I'm looking at getting a plain boxtruck or cab and chassis FL Freightliner for commercial car hauling and for dragging the racecar trailer across the country. I'm curious if anybody can give some insight into these trucks... it looks like around here most in my price range (CHEAP) are 6 speeds with Cummins motors.

Any tips on the chassis, drivetrain, and any ownership advice would be appreciated. I'm used to 7.3L Ford's and am curious how parts like clutches, transmissions and even regular maintenance items are priced compared to regular pickups. I've got a hydraulic guy that's starting to moonlight in "light duty" diesel maintenance who I'm sure could handle most of the maintenance on a class 6 rig like this, but I'm curious if the maintenance will be cheap and easy or if it's not a good jump from a pickup to a class 8 rig.

Will likely look for a crew cab or sleeper truck and consider adding a toter box later down the road or possibly even ending up with 2 trucks for the different duties.

My truck is just that (FL60, Cummins, 6-speed). As far as maintenance, I have had no issues. I picked the cummins on purpose though. The CAT option was very loud. The FL series don't have much sound insulation. If I can ever get time, I'm going to add noise protection to the cab. The 6-speed is fine, but I would have liked 7. The sevens are kinda hard to find. One big point on the Freightliner MDT is the long front springs. This gives them more travel and a better ride than some of the other MDTs.

The key to any truck is to have a mechanic lined up. My mechanic is so much cheaper (and more reliable) than the local dealer.

Doc Weaver

....The 7 speeds have had some problems-transmission gear wise IIRC- but I can not remember exactly what gives out....I think it is an EATON box but I can not remember for sure.....geofkaye