Granite

Hmmmm..........how does it go..."Anything you say can and will be used against you...." :

There is no doubt about it, the 409 SAR's are the favourites amongst the drivers. However, I need to look at it from a company perspective and when one of those four new SAR's has had more time off the road this year than the other 17 truck and dog/doubles combined AND has only 105'000km on it, to say I'm dissapointed would be.....the truth. I expect more but I'm also a realist. The problems with them aren't engine problems (well not too many) mainly build quality issues and design faults. But cab leaks on the mentioned truck, repaired 4 times and still pi$$ing in? Door trims falling off? Wiring harness' to the headlights rubbing through on a left hand lock? We send it back for repair and it comes back with 50% of the problems rectified but as a result, another one or two >

The dealer has struggled as expected but I went direct to PACCAR who were great. I'm a firm believer in the fact that we'll recoup the extra purchase funds when we flog them off when we're done (Bingo7 years, Beamish 37 years) but it's the downtime costs and we're comparing apples with apples here. All are six wheelers with quad dogs, all doing the same thing. The Western Stars are nothing special, one is fairly good and one is a Friday special. They are gutless and have recall problems and engine issues. They also have the most brilliant sales rep who is their saving grace but for me, I'm not a fan.

That's where the Mack's come in. One prime mover (pictured) and three truck and quads. Apart from a uni and an air cylinder off the clutch letting go on the prime mover, they have been flawless. The guys driving them love them and the ex K108 drivers who are steering the Tridents now don't want to spend time in anything else. If they had a bit more power (13 litre MP8 - 535 and 1920f/t as opposed to 15 litre Cummins 550 and 1850f/t) and more control over the engine brake (need 3 stages and a seperate engine fan switch) they'd be flawless. I think that the MP10 Mack would be a far better thing but as proven as the M-drive is that comes with them (Volvo I-shift), it isn't suitable for what we do in waste and after trialling one for a week, I'd go a gearstick every time.

All new trucks are nice but we are fortunate enough to be able to compare three of the most popular side by side and my money is on the Swedish bulldog. Is that Bjormack???

Go ahead Swishy, give it to me. Go your hardest

Swishy must be stuck for words . So a couple more questions Bruce,
What is the issue with the m Drive in your work ?
Which engine is better on fuel ?
Cheers Pete

Noice lookn jiggerz Volvo Granits

eye feel sorry for any body th@ has new gear with computer controls
coz it only takes a lemon of a truck n it could brake U
me thinks all truck manufacturers R capable of producing a lemon

me would like to kno the latest history of the ol trucks th@ 1st cum out with pewters
Q:? R they stihl runn n or have they been repowered

B a different story ifn they offered 1 million kilometers no time limit warranty

all so all this new fangle dangle crap (Adblu) wot ever
wots th@ all about specially when U hear of jokers jist fill n the adblu tank with water

Spose we dont hear the good stories but only the bad ones

Cya
[ch9787]

Swishy man that granite is awfully close to battle ship grey I reckon you might be getting a bit of movement over that

Swishy, as you might remember I drive an International 9400i which has a computer controlled Cummins ISX engine. As of tonight it has covered 998,286km, virtually all of it driven by a now 73-year-old driver (ME) so I intend giving a report on how well it has performed once it has done the magic million, probably by next Monday.

As for the new Mack 535hp Tridents, the company I work for has recently bought 3 of them. If I told you of the problems we have had with one of them in particular I would probably get fired and be sued by Mack. So it happens to every make of truck, except Internationals of course!

WellHungVic
Gudday M8

the hi kilometerage is dew to the loose nut @ the wheel
LOL

Keep m Clikn

Cya
[ch9787]

Congratulations on another well driven million Ks Vic and save a bit of cake for me.
Now here is an idea ( that probably wont go down real well with the truck builders). Introduce lemon laws, as in the USA, where if a truck has X days off road in the first 4 years it goes back to the builder for a full refund. Yes the price of new trucks may go up but so will the build quality and standard of warranty service.

Deafening silence... I was just waiting for someone to jump on and say " That will never work in Australia "

As for the new Mack 535hp Tridents, the company I work for has recently bought 3 of them. If I told you of the problems we have had with one of them in particular I would probably get fired and be sued by Mack. So it happens to every make of truck, except Internationals of course!

I knew we should've bought Eagle's . It's the old Cat v's Cummins thing, everyone has good and bad runs I suppose and the thing is, give it another 12 months and the table's might turn as those SCR's start failing on us!

And Pete, the Mack's are slightly better on fuel even after we add the Ad-Blue. As far as the M-drive goes, we unload in tips which are very boggy and spongy so if the trucks get stuck it's very difficult to 'rock' the truck out as you can do with a gearstick

I think there is less to go wrong in an SCR engine, ie no catalytic convertor to burn out. Appreciate the bit about getting bogged, didnt Volvo bring out something new in their FMX model to make the I Shift more suitable off road?