Teach me the world of HD pickups.

codrus wrote:

SVreX wrote: The long bed crew cab truck is tolerable on the Interstate. Just no fun to drive around town.

It's not the driving that's the problem, it's the parking. :)

Right. Generly not too much parking on the Interstate.

SVreX wrote:

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: I am planning on towing things of various weights.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: I was told by my buddy who does the type of hauling I'm getting into...

OK, there is part of this story you have left out. If this is a commercial application, a lot of the recommendations could change. You may not want 3/4 ton. You may really need a dually. Or bigger. You probably don't need 4WD, unless you are hauling port-o-potties to Alaskan gold mining sites. If we knew what you were hauling, we might be able to give you better information, or throw some business your way.

Ok, sorry, I've been working a lot the last few days and the last time I checked, this was a page 3 post so I thought it was dead.

I didn't say what I was exactly doing, because there have been too many critical people around here lately and I didn't feel like being told that there's no money in it or any of the other negative crap people spout off. I've been researching the crap out of it and I have a friend in the business, so I know what I'm getting into. That being said, I wasn't quite sure where I was going to start when I initially posted this thread. I'm working on getting my foot in the door, so I am going to start off with travel trailers. I will end up making more than I am now, even after expenses.

Now on to the technical stuff. I'm going on what my friend has told me and what the RV transport companies require.

• Can't be older than 2001.

• I need a long bed, they do not accept short beds.

• Has to have stock suspension.

• I want 4WD. Yes it is more parts to wear and it will diminish the fuel mileage, but my friend has explained that he has been in too many situations during the winter, that he needed it just to move. He didn't think he would need it when he bought his truck, but it had it and he needed it. I know that I want to be able to get through inclement weather if I need to.

• I want a crew cab. I may need to crash for a few hours or even overnight and may not have a hotel available, so the crew cab is ideal for this. I've done it before, so I'm not worried about how uncomfortable it is. If the truck is right, I could settle with an extended cab even a standard cab. I'm not opposed, its just not ideal.

• I don't think I need a dually right now. I think a 3/4 ton truck can handle a 5th wheel camper with minor issues. I know people who pull them in their personal life that have SRW trucks and don't have a problem. After I have a couple years under my belt and I decide to graduate to car or freight hauling, then yes a dually will come into play. If I can find a dually for the right price in reasonable condition, then I wouldn't be opposed to purchasing one out of the gate.

So with all that, I am still not happy with my CL findings. My price range of $10k really doesn't help. There are way too many 6.0L Super Duties out there for sale and the only ones that mention being bullet proofed, are all Brodozers. With the money I will spend on a truck and all the crap I need to get into this business, I can't afford to drop a couple grand on a head job. Any 7.3 trucks I've found are beat to hell. I like the GM twins, but the only ones I'm finding out there are early Duramax trucks, anything newer are shortbeds. I also like the Dodges and can forgive the plastic interiors (I drove an '03 Durango for 10 years), but the automatic transmissions scare me and manuals are far and few in between. Maybe in a couple months some better trucks will come along. Fly and drive really isn't an option.

There's a guy I sell Mercedes parts to, he is a retired truck driver. He does travel trailers. He must make a good amount of money because he just bought a brand new Duramax fully loaded. That thing is gorgeous. He's also restoring a 500se w126. Neither of those are exactly cheap or affordable.

In reply to yupididit:

To my understanding, if you play it right, they can get better miles paid than Semi Truck drivers.

Goodluck! I think it'll pay off.

What is wrong with the early duramaxes exactly?

Remember, for the most part, the injectors have to be REALLY screwed to be awful. My truck is fine, it puffs a bit on cold start, and puffs a bit when it's really warm out.

