MDT/HDT Truck

mcolson84 · Oct 15, 2015

Thanks for the reply. I just talked to the dealer a little bit ago, and ours should be ready for pick-up next wednesday or thursday because they have to install the generator. I agree with the truck upgrade. I went up to the HDT because I could not afford an MDT, and because in the mountains around here (that we drive through alot) we had some close calls with my last F-350. The truck had all the power you need most of the time, but we had a brake failure twice, and both times I guess God just wasn't ready for us:angel:. I like being able to stop and/or have great control over my speed coming down some of the passes around Silverton and Telluride. We had a blowout while coming down a very steep part of the pass three weeks ago on the rear of the truck. Other than the sound scaring the crap out of us, it was rather uneventful, and we drove another 10 or so miles until we found a pull off. Thanks again for the feed back, and good luck on your Christmas wish list!

Bones · Oct 15, 2015

Re: Graywater into rear black tank

mcolson84 said:
Thanks for the reply. I just talked to the dealer a little bit ago, and ours should be ready for pick-up next wednesday or thursday because they have to install the generator. I agree with the truck upgrade. I went up to the HDT because I could not afford an MDT, and because in the mountains around here (that we drive through alot) we had some close calls with my last F-350. The truck had all the power you need most of the time, but we had a brake failure twice, and both times I guess God just wasn't ready for us:angel:. I like being able to stop and/or have great control over my speed coming down some of the passes around Silverton and Telluride. We had a blowout while coming down a very steep part of the pass three weeks ago on the rear of the truck. Other than the sound scaring the crap out of us, it was rather uneventful, and we drove another 10 or so miles until we found a pull off. Thanks again for the feed back, and good luck on your Christmas wish list!

Thanks. Very true on the HDT's being affordable when used. The engines on those buggers are great pulling machines especially if you get one of the 500 horse ones. Down side is fuel mileage. Ours use to only get about 6mpg. What is your averaging? We looked at the MDT's but their pricing would price us out of the ball park and insurance would not be kind.

mcolson84 · Oct 16, 2015

Re: Graywater into rear black tank

Mine has a smaller 12.8L Detroit in it. It is only 450 HP and 1650 torque, but that is plenty of power. I talked to several drivers and mechanics before I bought the truck about engines they liked. I was told that for hauling heavy commercial loads this truck was a little under powered, but for my use it would be great. I was told by drivers they were seeing 7.5-8 mpg with this engine/tranny. When I picked it up in Phoenix and drove it home to the Durango area I filled one tank all the way to the brim. When I got home I hand calculated it after refilling to the same spot. Average came out to 9.6 mpg. I am also a mechanic by trade, so when I got home I did some work and ran some treatments through the fuel system. It is 183 miles round trip from my house to one of the spots we go to in Silverton, CO. We use right at 18.1-18.2 gallons of fuel (I know it is not exact, but that is usally what the pump says) on that trip. There are some long steep pulls that actually keep me stuck in 7th-8th gear, but there are some long steep down grades too. So I figure it probably averages out between the two. I should note that my truck is governed at 63 mph, which is fine with me. I don't pull my fifth wheels over 60 mph, and there are no speed limits over 55 mph around here anyway. My 6.7 Powerstroke averaged 7.1 mpg on the same pull, and it was floored the entire time it seemed like, and in spots we where doing 25-30 mph. Downhill at times was just plain scary, especially when an elk, moose, or bear ran out in front of you.

I also like that I can get a new tire at the local shop for $204 mounted and balanced, vs the $360 I paid for the 20" tires on my Ford. I do miss the convienece though. How does your new Cummins pull compared to your HDT?

Bones · Oct 16, 2015

Re: Graywater into rear black tank

mcolson84 said:
Mine has a smaller 12.8L Detroit in it. It is only 450 HP and 1650 torque, but that is plenty of power. I talked to several drivers and mechanics before I bought the truck about engines they liked. I was told that for hauling heavy commercial loads this truck was a little under powered, but for my use it would be great. I was told by drivers they were seeing 7.5-8 mpg with this engine/tranny. When I picked it up in Phoenix and drove it home to the Durango area I filled one tank all the way to the brim. When I got home I hand calculated it after refilling to the same spot. Average came out to 9.6 mpg. I am also a mechanic by trade, so when I got home I did some work and ran some treatments through the fuel system. It is 183 miles round trip from my house to one of the spots we go to in Silverton, CO. We use right at 18.1-18.2 gallons of fuel (I know it is not exact, but that is usally what the pump says) on that trip. There are some long steep pulls that actually keep me stuck in 7th-8th gear, but there are some long steep down grades too. So I figure it probably averages out between the two. I should note that my truck is governed at 63 mph, which is fine with me. I don't pull my fifth wheels over 60 mph, and there are no speed limits over 55 mph around here anyway. My 6.7 Powerstroke averaged 7.1 mpg on the same pull, and it was floored the entire time it seemed like, and in spots we where doing 25-30 mph. Downhill at times was just plain scary, especially when an elk, moose, or bear ran out in front of you.

I also like that I can get a new tire at the local shop for $204 mounted and balanced, vs the $360 I paid for the 20" tires on my Ford. I do miss the convienece though. How does your new Cummins pull compared to your HDT?

