Question:
Well made it thru the orientation, passed the drivers test and now have my own truck. Will be headed for North Platte, NE., on Wed. Have a question for you old timers out there. I have been driving a Detroit and will be switching to a Mercedes for the Wal Mart fleet. Anyone have any info on the jacks on hills or any other info that would come in handy. Appreciate the feedback.. Cub
Answer:
I have a 2004 Columbia with the 450hp Mercedes. I like the motor better than a CAT.
The jake I have is a single stage and is adjustable in the motor compartment. There, it can be adjusted to either "high" or "low' , but not both. The jake is said (according to the book) to work up to 2300 rpm. I don't run any motor that high on the RPM.
I have mine set to high. I run as much as 50,000 in a tanker and with the down shifts, I have little problems. I've run the truck up to BC with 7 % grades with 50,000lbs.
This motor pulls 95% of it's peak torque at 1100 rpm. The Mercedes likes to run 1000 rpm to 1400 rpm. It will easily go to 1800 rpm, but your just wasting fuel and your time.
Starting out in granny gear, you can shift that stick as fast as you can and it will pull 79,500lbs right along, until you get to 9th gear. 9th gear it's a little slower but you can run up to 65mph in 9th if you have to. It will easily run to 55 mph in 9th.
This motor is a very flexible motor, plus, it's the smoothest motor I ever driven. There is zero lag in the throttle with the Mercedes. CATS and Detroits have considerably more throttle lag. It's fun to drive.

Answer:
...wanna race ? LOL.
Were you able to convince them to put that steel animal guard on your front end? Talk about bad luck... Haven't seen y'all around FOD much; matter-of-fact, only a couple of y'all here and there. Hoping to see you up there one of these days. You be safe, and "loser" buys the lunch !!!"Pain is weakness leaving the body."
"Nobody ever drowned in their own sweat."
U.S.M.C. '89-'95 0351, '95-'99 6531 (I.Y.A.O.Y.A.S.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/cyanide971/Carlo8919.jpg

Answer:
Be your way Wed. Cyanide.. race?? hmmmmmm...(lol) Do you run in that area of NE, CO, WY, and KA?? See you out there buddy.. Cub
Answer:
Once May gets here I'll be running I-80 from Salt Lake to WI when coming outta CA."Pain is weakness leaving the body."
"Nobody ever drowned in their own sweat."
U.S.M.C. '89-'95 0351, '95-'99 6531 (I.Y.A.O.Y.A.S.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/cyanide971/Carlo8919.jpg

Answer:
Were you able to convince them to put that steel animal guard on your front end?
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Cyanide, No front end guard. I was informed Bynum lost a law suit because one of our trucks had a deer bumber guard on it.
Heads up on deer bumber guards installed on trucks.
The attorney argued successfully that deer Bumper guards are not OEM. Therefore, no government safety stats were ever done with these installed on trucks. Interesting.
Furthermore, the guard caused more extensive damage and personal injury due to the fact that the guard is designed much sturdier than the OEM bumper.
Smart lawyer.