It's started, with bad injectors, in -20C (-4F) without being plugged in. The older duramaxes also get better mpg then any of the newer ones, arguably they ride better than the 2007.5-2012's (the newer ones ride awful in comparison, my 01 2500hd rides better than my 2004 1500 4x4), you don't need the 6th gear as the rpm will be too low to tow the kind of loads you are talking and 6th gear does not improve gas mileage, it just improves noise/comfort (and for $2k you can have a 6th gear, fun fact, allison 1000's simply have the 6th gear disabled because gm spec'd a 5 speed auto, true story).

At 450,000kms, mine is ticking along. I bought it at 415, and in 8 months have done nothing more besides change all the fluids. It's amazing, will probably never go back to gas. Having rode in a lot of powerjokes and cummins, there is a reason why the dmaxes are in demand. I wouldn't fear the early ones, considering mine is a bone stock, owned-by-a-farmer first year model with no issues and I've already towed 15k kms with it.

And you definitely want 4x4 if you ever go anywhere near snow. Doesn't matter if you have the best tires and a locking diff, if you are towing, 4x4 in snow is all that matters, especially up hills.

As for front end parts, the duramax store sells upgrades with lifetime warranties. You could plasma torch one of the parts in half, send it back to them, and they will warranty it. And they are significantly beefier than stock parts. As an added bonus, the price isn't much higher.

Edit- Why don't you import a truck from Canada?

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/grande-prairie/duramax-2004-long-box-crew-cab-4x4/1134258329?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

That's $7k USD, in case you are wondering, with under 200k miles on it

I'll deliver it to the border for you, I have an 18 foot equipment trailer ready to haul it

A non bulletproofed 6.0 isn't necessarily going to need major work right away. It'll just have a few things you need to keep a close eye on (especially the EGR cooler) and take care of as soon as you suspect an issue. I've seen plenty of 6.0 trucks live healthy lives without issues and without being bulletproofed or anything. Bulletproofing them just takes it to the point where you can work it hard and not worry about the thing at all (so I'd do it when you can, but it doesn't have to be right away if you get one).

As far as needing a dually, if you don't need the extra pin weight capacity for what you're going to pull, you probably don't need a dually. I'd try to find a 1 ton (350/3500) SRW over a 3/4 ton, however. The 1 tons usually have an extra 1000 lbs or so of payload capacity and stiffer rear suspension (more stable in crosswinds). And they typically have a big overload leaf that the 3/4 tons lack (to make the suspension a bit more progressive when loaded up).

In reply to HiTempguy:

Well after I had 3 or 4 people tell me the early Duramax trucks have issues, I looked into it and it seems to just be injectors. My biggest concern is that the oldest trucks are now 15 years old with 200k+ miles on them and I worry the Allison's are ready to give up. I'm just paranoid because I have had several automatics crap out on me, but that's across the board, not just to the GM twins.

In reply to rslifkin:

Well that's good to know about the 6.0L. Some I found have the EGR delete done to them.

I'm probably going to have to get a truck off CL and so far I have not found any SRW 1-Ton trucks. Yes they will be better than the 3/4 tons, but people don't seem to have a problem towing with them.

I'm sure you've been reading along on the other HD threads going... 4WD and diesel is going to make it tough to get one under 200k miles, if that's what you're after. If you're just looking for one in good shape and well maintained, but you're okay with higher miles...well, that is more possible. If you could figure out a way to start out with 2wd, you could get a nicer truck still, but I understand your reasoning there.

Where are you, or where are you willing to travel to get the truck? That's one thing I've learned on these other threads - prices on these things vary a lot between regions. The Southeast seems to be lower.

I've noticed SRW 1 tons are fairly common in Fords (and newer Dodges, I don't think Dodge made an SRW 1 ton until some time in the mid 2000s). GM sells them, but I've only ever seen 1 (usually either a 3/4 ton SRW or 1 ton dually).

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: My biggest concern is that the oldest trucks are now 15 years old with 200k+ miles on them and I worry the Allison's are ready to give up.

The nice thing with the allisons, for the most part is that they either work or they don't work.

