Freightliner Pulling Machine- What Can You Tell Me About It?

[77bronco]

Have an acquaintance that has a motorcycle race team. He owns and uses a full sized, conventional semi as his transport. He has no CDL because he was able to get the proper paperwork stating that his semi is classified as an RV. Also, he doesn't go across any scales. I am pretty sure he has "Not for Hire" on the truck cab.

Something maybe you or somebody else might look in to when thinking about a rig that size.

Some states are starting to crack down on the "RV conversion" of big rigs, especially if they are used for questionable purposes. Pulling a race trailer falls into that category since there might be prize money involved. The reasoning is that if you make a single dollar, then you are in commerce, thus requiring all the licenses and fees required for a commercial truck.

I was told by the Idaho DMV that I could drive and pull any vehicle as long as it was mine and wasn't used to make money.

 

[grsthegreat]

Some states are starting to crack down on the "RV conversion" of big rigs, especially if they are used for questionable purposes. Pulling a race trailer falls into that category since there might be prize money involved. The reasoning is that if you make a single dollar, then you are in commerce, thus requiring all the licenses and fees required for a commercial truck.

I was told by the Idaho DMV that I could drive and pull any vehicle as long as it was mine and wasn't used to make money.

Well I'm not sure how long that is going to last. I have a friend in Law Enforcement in Idaho, and its all the talk about making any rig that falls in the commercial weight range require a CDL...why you ask...MONEY

They've figured out that there's a vast resource that they aren't tapping into. He warned me about this when i was looking into the truck and large trailer. Its real near to getting serious about.

 

[Reg]

My wife has a fellow trainer in the horse industry who has a trailer puller for sale and we were wondering what you guys can tell us about them. It's a Freightliner Sport Chassis with a Cat/Allison drivetrain. I think there are a few of you out there in TBN land who have something similar and was wondering what you knew about them.

Probably more than you need for anything under say 6 horses, may be more than you would need for a 10 horse trailer, especially if that rarely carries more than three (-:
Figure what it will REALLY be used for, get the specs, do the arithmetic, etc.

These days "Going BIG" just because you can doesn't make as much "sense" as it used to seem to.
It never really did make sense, but fuel was a lot cheaper then and so were the per 1,000 lb GVW plate fees.

The smallest truck that will do the job and not wear out too quickly makes sense to me - so what if it slows a bit on the steep climbs ?
A few more minutes on a day's total journey time just means less TV - that ain't BAD (-:

 

[grsthegreat]

And remember, if they DO make you register it commercial and get a CDL. Just wait till you see the insurance quotes ... especially after you tell them how many commercial driving hours you have....

THAT made the decision for me on the one i was looking at.

 

[flusher]

Howdy,

Frieghtliner's are nice. It has a lot more pulling power Light Duty trucks. I looked at all the other options out there. The best way is to buy something in the medium duty class truck.

FL60
Cat 3126B 275hp 6 speed

That's what I did after beating my head against the wall for nearly two years trying to find a decent, affordable used 5-6 year old 3/4 or 1T pickup, diesel or gas to haul my parade tractors (3500 lb max). I finally bought a 2004 Isuzu NPR/EFI stakebed (8x14 ft bed by Supreme) with the GMC/Chevy 6.0L LQ4 V-8 gasser and 4L80-E 4-speed automatic ($11K, 49500 miles, found it on eBay--owned by a tile company that went belly up).



A few 10-ft aluminum ramps and I'm in business. I really like the classic lines of that NPR tilt cab design.

 

[Rustyiron]

My wife has a fellow trainer in the horse industry who has a trailer puller for sale and we were wondering what you guys can tell us about them. It's a Freightliner Sport Chassis with a Cat/Allison drivetrain. I think there are a few of you out there in TBN land who have something similar and was wondering what you knew about them.

