The 8 class Freigtliner

[Broompilot]

LBD posted that beautiful FL wow thats nice. Makes me wonder did I purchase the right truck? At the time the KW T 300 seemed to be the best choice. I will agree with some of the comments Weave and his Class 8 longer warranty less strain and more get up and go.

So I decided to look for used T-300 compared to other mfgs. Wow good luck very few to choose from. Is that because the quality is that high that there is no need to upgrade? Or could it be that there are just a couple of them out there? I know I see quite a few out in my travels.

Time will tell I tried to make the best decision other than my fuel mileage I think the truck is a keeper (3-5 or more years). It is hard to understand how any bigger of a truck or this size even delivers more than 10mpg. Six years ago I was driving a Dodge Ram six foot bed reg cab 318 auto best mileage she would give 16 but closer to 14.

So how can a truck with a empty weight of 1600lbs thus 12K more than that Ram, be capeable of delivering according to some posts here almost the same mpg? Am I missing something here? And thats empty weight.

I would love to believe that the T-300 could get 11-12 but I do not see this being possible. So I am very happy with trying to get to 10. We all love to bragg so here it goes 9.5 w/allison auto 285 hp empty weight 18,080 9.5 mpg

 

[davekc]

Most of your questions center around how it is geared. Your T300 could achieve 11 to 12 mpg but it would take a low rear end and a 9 or 10 speed to get you there.
Class 8 trucks are ok for a single or team operation, but are expensive. Hard to recover the cost unless it is carried for 7 years or greater. Most are well over $110,000. When factoring insurance, loan interest and principle, very little is left unless you are consistantly running above $1.50 a mile. Most of the problems surface after two years and some parts of the warranty run out.
Batteries, tires, belts, a/c issues are not covered. And the list goes on.

I think you made a smart decision with a T300. Although everything is relavant to price.

Davekc

 

[merkurfan]

On the fuel economy issue there are many reasons class 7's and 8's get what they do. Reasons for the big trucks are rear end gears, 6 or more gears in the transmission, the turbo, computer controled engines, constant highway speeds, and use of curise control and most importantly diesel engines are more efficent than gas.

Just an example. I have owned several Ford vans. One was a 1991 E350 with the 7.5L V8 gas 3 speed automatic, on a good day with the wind at it's back 6.5 MPG. The next was a 1990 E350 with the 7.3L mechanical injection non-turbo diesel, it got 15 MPG, the one I drive now is a 1996 E350 hightop with a 7.3L turbo diesel with electronic injection, I get 21.5 MPG on average. All vans where basically the same except the 96 is 2 feet taller than the others.