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Freightliner


granitefan713

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:SMOKIE-LFT: you are right they are cheap we spoke a few years back whit the dealer in knoxville tennesee it is a very big dealership and they were told by freightliner to take in al trucks from 1 and 2 years old and sell new trucks to those custumers thats why there are so many trucks on the road and in the parking lots by dealers its daimler policy to own the market they thid it also a time whit mercedes in europe :pat::wacko:
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I had the pleasure of driving a 2001 Classic XL 275" wheelbase, triple air,condo sleeper.Not only was she pretty but she rode better than a Cadillac or any other truck I've ever driven and I've driven compatible Pete,s and KW,s(some of which were newer).It had a 500 Detroit and in the 200k miles I drove it,I never had a problem.I'd set the cruise at 75mph and pulled a reefer from Maine to Virginia,with 50k lbs. in the box it never went under 65.I'm waiting for a settlement and when it comes I'm going to buy one of those "cheap" trucks.TOMBSTONE.P.S.- I'm 6'3" tall and I could do jumping jacks in the sleeper w/o touching the ceiling,not to mention I slept better in that truck than I did at home.

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I've had the displeasure of driving Freightshakers for over a million miles. I've experienced their kluged together "engineering", rough ride, and "reliability" that kept you in the lane nearest the shoulder and familiar with the fire extinguisher's location.

Life is too short to waste driving Freightliners, and I drive Mack by choice. Why torture yourself with a torqueless Detroit motor and the poor manueverability of a long conventional Freightshaker? Even a Volvo would be a better bet, and a Pinnacle with MP8 engine would outaccellerate and outmanuever that too long Freightshaker while using less fuel and carrying more payload.

And Mack is American made, something you soon won't be able to say about Freighliner.

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  • 2 weeks later...

There,s no substitute for wheelbase ,and 80MPH is fast enough for me on the east coast.With the grace of God,this time next year I'll be checking out the west coast in a larger car with a bigger motor(I'll let you know how that pans out).As far as Detroits go I'm not a big fan(although I kinda like the Silver92V8,passes everything but a fuel stop. Back in the day, drove a Superliner that had one,13 RTOO, 250'' whlbs.48'' sleeper,alum. frame and triple didgets,YEEHA!)my preference is CAT motors and would love to have a V8,but I've got a feeling fuel will be close to 5$ a gallon by this time next year and at 4-5 miles to the gallon that's not very cost effeciant.Back to the Classic,never had a problem manuevering that big girl and I used to deliver to Home Depots in the 5 Boros(16 stops in a day and a half with a 50' reefer w/10' spread,after driving from Homestead,Fla.)It's amazing how fast NY taxi's move out of your way when they see that big chrome bumper coming at them LOL.Oh yeah it always helps to have a phone# that went to corporate.I'll never forget the look on the face of that 10$ an hr. supervisor in Yonkers that told me I would have to come back the next day(at 4 in the afternoon)to get unloaded.Made the phone call and 15 mins. later I was back against the dock LOL.I have to admit,I haven't driven a late model Mack road truck(though now I'm definitely going to road test one),but i've driven almost every type of late model triaxle Mack dump.Everyone had a great ride with 25-30 ton in the box but they all were back breakers empty(the one that had the best ride empty was an RD with floats on the front axle.Also lighter than the CH's with a better chance of being legal with a full load).I'll probably never drive a Granite,after 2 back surgeries,my dump truck days are over. 37 years of fixing, driving,company or O/O all I can say is it doesn't matter what you drive,just as long as you enjoy what your doing and your making money doin' it.Keep the shiny side up,always hire a lumper and if anyone tells you hard work never hurt anybody,they're lyin'.(Usually they're just tryin' to get more work out of you).Oh yeah,don't ever forget and tell everyone you know,IF YOU BOUGHT IT<A TRUCK BROUGHT IT.God Bless,TOMBSTONE.

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Tombstone,

I agree with everything you said except hiring a lumper. I always unload my self if I have the option. Good exercise, sometimes the only exercise I get in a week, and not bad extra money for three or four hours of work. The only time I do hire a lumper is when I need some bunk time to keep the log legal.

greg

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I've driven A couple of Freightliners in my time along with IHs,Macks,KWs,and Peterbilts.The first was A classic XL flat top,the other was A mid-roof.Both rode and drove as good as any other truck I've driven,and I had little or no down time with either of them.The flattop had an N-14 Cummins 460,the mid-roof had A 475 Cat.All in what you order I guess,they were both left lane trucks.

Edited by other dog

Producer of poorly photo-chopped pictures since 1999.

