New 1 Ton P/U on the Market. Sterling Bullet

[patrick_g]

Late breaking word on Sprinter in use by my heat and air guys. By the time it was out of warranty it became a very expensive beast to maintain with one of the trips to the doc costing over 5K$.

The Freightliner folks in OKC are doing a big business in repairing the Freightliner version and at high prices acording to my source.

Pat.

 

[Toiyabe]

I grew up with regular US/English standards. Working in high tech though, most things are done in metric. In the couple of chem classes I took, everything was in metric.

Except for electron volts and atomic mass units, common in chemistry but definetly non-metric. Similarly, physists sometimes use Planck units. Astronomers still like AUs and light-years and parsecs. A lot of Europeans use kilogram-force units which are every bit as bad an abomination as poundals or slugs. Angstoms, tonnes, liters and hectares are metric, but not SI.

There will always be a conflict between using units that are convinent for a particular purpose versus using units that are standardized across fields. A chemist looking down on a surveyor for using acres while he himself uses electron volts is like the pot calling the kettle black.

 

[patrick_g]

Right on! A lot of what just plain folks do could easily be metric but there are always special needs in certain tech areas.

I laugh every time I recall the bozo who wanted to have pi declared to be 3 so the math would be easier.

Patrick

 

[jayhaitch]

Renze: thanks for the interesting information. So essentially, your job exists because people have a need for something the government tries to prevent. Here, it's called a loophole. In business, arbitrage

So, silly regulations cause beaten-on small 4 cylinder engines to be the preferred motive source for European vans. Harrumph! I much prefer a low rpm big engine for heavy work. Except for my 911. More revs!!

Here in Manitoba, there are 5 classes of drivers license, plus a separate motorcycle class, and an extra endorsement for air brakes. Manitoba class 1,2,&3 are accepted as commercial licenses in the US. Class 4 are taxi/ambulance/small buses. Class 1 is required for semi-trailer operation.

An interesting point is that we must jump to a class 3 (commercial) license if towing more than a 4540 kg (10,000 lb) trailer. So to be legal, some retired folks need a CDL to tow their big 5th wheel travel trailers! All dual rear wheel trucks are considered commercial vehicles in Manitoba. This requires an authorized-mechanic safety inspection and sticker every 6 months, for around Can$50 each time. This is independent of who/why/how you're using the truck. So no one buys a DRW truck for personal use here. Safety certificates are only required when you sell a personal vehicle. "One ton" SRW trucks are getting more popular in the last few years because of this.

 

[SkyPup]

Dodge doesn't make the Sprinter, the US ones are assembled from kits shipped from Europe by Freightliner, which is still owned by Daimler. So Dodge is probably going to stick with Daimler engines or ditch the Sprinter entirely. I would guess the latter, the exchange rate has got to be hurting them.

The wierd thing is that Daimler is pushing both Sterling (Bullet) and Freightliner (Sprinter) in the US light truck market. Seems like it would be better to stick with just one.

I just bought a 2008 3500 Sprinter dually with the MB V-6 3.0 liter Common Rail electric VNT turbo, it is one SWEET package and gets outstanding fuel economy for the amount of power it puts out.

 

[Renze]

So you guys only get the V6 318 and 518 sprinters...
Over here we also have 4 cylinder versions, 2.2 liter from 90 to 150 hp.
For our light 5th wheel trailers, the 4 cylinders can only go up to 7 ton CGVW but i still wouldnt trust one... they are simply too light... If you want max power get the Sprinter 518, if you need less, go for the Volkswagen equivalent with an inline 2.5 5 cylinder in it... That's what i recommend our customers. 150 hp is just too much for a commercially used 2.2 diesel.

The Mercedes V6 puts out 400 Nm and 184 hp in the Sprinter, and 238 hp and 520 Nm in the G wagon and C-class saloon.

We have a customer (a Snap-on tool dealer who has a 318 to pull his mobile toolshop trailer) who is trying to get the C-class motor chip in it, to unleash the 238 hp... he promised to let us know how it runs...

 

[SkyPup]

Yeah, I'll be chipping our Mercedes V-6 3 liter soon too!