Vegas Teacher Posted November 16, 2017 Report Share Posted November 16, 2017 I use an APP called Truckers Path and it shows me diesel prices all over the nation. About 20 miles north of Las Vegas off of I - 15 on Exit 75 at the Moapa Valley of fire Chevron gas station / Truck stop Diesel is 2.88 per gallon. At Loves truck stop, 10 miles south of there Diesel is 3.29 a gallon and at the Petro by the Las Vegas Motor speedway Gas is 3.30 per gallon. This is a savings of 42 cents per gallon and on 200 gallons it is a savings of $84.00 that is enough to buy a mid level steak dinner on at for two at the Out Back or if you hit happy hour at Herbs and Rye here in Vegas everything on the menu is 1/2 price - great place to eat. Anyway that was what I paid last night. I got the semi out, stretched its legs and did about 50 miles round trip with it. The D.W.'s father is back in Vegas now, he is a snow bird from Michigan and owns a house in Vegas, I took him for a ride to get gas last night. He had a lot of fun. I keep my Semi at his house along with my current trailer. He bought his house out here in Vegas during the housing crash and picked up a nice house for pennies on the dollar. The trip went well, truck ran great and I am getting more and more comfortable driving the truck. The inner cooler repair has made a huge difference and we take the hills without dropping at all in speed or even increasing in RPM's the boost it gets is impressive. I can't wait to see how it will ride once I get new drive tires on it this spring. I am also going to do new front shocks this spring. I just ran out of money on the last set of repairs. I actually think I might get out and try to turn a wrench myself more often and save money there. I love the advice all of you gave me and it is well appreciated. The D.W. loves the fact I took her dad out and spent some time bonding with him, he is a pretty good person. I get to park my truck and trailer for free so every time I go over to start the truck up or drive it I try to do something nice for him. At the age of 84 he can't do what he used to but he had no problem hopping up in the cab of the truck. So the D.W. is completely on board now with the Semi, she is enjoying riding in it, and last weekend she got involved in a small project on it. We organized the inside, bedding and all of that stuff. She also started cleaning off some of the really old grime and paid more attention to the little things than I do when I clean. It is like when we do house work together. I see the big things but she sees the small things. So she is taking ownership in the truck and how it looks, I drive it and all of that good stuff but she makes it look great! We are on the right path now. She is not scared of the truck at all, she just doesn't want to drive it yet. I am looking for some good places to take her to let her get acquainted with the truck that are not busy. With the Holiday season approaching Mall parking lots are not good. We do have a stretch of road from our school up to the Clark County shooting range that is not heavily traveled so I think we will start there, wide lanes, 35 miles per hour and she can turn around at our school in a large parking lot that won't have anybody in it. Once again I am taking the advice of the people on the forum. I hope you can see I am reading / listening to what you are saying and applying it to my life & D.W. See I am even using D.W. like you pros do, so now I need you to let me in on the rest of the shorthand you use. Later, Vegas Teacher - Cory Ossana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve from SoCal Posted November 16, 2017 Report Share Posted November 16, 2017 Cory, I am glad to hear you are making progress with the truck and family. Regarding tires, unless there is some glaring issue with your drive tires reconsider replacing them arbitrarily. Don't recall if the truck is tandem but I seem to think it is, with little or no weight on these you should not have any problems. Even IF the are weather checked they are likely to be serviceable for quite some time, investing in new tires when the need arises. You are on a budget, take some time to categorize the things you want/need to do to the truck and prioritize them. For example, steer tires are critical, brakes significant, and so on, the other thing to remember is you are only driving the truck a few thousand miles a year at this point, if the rear brakes are at half life, it would be foolish to worry about them now. Remember a truck in commercial service may do 3000+ miles a week, getting stuff done while the truck has a bit of down time makes sense for that situation, for you, it makes sense to do the work when it is required not just to zero out a system. Big trucks are not inexpensive to do repairs on as you are finding out, be wise in what you do and when you do it, buying new tires only to have them weather away is not a prudent investment. One thing you may want to consider, an hourly maintenance fund. With airplanes, boats and commercial vehicles many operators establish an hourly rate they bank for repairs and service. Some go so far as to bank an engine overhaul, you don't need that but, take into account what fluid changes, filters,routine services and wear items like brakes and tires. For your situation tires are going to time out not wear out, if you plan on a 5-6 year cycle the bite is not that big. On a 60 month cycle your monthly reserve may be 100-200 dollars depending on what you include, the more you bank the less a repair will sting. Steve 2005 Peterbilt 387-112 Baby Cat 9 speed U-shift 1996/2016 remod Teton Royal Atlanta 1996 Kentucky 48 single drop stacker garage project Pulls like a train, sounds like a plane....faster than a Cheetah sniffin cocaine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegas Teacher Posted November 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2017 6 minutes ago, Steve from SoCal said: Cory, I am glad to hear you are making progress with the truck and family. Regarding tires, unless there is some glaring issue with your drive tires reconsider replacing them arbitrarily. Don't recall if the truck is tandem but I seem to think it is, with little or no weight on these you should not have any problems. Even IF the are weather checked they are likely to be serviceable for quite some time, investing in new tires when the need arises. You are on a budget, take some time to categorize the things you want/need to do to the truck and prioritize them. For example, steer tires are critical, brakes significant, and so on, the other thing to remember is you are only driving the truck a few thousand miles a year at this point, if the rear brakes are at half life, it would be foolish to worry about them now. Remember a truck in commercial service may do 3000+ miles a week, getting stuff done while the truck has a bit of down time makes sense for that situation, for you, it makes sense to do the work when it is required not just to zero out a system. Big trucks are not inexpensive to do repairs on as you are finding out, be wise in what you do and when you do it, buying new tires only to have them weather away is not a prudent investment. One thing you may want to consider, an hourly maintenance fund. With airplanes, boats and commercial vehicles many operators establish an hourly rate they bank for repairs and service. Some go so far as to bank an engine overhaul, you don't need that but, take into account what fluid changes, filters,routine services and wear items like brakes and tires. For your situation tires are going to time out not wear out, if you plan on a 5-6 year cycle the bite is not that big. On a 60 month cycle your monthly reserve may be 100-200 dollars depending on what you include, the more you bank the less a repair will sting. Steve Steve, Thanks for the advice. My tires are at 1/32 and 2/32, the wear bar is showing through on one of them. Can these be serviced and if so How I am all about saving money at this point. Love's, just north of Vegas, gave me a price of 2800 O.T.D. for 8 drives. They are an Asian brand and I can't remember which one, it sounded like Toyo but it was not Toyo. I have new Toyo's on the front because I found out I drove home with cracked bridge stones. The crack was 10 inches long, spider webbed out and I could see steel bars underneath. I can't believe I made it from Tampa Bay to Las Vegas on them. The idea to prioritize is great and I am doing that now, like do I need it or want it. Do I need the Deep Space headlights or do I want them, do I need a ladder to get into the top bunk or do I just want it. I like your idea of the fluids and keeping up on that stuff. Anyway all is good and thanks so much. Later, Vegas Teacher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegas Teacher Posted November 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2017 Steve, Almost forgot we will be going through California again. I have dog training Tuesday of next week. Driving down Monday evening and back on Tuesday. Will be staying at the Pilot in Hysperia and training 30 minutes down the road in Fontana. Later, Cory O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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