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Why so many Volvo RV haulers?


remoandiris

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As I always point out, the Volvo is the smoothest best riding truck made. Also the one most prone to be more expensive to repair and keep running.

 

If you have doubts on this statement, just check out the percentage of repair issues per brand on here. Not by the number of trucks on here but the percentage of repairs per brand. And the average cost per repair.

 

I own a Freightliner because they are cheaper, very easy to keep running, less expensive to repair, serviced by everyone and they are plentyful everywhere as are their parts.

 

No it is not as smooth as my buddy's 780 nor as quite, but I will take that trade off.

 

When I got mine the Ultrashift models were EGR equipped, I did not want a egr truck! So the Autoshift was "my" only choice, as i wanted an automated truck. I also wanted a series 60 engine so that cut down the choices also.

 

You must get the one you will be happy with, not because "someone" else has one. Unless that is your thing?

 

Good luck!

 

Curt

2001 Freightliner Century, 500hp Series 60, Gen 2 autoshift, 3.42 singled rear locker.

2004 Keystone Sprinter 299RLS (TT)

2 & 4 Wheelers!

2013 Polaris Ranger 800 midsize LE

Our motto "4 wheels move the body, 2 wheels move the soul!"

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I wanted a Volvo also as they seemed the most popular but came across a T2000 from a member already converted and was spoken very highly as a good truck from folks here and have not been disappointed. Have we had to fix things, YES but some were really basic things that needed done. Good luck on your search.

2017 River Stone Legacy 38MB

2001 T2000 Kenworth

2009 Smart Passion

ET Junior hitch

 

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Lots of strong thoughts both ways. Like most things in life, you do your research, ya pays ya money, and ya takes ya chances. While these trucks are made to go 1M miles, just like Hondas or BMW's, some don't make it and need significant repairs or just a starter or alternator but those things are expensive on a class 8.

 

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/threads/2014-volvo-or-2014-freightliner-cascadia.225183/

 

http://www.truckinginfo.com/article/story/2011/07/all-you-need-to-know-about-b-numbers.aspx

"There are No Experts, Do the Math!"

2014 Freightliner Cascadia DD16 600hp  1850ft-lb  18spd  3.31  260"wb
SpaceCraft S-470
SKP #131740

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If you are looking for a truck and don't mind an autoshift or an earlier version of the 2-pedal trans then look for something pre emissions, would be my advice. The Volvo is a very good truck, but so are some of the others. It is simply not true that you cannot find parts "everywhere" to repair a Volvo. While that may have been so at one time, it certainly is not now. I've found parts in the smallest most remote towns you can imagine. And all of the brands have proprietary parts. It is true that older Volvo's seem to have more electrical issues than some other brands. IMO that is because they were more sophisticated for their age. NOW, all the trucks have very sophisticated electronics (catching up to Volvo and surpassing it in some cases), so I doubt that Volvo is any worse than others. But I have no data to prove that. If you can avoid the DPF/DEF,etc trucks then you may be well served with that older truck. But it has to be in great shape or you are not really saving yourself any money or aggravation.

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

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I've been a diehard KW fan for almost 40 years. A W900 with a NASCAR/"blacktop4" style trailer has been on the bucket dream list for a LONG time. A Volvo is now at the top of my desires for several reasons:

 

1: Headroom in the cab - not going to whack my head on the cab roof walking forward into the seats.

2: Room in the cab - notably wider than many other brands. Yeah, I might not be able to scoot my wife right alongside me, but there's room to move for once.

3: The i-Shift really speaks to me. Volvo's had some really innovative transmissions over the years, and the fact that the 12 gears aren't trying to be a 9/13/18 all at once just makes sense.

4: Better engine/transmission integration. Everybody else is doing a signaling bus; Volvo put the gearbox in charge and that's some smart thinking there.

5: Better turning radius. When I get a Volvo, I'm going to drive it to work once a week, so I want to be able to get into parking spaces without a football field.

6: My hunch is that my odds of finding a used Volvo the way I want it (deep blue, 780, D16, i-Shift, non-smoked) are a lot higher than my odds of finding a used W900 the way I want it (blue, 86" studio, Cat 625 Cummins 600 and auto 13, non-smoked).

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Well, Peety, I've got your truck....well, except the deep blue has faded to a silver ;)

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

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Larry Zeigler converted 65+ trucks over the years. Of all of those, he had a run of 5 in row from the same frame shop that were "bad", or not ideal. In some cases like Mark Shelly's 770 it was an incredibly bad job, and downright dangerous. He should have caught that, in my mind. But almost all of his trucks were very good picks with a good conversion. It just goes to show you how a small percent of bad ones can ruin your business.

 

Fully agree! Ours came from Larry. He was a straight shooter and the truck was exactly as he said it was, and it has turned out be a good truck 10 years and almost 100k down the road. A good man to do business with as far as I'm concerned. I for one was sorry to see him run into difficulties.

Dennis & Nancy
Tucson, AZ in winter, on the road in summer.

