Medium Duty Hauler Itch

Rhyph

Well-known member
Well, as I've always said, when I get the itch for a new truck, there isn't much more to be had in the world of 1-ton duallys. To upgrade for me, it's time to start looking at a MDT, something along the lines of a Freightliner M2 106, Sportchassis type affair. There's a lot of options out there. I'm surprised we don't have a sub-category for them here. I do a lot of my research through community owner sites before making any decisions, just like we did when we discovered Heartland.

Does anyone know a good site to study, read and perhaps join up for discussions on them? Any authoritative dealers out there worth checking out?
 

Niles

Well-known member
Escapee's is a good one for discussion on MDT's. Horse Trailer world is a good site to find some good used trucks. And we do like our FL 60.
 

Rhyph

Well-known member
Thanks for the tips! I've also been looking over FL60's as I'm open to getting the right combination of value and specs. I keep running in to most of the trucks having been set-up for goose neck ball only. It seems something already set-up with a 5th wheel plate (or trailer saver specifically) are few and farther between. I have to wonder how hard it would be to change or add a 5th wheel plate or TS to one of them not already having it.
 

farside291

Well-known member
Why can't you use the gooseneck to fifth wheel adapter? Leaving the gooseneck ball in place.

- - - Updated - - -

And I am talking about the actual fifth wheel hitch That mounts in the bed not to the king pin.
 

Niles

Well-known member
You're right when you say most are set up for a goose neck. Seems most of these trucks pull horse trailers. The trail saver hitch does do either if you get the right one, the head exchanges I think, so you can pull fifth wheel or a goose neck. One thing I found when looking for a truck is be ready to wait for the right one. We found ours while on vacation in Florida by accident really. Ended up with wife in one truck and me in the other on the way home, man was it a peaceful trip.:rolleyes: Make a list of what you want in a truck and then start your search. Good luck!!!
 

Rhyph

Well-known member
Why can't you use the gooseneck to fifth wheel adapter? Leaving the gooseneck ball in place.

- - - Updated - - -

And I am talking about the actual fifth wheel hitch That mounts in the bed not to the king pin.

I'm fairly certain we can't with the Trail-Air pin box, I think I read somewhere that Lippert does not want you using any adapters with it. I don't like adapters in general, it's another piece of equipment between you and your trailer. My hoarder tendencies told us to save our original pin box, so I do still have it. I don't think we'll need the Trail-Air if we find a MDT with a Trailer Saver. I haven't seen anything really definitive about whether you can or should not pull a fifth wheel that has a Trail-Air with a Trailer Saver hitch or not. So it might be a good thing I saved it. But if I don't have to swap it out, I'd be happier about it.

Howdy!

I'm on my second MDT the first one was 5500 Chevrolet customer hauler. I trader it for our now 4400 Internationl 2L customer hauler. We got it from Wayland Long in Poolville Texas. He does take tradins.

http://www.2lcustomtrucks.com/mediumduty.cfm

"Happy Trails"
chiefneon

Cool, thanks for the link! Looks like he builds nice rigs. Do you take your SmartCar with you in your Cyclone?

You're right when you say most are set up for a goose neck. Seems most of these trucks pull horse trailers. The trail saver hitch does do either if you get the right one, the head exchanges I think, so you can pull fifth wheel or a goose neck. One thing I found when looking for a truck is be ready to wait for the right one. We found ours while on vacation in Florida by accident really. Ended up with wife in one truck and me in the other on the way home, man was it a peaceful trip.:rolleyes: Make a list of what you want in a truck and then start your search. Good luck!!!

I've quickly started to figure out the must haves, wants and do not wants. I have no problem waiting. Last coach we bought we waited a year for the right one. We had it almost 7 years, it served us well and we attributed that to having waited for it and making very careful choices. I could totally see that happening to us as well, my other half might not be happy about it though. :)

Someone in the park has what I would guess to be a 1996-8ish Cabriolet Sportliner, which was the one they made with the sleeper on the back. Not sure I want the high profile cab though, since we'd still want to use this as our primary driver around town where ever we are.
 
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