If you test drive a truck, make sure to do a brake-torqued full throttle launch (maybe even have it in 4x4 for good measure). If the transmission slips AT ALL, the truck instantly goes into limp mode. If it doesn't slip, it pretty much won't if you don't abuse it and maintain it properly.

Another great thing is used allison 1000's are cheap! I can get them used for under $2k all day long with under 200k miles on them.

I did up a spreadsheet at the beginning of 2015 with all the diesels compared. I took the worst case scenario of the "common" drivetrain issues to each truck, and calculated how much it would be to fix.

The duramax won by a mile. The cummins was second, but the truck is awful and they ride bad. The ford was 3rd. Initially it seemed like 6.0L's were SO cheap, but then you realized that if you had to pay someone to do the work, you could just outright buy a lower mile duramax and get drivin.

Now, if you can find a 6.0L ford with the proper work done, by all means, do it. But I'd still argue the duramax is a better truck.

In reply to ultraclyde:

I'm in Illinois. I have yet to figure out financing, so I don't know how far out of state I'm willing to go. Right now there are several trucks in my area and yes they are up around 200k. Some of them in good shape, some not so much. I'm going to stick to 4WD, they are plentiful at the moment.

In reply to HiTempguy:

Thanks for the heads up. It's good to know people have some experience with that stuff.

Oh and this just dropped on the CL yesterday:

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/ctd/5420492770.html

That looks worth a test drive.

I've found a few 4x4 6sp 7.3's in the sub $10k window....always CC dually however.

Definitely not a bad idea for what you're looking into doing though. The longer the wheelbase, the more stable it will be pulling those 5th wheel monstrosities. Ditto for the dually, moar stability = moar betta.

In reply to WOW Really Paul?:

Well and I'm not opposed to a truck like that. It's just whatever I can get my hands on when I finally stop dicking around and go for it.

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

Rodger that, I travel on the corridor they use out of Michiana heading south all the time. Most of the people doing this type of work I see are running dually trucks from the various marques. Every single dodge I've seen doing it has been a manual however. The Allison behind the Isuzu engine is another one I see often. The majority however are PSD Fords, and usually either newer 6.4 or 6.7's and a bunch of 7.3's and a few 6.0's. The older fords almost always have manuals as well that they've chosen. Almost all of these trucks are CC Dually with about 70% of them not being 4wd. Thought I would share observations I've made over the years.

You can always tell the guys who have "made it" so to say.....they're the ones with the $70k Ford F-450's.

In reply to WOW Really Paul?:

A lot of them come down 57 where I live and I see more Duallies than anything, but I see a lot of SRW trucks as well.

Honestly, a dually would make this one an done, but I'm going with what I can get. If I find a nice SRW truck for the right price, then I'm going to go for it. Same thing for a dually.

Also the only PSD/Manual trucks I'm finding are standard cab long beds

No E350?

In reply to Esoteric Nixon:

These guys haul 5th wheel travel trailers regularly.....so why shoot yourself in the foot on not being able to get as many loads?

Yeah there are 4 or 5 big companies based out of Elkhart. I've gone over all their requirements. They only want 3/4 ton and 1 ton pickups.

Thinking about it, for a lot of the highway hauling, auto vs manual shouldn't matter too much durability-wise, as there's not a ton of shifting going on (compared to hauling on more local roads). Most of the wear in an auto happens during shifts, provided it's kept cool enough.

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

I really think your answer will be dually.

It will probably be a 1 ton (F-350 or equal), 2WD, auto trans, long bed.

I don't think you need the 4x4 or manual, and should not limit yourself to 3/4 ton.

Older duallies are also often less expensive.

In reply to SVreX:

I know you're really pushing the no 4x4, but I'd rather have it. I live and will be transporting in areas where it snows. Even if I only use it a couple times a year, it's worth it to me.

Ideally a dually would be what I want, but I'm still not finding much out there in my price range, at least that don't look like they've been beat to hell.