1999 Volvo 610 "Bud" 425 HP Volvo, Super 10 spd.
2005 Mountain Aire 35 BLKS
2013 smart fortwo CityFlame riding on Bud
(Replaced '05 smart first loaded in '06

and '11 smart that gave it's life to save me!)
Our Travel Blog

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I have a little time in a couple of mid 2000 Volvos and they seem to be well refined units with many features that lend them to RV service.

 

It seems to me that the Volvos have a high percentage of auto-trannys compared to many of the other brands and as such it seems that Volvo engineers seem able to configure a very refined highway truck.

 

Over the years not only did I gain weight but our RV's tended to get larger and larger and of course gained a few tons some years........

 

Wifes hobby is named Dolly-the Paint-Horse and any pet that pushes 1,000 pounds comes with HEAVY pet-supplies.......

 

Last year I decided that the old one-ton pickup was just not able to haul (or stop) the load so we bought a old freight-dog Freightliner Century with a small M11 370 with a 10 Road Rager and tandem 3:08 & Jake .......the base truck has +1M miles but at the Million mark it had a remain engine, tranny , clutch U-joints, and rear boggies and drums and shoes. So the unit is a old truck sitting on newer running gear with VERY BASIC systems.

 

It has basic creature comforts such as A/C and Cruise-Control with a very basic Electronic pre-emission engine.

 

Our old unit is what I call a Class 7.5 with its small basic running gear and only a few early mechanical HDT rigs are more simple than ours. Our toy/ Dolly-Hauler is only 30 ft and under 12K but we often haul a SUV and a few tons of water and horse-supplies so our weight comes up to a mid-RV weight at times.

 

I grew up in Pre-Volvo days and we had too many brands and types of heavy trucks so to me at the end of the day a truck tends to be a truck.

 

We do not need our HDT daily-driver but I do find myself using the unit to handle some of the heavy loads that used to tax the pickup so it is handy for other uses at times.

 

It's funny to me, that lately as I crawl under the old Freightshaker it's seems that not many of the major components have changed very much.in +40 years......Crawl under the New trucks be careful..........if they are in re-gen they will cook your goose (and other parts).

 

As for the large number of Volvos in the RV service I would guess that the refined nature of the Volvo seems to more closely match many of the high-end LGT units that first time HDT owned in previous service.

 

As far as parts and repairs it is often the luck of the draw with used trucks but keeping a sharp eye on the condition of the unit and staying on top of the little thing before they get to be BIG things go a long way the being a happy-trucker.

 

After a fairly long time making complex machinery go places and not kill me in my previous life, I tend to like the simple-truck-life these days.....

 

If you try a HDT and it seems not a good fit ......sell it and try something else........

 

Drive on........(happy trucking)

97 Freightshaker Century Cummins M11-370 / 1350 /10 spd / 3:08 /tandem/ 20ft Garage/ 30 ft Curtis Dune toybox with a removable horse-haul-module to transport Dolly-The-Painthorse to horse camps and trail heads all over the Western U S

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My first HDT was a FL. Singled it and updated the interior. The truck wasn't a good fit. Noisy and rough. Spotted a Volvo on truck paper setup the way I like. Small sleeper, 500hp, autoshift and 2 airlockers but to pricey. A couple of weeks later that truck was on ebay. Our bid was enough. Sold the FL. We like this truck. That was about 9 years ago.

Randy

2001 Volvo VNL 42 Cummins ISX Autoshift

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  • 3 weeks later...

As a truck owner in the early nineties I owned Ford LTA 9000, International Eagle conventional and yes a Volvo, I like the 630 because of it's roomie cab, its single large windshield, it's dash layout, and it's integral sleeper, although I only used the sleeper once while fighting with the wife one night.....LOL!

The smooth ride combined with the integral looks and the fact that Volvo build the safest trucks on the road makes it my favourite, only thing is that I would never buy another Volvo with a Volvo engine, I prefer the Cat or Cummins, (I had a 350 HP cat coupled to a 13 speed in my first Volvo), it seems that parts for a Volvo are made of gold and that service for a volvo problem can not cost less than silver, moreover I have experienced that not all Volvo mechanics really are up to date on how to service a Volvo engine, at least in my neck of the woods! So Volvo engines are out next time around! For the rest I love the ride!

 

Cheers.

 

Rene.

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I had a Volvo with a Cummins ISM for 10+ years. I now have had a Volvo with a D16 for 2+ years. I find NO difference in service availability. I have also found that the few parts I have bought for the engine are not "generally" priced higher than the Cummins parts. HOWEVER, there have been a few that are "made of gold", or so it seems. The key is to shop around if you can....

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

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Gold hell !!

That rubber floor mat is made outta platinum.

MY PEOPLE SKILLS ARE JUST FINE.
~It's my tolerance to idiots that needs work.~

2005 Volvo 780 VED12 465hp / Freedomline transmission
singled mid position / Bed by Larry Herrin
2018 customed Mobile Suites 40KSSB3 

2014 smart Fortwo

 

 
 
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I started with a Pete 385 because my friend drove it for 95% of its miles, just vacation days were driven by his boss. Every maintenance record since new and my friend is extremely proud of everything he has. I literally could've eaten off of just about any part of that truck when I got it.

 

Now it has new owners that will keep it in that condition!

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