car haulers . I found one truck that I am somewhat interested in . It is an old truck 1988 freightliner FL112. It has a headrack
with a carhaul bed that will haul 5 cars . ( very long wheelbase) . It has a cat 425 hp engine and 15 speed trans , both with less that 100000 miles
. The truck is supposedly very clean and everything works. The tires are 75% or better. The guy is asking 9500.00 which I believe is a good price if the truck is as he says it is. I saw one pic and for an old truck it looks good to me . I called the ins company and they said the age was no problem. The guy selling it said he bought it a couple of years age and decided to stick with his auto resto business rather than haul cars. One big problem is that he bought it at auction and has no title. Actually the auction company lost the title after he purchased it He said that he has gotten all the paperwork and a bond to get a title in GA ( truck is in Gainesville GA) . He said that he guarantees a title and will not sell it without getting it . I looked up the GA DMV and thay backed up what he said about a bond and soforth . Also an agent from the GA hwy dept needed to verify the truck by actually looking . The seller told me that the agent has been there and verified it already and he has those papers as well. The truck is on truck trader.com I have been a auto dealer before
and am familiar with some of this but still i would appreciate any and all input. P.S. I am thinking if all goes well I might offer him less , say 8000.00.

[GMAN]

I believe at one time you could get a notarized bill of sale from the last two owners, Georgia would give you a title. If you have been a dealer you would probably know more about that end of things. The age would give me some concern. The engine and drive train is expensive to repair, especially an 18 speed transmission. From your description I assume that you are talking about a 5 pack. You can haul 3 cars on the top ramps and 2 behind the tractor. The PTO would be of some concern to me as would the general condition of the hydraulics. Those things are not too expensive by themselves, but you don't want to start out with something which will be breaking down on a regular basis. If you check it out and everything seems to work well and you can get a clean title, it would be a good inexpensive way to get started. If the truck only has 100,000 original miles then it should be in good shape. I would suspect that it has over a million miles rather than 100,000. You can get a good idea by simply looking at the general condition. With an older truck I would expect to spend some money on replacing hydraulic hoses and perhaps repacking cylinders unless someone else has done that for you. Not trying to throw a damper on your decision, but these are a few things you need to be aware when buying a car hauler. Good luck.

[Darin Younce]

Actually it is the engine and trans that supposedly have 100000 .I suspect the truck has much more. I am also checking out several 4 car haulers
( rollback with headrack, 28 ft bed, wheel lift) , I like the simplicity of the set up on those and they would be more versatile. Check out my link ( if it works.



http://adcache.trucktraderonline.com/4/4/8/91007748.htm

[GMAN]

It looks good in the picture. It would be difficult to make a decision without seeing and driving it.

[Darin Younce]

Thanks for taking a look. I am thinking of driving down there in the next couple of days and see about it. One thing I forgot to mention is I believe the dot inspection is probably expired. The seller said he had ir parked for a while but drove it on occasion. He was unsure if it was up to date ( the truck was at a different location) He said I can drive it for thirty days
anyway but I believe this to be incorrect . If after seeing the truck I am still interested I will insist on getting it inspected before I drive it home. AS a matter of fact first thing tomorrow I will call him and see if it is expired ( make him go look ) and try to get him to have it inspected if possible before I go , this should tell a lot about what kind of guy he is and a bit more about the truck.

[GMAN]

The engine would be worth what he is asking if he had it rebuilt. I will be anxious to hear how you like it.

[Darin Younce]

Gman , I talked to the seller again today and he went to the dmv and confirmed that I can get a title while I am there. He also said that the engine was a factory rebuild . The trans was also rebuilt as he said and he's suppose to have papers on it. He assured me the truck drives down the road good. I also got a price on a 1993 c6500 4 car hauler with 278000 miles . It has a summit brand bed with a wheel lift. The price was 16,500.00 . I believe that the frtliner is a better deal . Not that you can tell everything by pics but the c6500 didnt look near as good as the frtliner. Now for a couple of questions. I was told that if the truck has no trucking company on it or mc # I can drive by the scales. I was also told that if I put a sign on the truck that says "not for hire" I can drive by them as well. I was under the impression that all commercial vehicles
must stop at the scales. Lastly I am not sure about the weight of the truck but I looked up a company that makes 5 car hauler beds and they listed the weight at between 11 and 12 thousand pounds. I suppose the truck itself without the bed would be around 18 thousand ( just guessing)
so with the cat ( 425 hp) and 15 sp trans what sort of milage can I expect? I generally run under the speed limit and expect to run even slower in the truck.

