Peterbilt Doonan 335

[macdaddy]

Anybody checkout the feature article in Trailer Life magazine on the Peterbilt 335 Custom Tow vechical?. This thing weighs just over 14,700 lbs,has the Cummins ISC 8. 3L with 315 HP and 950 lb ft of torque and Allison 3K. This thing is nice providing you have the dough to put this beast in you driveway $98,845 as tested.



Anyway the thing I found most interesting was the fuel economy this monster got with a 39' Teton Homes in tow,this thing with a GCW of 32K was getting 8. 0 MPG and that was with a new motor!. It is estimated to get 9-10 towing and 11-13 empty once shes fully broken in. Now being honest with my fuel economy this is only off 1 MPG +/- both towing and empty respectively, with a 3500 OC 4X4 DRW 4:10. 1.



Another thing. When compared to one of the other custom tow vechical like the GM custom with Dmax and allison 1K what a joke for another 30K look what you getting, as is also the case with the Ferd F-550. Anyway if any of you have time check it out!!.



Mac

 

[RedRam401]

Gee, for another $10,000 you can get a new Pete 379 with a 70" sleeper, gross $150,000 a year with plenty of time to recreate and pull that trailer too.

 

[RustyJC]

These custom-built Class 6 trucks are sweet! If I ever hit the lottery, I'd have one in a heartbeat. In the real world, however, that $98,845 (plus taxes, etc. ) ante puts me out of the game pretty quick! :{



There are individuals taking Class 8 tractors coming off lease at around 500K miles and converting them for RV service. Some awfully nice looking Volvos with 14L Cummins power have been sold for $35-40K, many of which still have warranties in effect on engines and transmissions.



There's a "Truck Conversion" section over on iRV2.com as well as a similar forum on Escapees.com where these rigs are discussed.



Rusty

 

[Ross]

Heavy Duty Trucks

The Pete 330 (and KW T300) are medium duty trucks, and are developing quite a following with full-timers and racers, rodeoers, & others that tow heavy all the time.



My trailer is very heavy (23K) and although my BOMBED cummins has all the power I need to go way too fast, the little 3500 dually chassis creaks, growns, and is generally over-stressed. I've got close to 200,000 miles on the Dodge, and it has been great, but it has only been pulling the new heavy trailer one year, the previous years, it was towing a more reasonable 15,000 (still right at the limit of the GCVW limit of 22K).



So... I've got a Heavy Duty Volvo on order. It is being converted to an RV by someone who does it all the time. I'm very excited to get it. I should have it in mid-May. Here's a link to the conversions: http://onezman.tripod.com



While I've had great service from my Dodge/Cummins, I can't see spending another $45K on a new Dodge only to overload it and always feel like I'm abusing her. I don't think there's anyway I'll be able to overwork the new Volvo 610. It has a Cummins N-14 500hp; 1550 tq, 3. 70 gears, and an Eaton/Fuller autoshift 10 speed. I'll keep you posted how she works out.

 

[macdaddy]

Gee, for another $10,000 you can get a new Pete 379 with a 70" sleeper, gross $150,000 a year with plenty of time to recreate and pull that trailer too.

Red Ram

I like you sense of humor I forgot to mention even though every extra dime you've been spending at the pump lately and in the future is going straight into my pocket. I still would never be able to afford one of these beasts. I thought some of the members would fine the fuel economy interesting.



Ross



I definitely would like to hear back from you once you've got the Volvo.



Mac

ConocoPhillips Los Angeles

 

[ndurbin]

Their built not to far from here if I remember right (up around Wichita somewhere). The Freightliner Class 6's have been popular for awhile. I saw a crew cab 335 awhile back at a farm show, it was pretty sweet had a dump body and a Cummins w/ 7 spd.



They can also build them on a Class 8 frame.



Nathan

 

[RedRam401]

Red Ram
I like you sense of humor I forgot to mention even though every extra dime you've been spending at the pump lately and in the future is going straight into my pocket. I still would never be able to afford one of these beasts. I thought some of the members would fine the fuel economy interesting.

Ross

I definitely would like to hear back from you once you've got the Volvo.

Mac
ConocoPhillips Los Angeles

Mac,

I know, rub it in:{

Retired-Texaco/Shell, Wilmington, CA

 

[JStraw]

Even the fuel milage on the HDT's is impressive under full load conditions. It helps to have a lot of extra gears Oo.