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  • 3 weeks later...

dunno bout CHEAP in US but over here ( AUST ) yes they are less axpensive than say a KW but at end of day with KW you only really pay for the bloody name anyway ...i spent quite some time in my ( well i Drove it ) Century class with c15 550 horse CAT ( God i LOVED that motor ) pullin road train ( only doubles ) 90ton bout 200000pounds to you in US and 30m or 110ft long o/a from Adelaide to Brisbane ...2600 kilometers..1600 odd miles over some of aust shittiest roads an it was the BEST by far truck for job an i have had Fords LTLS 500 hp Red Head Cummins , 2 Sterlings 1 with 12.7l Detroit ( oh they call it HORESPOWER ....more like bloody Pony,s )!! and 1 with 550 hp Red Head Cummins ( great but reliability when gettin on an issue ) an prior to all of those a CHR with 454 electronic .....oh an i thought DETROIT was Gutless ......Great single trailer truck ...but road train jus too much for little puppy .

hell dont get me wrong i love my macks ...i have two a MIR ridgid tipper ( 237T an 9spd o/d Fuller) and a R688 with E6350 two Valve with 12spd mack box .. will post some pics of all bit later but new to this site an i had to reply to this subject ...

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dunno bout CHEAP in US but over here ( AUST ) yes they are less axpensive than say a KW but at end of day with KW you only really pay for the bloody name anyway ...i spent quite some time in my ( well i Drove it ) Century class with c15 550 horse CAT ( God i LOVED that motor ) pullin road train ( only doubles ) 90ton bout 200000pounds to you in US and 30m or 110ft long o/a from Adelaide to Brisbane ...2600 kilometers..1600 odd miles over some of aust shittiest roads an it was the BEST by far truck for job an i have had Fords LTLS 500 hp Red Head Cummins , 2 Sterlings 1 with 12.7l Detroit ( oh they call it HORESPOWER ....more like bloody Pony,s )!! and 1 with 550 hp Red Head Cummins ( great but reliability when gettin on an issue ) an prior to all of those a CHR with 454 electronic .....oh an i thought DETROIT was Gutless ......Great single trailer truck ...but road train jus too much for little puppy .

hell dont get me wrong i love my macks ...i have two a MIR ridgid tipper ( 237T an 9spd o/d Fuller) and a R688 with E6350 two Valve with 12spd mack box .. will post some pics of all bit later but new to this site an i had to reply to this subject ...

Please post pictures of the MIR's! I have seen one on an Australian truck website(truckhub). Looks like an ML with an F model grille.

-Thad

What America needs is less bull and more Bulldog!

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  • 4 weeks later...
Please post pictures of the MIR's! I have seen one on an Australian truck website(truckhub). Looks like an ML with an F model grille.

there is 1 pic of my MIR though not showing all of it as it,s parked alongside my Aust IHI ACCO ...will post some more dedicated pics of it soon , along with some of the R688 currently in my workshop undergoing some chassis repairs an a frame stretch to accomodate the Quick Change 10cu3meter body off of the MIR along with 5th wheel so both dogs are more versatile in there operations.

Frame on R688 is double chassis rail type as she,s rated to 90ton ( Double Road Train ) an was originally specced for stock crate work, so she sorta suffering from Rust spread forcing outter rail apart from inner due to its crate work .

Stretching frame will also allow me to move drive back @ 800mm to get more weght on steer as at its original spec was for crate which has a forward pin location on trailer , and pullin tipper ( dumper ) an Step Deck cant throw weight forward an subsequently too heavy on steer ..

And the usual myriad of jobs that seem to crop up when you start these projects :) ......pul 12spd an blow apart for new gaskets / seals as leakin oil is a Pet HATE ....oh an new exhaust , tires & rims all way around , alloy fuel tanks .... i Gotta Stop before i whip out spray gun ......had Considered Black with a Flame job ........also

trip to THERAPIST to STOP before i get carried away .............any way nuff o my rambellings i,ll get to it an post some pics soon ...

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Hey, how many of you have seen the new Cascadia in person? I was able to check it out yesterday at my Freightliner dealer. They had that big black sleeper thats on Freightliner's website with their demo trailer, and a plain white day cab. I think it looks pretty good, the interior isn't all that much different that their current models, but the exterior is definitely different.

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  • 3 months later...

Well I figured I'd bring this back up since I have actually driven 2 Freightliners since I last posted. One of them was a 2004 Thomas FS-65 (School Bus), and for those who may not know, it rides on an FL-70 chassis. The other was a 2007 Thomas C2 (also a School Bus), which rides on an M2 chassis. Both buses had air ride suspension and air ride seats; however the FS-65 was definitely a "Freightshaker" the C2 rode much better.

Both buses also the the Mercedes Benz MBE906 engine of which I was very impressed with.

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