The HDT's I speak of our what our family business use to do. We were a trucking company so I only drove them for a little while. I would like to move to an HDT but driving it everyday would be impractical and not to mention the job may not like it in the parking lot. But I do have a comparison to the tractors we did have and my truck pulls a whole lot better. Our trucks were probably under-powered compared to a lot of the trucks on the road today. I do know when I am pulling on the roadway up hill I am usually passing a lot of HDT's going up then they fly by me going down. I have had brake failures on an HDT going down a steep grade when driving back from AK so they can have issues. I was lucky that I was near the bottom and I just smoked the trailer brakes until I could pull off on the side for awhile to let them cool.

mcolson84 · Oct 16, 2015

Re: Graywater into rear black tank

Oh ok. I thought maybe you pulled a 5er with one for a while for a direct comparison. They sure can have brake failures, but the failures we experienced twice were on the trailer. The truck in those two experiences did not have the braking power necessary for stopping the unit quickly. If the small car that pulled out in front of us on both occasions had not quickly realized and gotten out of the way it would have been bad. The HDT I like being able to set the exhaust brake on high and never touch the brakes going down through the switchbacks at 15-25 mph. The pickup and trailer always had hot brakes when we got to the bottom. It was not as much a problem with the trailer empty, but when fully loaded it was.

danemayer · Oct 16, 2015

Moved the truck discussion to its own thread.

Bones · Oct 16, 2015

cool thanks

mcolson84 · Oct 16, 2015

Thanks

GWRam · Oct 16, 2015

We have almost the same set up as Bones. Just we have a mega cab and short bed. Same frame power plant and tranny and rear end. Going through TN or KY there are a couple 4% and a 7% grade went up at 55 with no apparent effort and came down at 55 on the exhaust brake and tranny, never had to touch the brakes.
Of course we didn't have any bears or elk run out in front of us thankfully.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

mcolson84 · Oct 16, 2015

I expect the truck will be really fine with the new trailer behind it. I will be quite a bit lighter than my toyhauler is. I know we are overloaded, but I guess that is what happens sometimes when you live in these things. The problem with the Ford was mainly only when the trailer brakes failed. I don't know much about the mountain passes out in the eastern US, but I can say the highways we drive out here a lot are steep and narrow with a lot of switchbacks. My F-350 pulled good as long as you could keep up your momentum, but when you come out of a switchback on the side of a 7.5-9% grade with 20K behind you it would only get back up to 25-30 mph. My 05 Cummins dually with some mods was about the same. When we haul firewood is when it got nerve racking most of the time. I don't know what the weight was exactly, but I have been told green pine is around 3200 Lbs. per cord. With six cords on a 6500 pound gooseneck it could get interesting coming downhill. Especially since we have thousands of miles of dirt roads (oilfield roads) in many of the areas we camp/hunt/cut firewood, and the passes on those are 15-18% grades in some case. Going uphill was just a patience game and not to bothersome. I do wish Ford had still offered the 6 spd. manual, I think that would have helped. I have always liked the cummins, and still own a 93', the 05' and 07' I had just kind of made me leary of them.

When I was looking for a new truck to replace the F-350 with, I was caught between the Dodge 4500-5500 and the F-450/550. The problem was they are so dang expensive! Even a used one is high. So I started looking at a more full size MDT (freightliner, international, etc.). I found them to be even more ridiculous in price, and not really any more power than the Dodge or Ford. So I finally went over to the escapees website. After a little reading I decided to see what I could find. I found many fairly clean class 8 trucks from $15,000-$35,000. I finally settled on mine for $17,800. I sold my ford for what we owed and the new bed, and put another $2,200 in it. It has been good for the boys to have the sleeper on trips, and my wife and Sassy have plenty of room for whatever.

Bones · Oct 16, 2015

mcolson84 said:
I expect the truck will be really fine with the new trailer behind it. I will be quite a bit lighter than my toyhauler is. I know we are overloaded, but I guess that is what happens sometimes when you live in these things. The problem with the Ford was mainly only when the trailer brakes failed. I don't know much about the mountain passes out in the eastern US, but I can say the highways we drive out here a lot are steep and narrow with a lot of switchbacks. My F-350 pulled good as long as you could keep up your momentum, but when you come out of a switchback on the side of a 7.5-9% grade with 20K behind you it would only get back up to 25-30 mph. My 05 Cummins dually with some mods was about the same. When we haul firewood is when it got nerve racking most of the time. I don't know what the weight was exactly, but I have been told green pine is around 3200 Lbs. per cord. With six cords on a 6500 pound gooseneck it could get interesting coming downhill. Especially since we have thousands of miles of dirt roads (oilfield roads) in many of the areas we camp/hunt/cut firewood, and the passes on those are 15-18% grades in some case. Going uphill was just a patience game and not to bothersome. I do wish Ford had still offered the 6 spd. manual, I think that would have helped. I have always liked the cummins, and still own a 93', the 05' and 07' I had just kind of made me leary of them.

When I was looking for a new truck to replace the F-350 with, I was caught between the Dodge 4500-5500 and the F-450/550. The problem was they are so dang expensive! Even a used one is high. So I started looking at a more full size MDT (freightliner, international, etc.). I found them to be even more ridiculous in price, and not really any more power than the Dodge or Ford. So I finally went over to the escapees website. After a little reading I decided to see what I could find. I found many fairly clean class 8 trucks from $15,000-$35,000. I finally settled on mine for $17,800. I sold my ford for what we owed and the new bed, and put another $2,200 in it. It has been good for the boys to have the sleeper on trips, and my wife and Sassy have plenty of room for whatever.

And the HDT has air ride as well so it should be fairly smooth. Do you plan on adding some type of utility to your truck in the bed area? ie storage compartments.

mcolson84 · Oct 16, 2015

I am working on a tool box/ gas tank for the ranger since we are not going to have the toyhauler anymore. I am also working on using the onboard compressor and tanks to run air tools and fill the airbag on the hitch.

MDT/HDT Truck

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