Bullheaded

How much are they in Australia? A new Western Star 4900 dump truck like the one I run is $227,000 in Canada. That is (what they call tri-axle here.....steer, steering lift, tandem rear, 21 foot dump box.) And highway tractors with high rise sleepers are around $180,000 Canadian.

Wow! All nice stuff there.

I don't have to worry about that. I don't get dirty, LOL.

Probably a typo. And it's still just as ugly down under, LOL.

Ya, I'm not into this new fad of replacing gauges with electronic display screens. They don't want distracted driving but they now make you toggle through multiple screens to find info. But the sad part is, most of the new generation that designs and drives trucks wouldn't understand what the info on a gauge is telling them, LOL.

Yes, many times I have to put my dust cloth over the steering wheel when I am driving it. But it looks nice parked, LOL.

That, and like my old Star, a chrome steering wheel looks good but the damn thing blinds you every time the sun gets on it, LOL.

I love it. Way nicer than all the other new trucks with their "automobile inspired" dashes. At least this looks like a truck. That was the only thing I liked about my Star. Old school dash and room for 20 gauges. Too bad the rest of the truck was junk. But even Star has made changes to the dash this year to make them more car driver likable. Pretty sad.

Surprises me to see a Cummin's engine. I thought they were big on integrated powertrains. Together with Navistar they are supposed to be working on a new engine for north America. I know nothing about their trucks, but I do enjoy my VW car and SUV. Unfortunately I cannot buy any more. My dealer put their hoist through the floor of my wifes new Jetta when it was in for an oil change, and neither them or VW Canada would do anything about it. So they lost me as a customer.

I love this truck! Stock, not all customized and ready to go to work.

Even though the Capone truck is Volvo era.....I always did like the looks of those too.

I ran many, many Louisvilles. Up here in Canada the cabs all rotted off from the salt, just like their cars and pickups. (I am a Ford fan, but the fact is they don't live in salt.) There aren't any left around here and at one time there was nothing but Ford's. And the dash's all cracked from the sun. You can't find an intact Ford dash. Every restored one I have seen for sale up here has a custom home made dash in it. We also ran a Sterling dump truck. No issues with it either. Lots of plastic, but it lasted the 7 or so years we kept it with nothing broke. I found the cab rode really nice too. The air ride was set up really soft.

Funny you mentioned AM General's 41chevy. Just got the latest Truck and Trailer paper in the mail and Transport Robert in Quebec, Canada has 3 6x6 AM General M920 tractors for sale. And they are painted black too, LOL. I think they were 1980's? They have 400 Cummins with Caterpillar automatic transmissions.

There is a signal marker on the underside of the mirror arm though.

On the Ford thing......I watch some cars shows on the weekends on tv when I'm having breakfast. A couple years ago I was watching Autoline Detroit and they had some execs from Ford on the discussion panel. They were saying how Ford is going to get back into class 8 trucks in north America because they feel they once again want to offer a full commercial portfolio. They wanted to be able to offer everything from vans and F150's all the way up. The most interesting thing he said was "we still own all our old tooling and dies." I wonder what ever happened to that plan? And what tooling do they still own? The old Louisville stuff or Sterling era stuff?

Well, likely doesn't matter. I have what is supposed to be a "premium" truck from a company that has test tracks and makes "extreme duty" off road trucks. The videos on their web site show all the details that make them better as the guy says "does it cost more? Well yes it does." And guess what? It's the worst truck I have ever been in. The build quality flaws when it was delivered are far too many to list here.

Oh, ok. I used to haul RV's and I remember seeing Workhorse Chassis. I didn't realize Navistar had them. I knew Navistar had Monaco. It's getting hard to keep track of all these companies. I don't know how you keep up to all this news! LOL. But it is appreciated.

Mr. Kscarbel2, again thanks for all the info. Is Workhorse Custom Chassis still part of the GVW/Autocar group?

Like I have said, I like it. I'd like to try one as a dump truck. I'm dying to see the dash and interior. It's funny though, they must do a lot of direct sales to customers, because I never see the Xpeditor's on lots or in the truck papers. But I see lots on the road working.

I just had a look for Ontario, Canada. I knew there was a trailer sales dealer that was selling the shunt trucks because there are a lot of those in use in southern Ontario. But I just saw that Tallman (my old International dealer) sells Autocar. And they just sold their dealer chain to Rush Truck Centers. So I can see them expanding the Autocar sales line. They are a huge dealer network, and Tallman was excellent to deal with. So Autocar may be in good shape for sales after all?

Now we just need to see them get a bigger sales network. Not many dealer around here. Who'd have ever thought we'd lose Mack and gain Autocar, LOL.

Well that's a good move for Meritor. Axle Tech and Sisu are the two big players when it comes to planetary axles.

I kinda agree. It would have looked more classic without the nostrils. And different headlights. But I still like it.

No interior pics yet? Thanks to all those that have posted. I think they are doing it smart anyway. Their core market is refuse and this all the truck you need for that. And the X12 is all the power it needs, especially when backed by an Allison auto as that makes a small motor feel like a bigger motor. And since they also make concrete pump truck chassis, this truck might be enough for a tandem mixer also. Who knows if they will go bigger, but they are starting out the right way with this truck.

Actually no. I spoke to their Canadian sales rep. They do not meet emissions regulations. They have a set amount of units they can still sell with emission credits. Kinda like what all the engine manufacturers did in 2010. Those tractor are 2018 models that are still left over and that is the last batch that does not have DPF's. Now they have to have to conform to tier 4 like everyone else. They were allowed to sell so-many non-compliant engines and these are the last remaining stock. The ones I was looking at in the Marketbook were MTZ Belarus as well as Zetor. Anyway, I was just curious. I'm not interested in owning one. I have Kubota's and Allis Chalmers. And they are pre-emissions. It's bad enough I have to deal with that useless emissions crap on my big trucks, but I will NEVER have an automobile or tractor with a DPF on it. Not ever.