I have a FL70 with a 3126Cat & Allison AT, it's a 33,000 gvw truck and it has a little 14' living area behind the cab. It is a real nice tow vehicle. It was taking forever to download your attachment so I'm not sure if it had a price but they are nice (the Sport Chassis) but the ones that I've seen are spendy for mostly a single purpose vehicle. These trucks are built several times heavier than any of the "heavy one tons" (450-550 or Dodges versions) and are designed and expected to go several 100k easy with prolly a whole bunch more load and abuse than you or I would ever subject them to. The numbers on the "baby Cat" C-7 (7 liter) for HP are low but I think that the torque is better and will pull you deep into a hill before a downshift. Mine is about as aerodynamic as a brick and I get about 7 mpg, with a load as in the pic. If you are not going to pile on the miles, it might not be worth it because of the limited "audience" when it comes to resale time (as compared to the 450/550 senario) The other concern is with the sport chassis, you might get into CDL territory. Mine is built and registered as an "RV", side stepping the CDL and scales! It (mine) clearly is a "camper", just a weird one. The sport chassis that I'm thinking of is a overgrown PU tk. with a high GVW that with your trlr. will deffinetly warrant a CDL. (as far as I know) Good luck

 

[QRTRHRS]

Some states are starting to crack down on the "RV conversion" of big rigs, especially if they are used for questionable purposes. Pulling a race trailer falls into that category since there might be prize money involved. The reasoning is that if you make a single dollar, then you are in commerce, thus requiring all the licenses and fees required for a commercial truck.

I was told by the Idaho DMV that I could drive and pull any vehicle as long as it was mine and wasn't used to make money.

It does not have to be money to catagorize you as commercial. Trophys are considered monitary as well.

 

[QRTRHRS]

I don't think anyone mentioned the tight turning radius the Freightliner has. The great ride. The braking power at least with air brakes not to mention a parking brake that will hold on pretty much any hill if the brakes are properly adjusted.

Some other considerations that come to mind, the front wheels track in line with the back outside dual. Where as on a pickup dually, at least on my Dodge, the front wheel tracked in the middle of the duals. If you are on narrow roads, that front wheel track will leave little margin for error. Additional to the before mentioned cost for oil, etc., these trucks need more overall maintenance, new, near new or not.

You can get away with walking out of the house and jumping into that 350 without a walk around but with a two ton on up, you had better be looking at it daily.

The FL70 I had for about 18 months had a 3126 with a nine speed. Highway mpg was about ten. Mine did not have an exhaust brake so I was on the brakes alot on the hills I deal with. You do see Freightliners with the larger MB engine with engine brakes. I don't know much about the MB engine though I have driven some big trucks with them. Not quite the power of a jake but better than an exhaust brake.

Hooking up a tandem dually trailer with my FL was a pain. I used to drop my trailer to keep the truck further away from an adjacent tree line. Even with air ride, I did not have enough drop to get under the gooseneck to hook up. The neck had to be dead nuts on the ball to drop on. I am too old school to use some kind of video system.

I sold the truck about a year ago before my shoulder surgery not knowing how long I would be down for the count.

 

[WM75Guy]

Some states are starting to crack down on the "RV conversion" of big rigs, especially if they are used for questionable purposes. Pulling a race trailer falls into that category since there might be prize money involved. The reasoning is that if you make a single dollar, then you are in commerce, thus requiring all the licenses and fees required for a commercial truck.

I was told by the Idaho DMV that I could drive and pull any vehicle as long as it was mine and wasn't used to make money.

Texas requires a CDL if it is a commercial vehicle and meets Class A or B requirements with a few exceptions. Commercial farm vehicles not going over 150 miles away from the farm and firefighting vehicles are two but you must have the appropriate non-CDL class license for the vehicle. I had a Class A non-CDL to drive firetrucks. Our Freightliner FL70 ambulance had a GVWR of 28,000# and required a Class B non-CDL or Class B CDL to drive it.

Texas requires a Class B non-CDL to drive a non-commercial single vehicle over 26,001# GVWR towing a trailer not exceeding 10,000# or a farm trailer not exceeding 20,000#, which includes RVs. My parents pusher motorhome required a Class B non-CDL. A non-commercial combination of vehicles exceeding 26,001# with the towed vehicle exceeding 10,000# requires a Class A non-CDL.

Depending on the year and axles the Freightliner M2 Sportchassis could have a GVWR from 18,000# up to 54,000#, although most are around 20,000# for the soft ride. With most GN trailers you will be in a Class A license situation in Texas, either a non-CDL or CDL depending on if the vehicle is used for non-commercial or commercial work.

 

[Duffster]

It does not have to be money to catagorize you as commercial. Trophys are considered monitary as well.

I think to many get hung up on whether it earns money or not.

Unless explicitly exempted, RV, farm, etc, it's commercial.