[GMAN]

I suggest you don't pass up the scale regardless of what you do or don't have on the side of the truck. They will want to weigh you regardless. Agriculture products are looked at somewhat differently in some states, but you are rather conspicuous with a car hauler. If you are talking about taking the truck home, then you can get a temporary tag, which this dealer can supply. Put it in the passenger side windshield so that it can be seen. It should be good for 30 days. You also don't want to start hauling freight without your name and information on the truck.

As far as the CAT engines are concerned. I own two trucks with CAT engines. I would expect from 5-7 mpg on average. I seem to have a quarterly average of a little over 6 mpg. If your engine is a 3406 B then I would not expect more than 4.5-5 mpg. The "B" is a mechanical engine and a real work horse, but loves fuel. The 3406E has a computer and will get the higher mileage.

[Darin Younce]

Hey Gman, I went and saw the truck ( long day , 920 mile round trip) . It looked pretty much like you would expect a 20 yr old truck to look. The body is is good, hood has had somework , needs some cosmetics. The door seals and window seals are worn . Just ordinary stuff . The air cond
compressor is new and not working( low on freon perhaps) . The engine
ran good, no blowby . Not sure about what oil pressire is suppose to be on it but when it was first cranked , the pressure ran up to between 40 and 50 pretty quick . After running about an hour it held steady at around 25 when indling but maintained 40 to 50 at road speed. Before we even started it I looked for any leaks and saw none , after we ran it for about an hour I saw a small anount of oil near the rear of engine. The engine
according to the stamp on it a 3406C . I know you mentioned a B or E
, It was a reman engine , the trans was also gone thru . It shifted
better than the freightliner I had trained on. The thing is powerful.
THe bed set up is real neat and very simple as far as car haulers go.
the rear of the bed has like a 4 post lift that you can tilt towards the rear
and use as a ramp to load cars on the top. Only 4 hyd cylinders in all.
One leaks . It is ran off a pto , the pump seemed to work but
there is a filter way down low on the truck that was hit a bit and the seal is leaking, also the fluid looker real frothy , probably needs to be drained and change filter and so forth. The bottom part of the bed is 26 ft with two ft extentions . Seems a bit short but you can get two cars on it. the top is a total of 40 ft ( with the lift raised) . I can see it hauling 5 cars
but probably smaller cars or a mix of med and small and large.
The truck drove down the road really well, when I first got in it I was concerned about the view, windshield seems smaller that what I trained in but after driving it , I was satisified. The air brakes were leaking near the rear , they held fine while driving but if you stopped and pumped a few pumps the warning buzzer came on. I believe the compressor is fine
I heard air hissin near the rear ( rear is air ride and the bags were flat as well) . The brakes held well in park when I got there but we parked on a small incline and they did not hold very well. Well to sum it up I told the guy I would think about it. My concerns are mostly the reliability of the truck , and the fuel milage. I was figuring on the way down if it does only get 4.5 to 5 mpgs I would be about as well off with a 4 car hauler med duty that get 8 or so mpg. This guy is hurting for money and I believe I can offer him 6500 to 7500 and get it. I am giving it the weekend to think about it. The bed setup is the best part of the truck
, With a little bit newer truck it would be great.

[GMAN]

I would expect to have a few things to repair with an older truck. Air leaks are usually easy to fix. If you are mechanically inclined and like to work on trucks this could work for you. The nice thing about it is that you could likely drive it for a year or two and sell it for what you paid for it. Fuel is a major concern these days. You can check the mpg by connecting to the cpu.