Do any of you have any experience with medium duty trucks? I am giving up my goal of an old dodge hauler, mainly because I can't find an older crew cab.

So this weekend I am going to take a look at 3 trucks, I have done some research but you always just seem to find the bad/terrible.

The trucks I am looking at are:

Freightliner - 8.3 cummins(manual pump) eaton 9 speed
International - DT466 6 speed manual
Freightliner - 3126 Cat 6 speed manual

All of them have the GCVW I need and crew cabs, just not sure about the engine combo's and what is the most reliable.

I own a small fleet of med duty trucks since 1983. What year trucks are you looking at?

The freightliner with the 8.3 is a 95, the other 2 are 99's. All of them are between 185k-200k miles, and in my price range. They will only be used for 2000ish miles a year hauling trucks to mud bogs.

Go with the freightliner and the 8.3 and the nine speed for sure. 95 is a good year imo.

I owned a 97 Kenworth with a 8.3 and a roadranger 9 speed....great truck...freightliner liners are real close to Kenworth imo.

I currently own 4 freightliners, 4 internationals and just sold 2
Internationals cab chassis last week. switching over to all freightliners,
Kenworth.
Also have 5 f350 450 550 fords.


The DT 466 used to be the best deal going as we had 12 internationals at one point in the late 70-80s The mid to late 90s the internationals trucks went way downhill.the 2000 models are terrible. I owned a 2003 and 2-2004 4400 internationals and were terrible all three trucks. Still have one left and I hope replace it next year.

8.3 motor is a good one.

I just bought a new freightliner with the 8.3 rated at 300hp with a real 2 stage jakebrake (not a exhaust brake)and auto trans Allison .

I have owned this FL112 since 2002, used to pull a 51' mini semi. Then I used it to pull a 49' mini semi race trailer. Now for the last 7 years we use it for vacations as it is fully equipped .We live in it up to 2 weeks. C-12 Cat motor making 505hp Allison double overdrive 2stage jake air ride long wheelbase wonderful handling RV rig with big power and awesome mpg with overdrive.

I looked like you did for years to build my own, found this custom rig 4 months old and motrtgaged my house to get it. Been worth it big time and now I own it free and clear for a few years now. [img]http://http[/img]

Thanks! I will definitely look at that one close. The only thing I don't like is it has more of an extended cab with the back seats facing each other and the others are crew with actual doors. But I'm pretty sure my kids will be fine back there for a few years, its bigger then a dodge truck with those same seats.

The 9 speed is much nicer to drive than either of the 6 speeds because the 9 speed is not synchronized. I owned a 93 DT466 with a 10 speed Eaton for about 15 years and about 750k miles was a good truck. Nothing like the Kenworth we had at the time.

The only issue with the 9 speed truck for me is air brakes, and really it just means I can't have a few beverages with my buddies after the mud bog and have my wife drive it home. Unless I convince her to get her air endorsement

If it is for personal use, then no CDL needed. Believe me you want air brakes! They are a must!!!

Our licensing requirements are a bit different in Canada, but air is just a simple written test. The single axle trucks land under our normal license even if it was for a job.

Plus mine will be under my farm, a few other laws are relaxed...like no more mandatory inspections.

I have been maintaining med duty trucks since the 80s. Here's one example of why I think Navistar trucks are junk now a days. Not to mention the oil leaky engine with it's hi pressure oil pump that does not last. 800 bucks for a hi pressure oil pump to fire the injectors and cause leaks.

This is a 2004 4400 that I have owned since new. Early on the window regulator stripped out, driver would have to help it past the stripped area until it did not work at all. I bought a new regulator/door lock assembly from the dealer and installed it years ago. It cost 550 bucks...the assembly, can't just buy the regulator by it's self on this model truck. It lasted only a few years like the original did.

I removed a good one from a used cab chassis that I sold last week to install in this truck before I sold it. I installed it again last night. It is a PIA taking the door apart to install it, not a easy deal at all. The outside door handle/lock and latch all have to be removed to install it.

Here's what it looks like out of the truck.

I have older Navistar trucks that the window regulators lasted forever. These trucks have plastic gears on the regulators...total junk. Lucky this regulator was free out of my old truck I sold. The buyer will have to find a used one which are hard to find since they don't hold up and like I said new ones are 500+ bucks!

Things like this make the late model Internationals junky,expensive and a PIA to own. IMO

All these late model internationals have required new steering columns because a bearing goes out. Steering columns are 1000 bucks.

Interesting I went and looked at the international and 2 of the windows wouldn't roll down. The interior was pretty trashed, lots of broken switches. It was also a railway truck and I wouldn't want to deal with the extra 2 feet of frame sticking out the front. Off to look at the freightliners this afternoon.

My company has two Internationals, a 2007 Tractor bought used, and a 2010 bought new with used 24 ft box and lift gate both have been very troublesome and the local dealer takes forever to get any repairs done. IF I had known how bad the Internationals were i would have tried harder to talk the company owners into a Freightliner instead. I drive the box truck a lot and it rides rough compared to the Freightliners we have rented because the International was in the shop. What i find odd is that the truck being an automatic has no Park, when parking you put it in neutral and apply the air parking brake.

They might have been electric, the windows. If so then motors and actuators are cheap and readily available.

No park huh?
A Spring parking brake is the strongest parking brake, stronger than if you tried to do it in the trans.
That is what you have when you release the air when parking.
Our 2002 frieghtliner Fl112 has a auto trans, put your foot on the brake and stab D for drive and off you go. Anyone can drive it. I had 2 race crew members and my wife has driven our rig, mainly because of the auto trans.

I`ve seen pics of your truck on here, nice rig. I`ve always liked those.

Challenger, could you explain why the transmission without synchronizers is easier to drive?

Thanks for the info on the International trucks. I know a guy who is an International fan, but he quit driving 20 years ago. I had no idea their quality had gone down hill since then.

I have driven Eaton-Fuller 9 speeds for years, once you get used to them they ARE easy to drive, not clunky crapola like the G56 6-speed Mercedes piece of dung in the later Cummins Rams. I didn't much like the NV4500 and NV5600's either, and they didn't like me. To this date I have never broken a 9-speed, yet...

Sure,

A non synchronized trans takes more skill to use, but once your one with the truck then it is easier to shift as you don't have sychros fighting you when you shift and you don't use the clutch until you stop or start.

A synchronized trans can be driven without the clutch also, there is more friction/resistance when you shift unless you shift just at right RPMs. . But the sychros fighting you kind of sucks without a bit of clutch.

Once I learned to drive our first 9 speed then I could drive any tranny without the clutch

Double clutching...ever heard of the that? That is how you shift a non synchronized trans until you learn to drive without the clutch. I have taught 4 guys over the years to drive my 9 and 10 speeds when we had them. Now we have all auto trans except for one truck. Makes it much easier to drive a truck all day especially in the city with autos.

Today I replaced PTO U joints on a tanker and then changed 6 tires on another tanker truck all after lunch. I worked in the office until noon and then did 2 sales calls and was in the garage by 2 PM. Just got home at 9:30PM. Filling that tire with air, takes like 4-5 minutes to air them up to 110PSI.

Truck sat outside because my shop is small. I had trouble getting the inner wheels off the hub from rust. Truck is only 1 year old. I had to set it down on the ground to break the inner wheels off on both sides. Big PIA but I got them off.


Got more tires to mount tomorrow, had 2 trucks that needed them and I waited until snow was in the forecast to get as much mileage out of the tires as possible.