Building a Tandem Axle Farm Truck?

skegpro

Active VIP Member
Joined
May 11, 2009
Messages
9,930
Reaction score
21,329
Location
In them hills.
Hey there truck people.

Looking at building a new tandem axle truck and I have some questions.

Is there any point of specing higher rates rear axles of greater than 40,000lb?
IE 46,000lb.

I read that the max allowance on rear axle weight for tandems is 17,000kg aka 37,478lbs. (Alberta)

Also front axle weight max is 7300kg aka 16,314 lbs.
So probably not much point in going anything more than a 16k front end?
18k? 20k?

https://www.transportation.alberta.ca/4777.htm
 

Stompin Tom

Active VIP Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2009
Messages
3,787
Reaction score
8,138
Location
BC
Hey there truck people.

Looking at building a new tandem axle truck and I have some questions.

Is there any point of specing higher rates rear axles of greater than 40,000lb?
IE 46,000lb.

I read that the max allowance on rear axle weight for tandems is 17,000kg aka 37,478lbs. (Alberta)

Also front axle weight max is 7300kg aka 16,314 lbs.
So probably not much point in going anything more than a 16k front end?
18k? 20k?

https://www.transportation.alberta.ca/4777.htm

If your only running it as a body job there is no reason to run anything more than 40000 lbs rear ends. As for steering axle configurations, out here in BC it all depends on what you have the truck configured to do, some applications you can go as high as 9100 kg ie a dump truck with a 20000 lb front end, but only 5500 kg if it is a highway tractor.
 

Cyle

Active VIP Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
7,182
Reaction score
4,762
Location
edmonton
Depends on the use. A lot of the reason to jump to 44 rears over 40 is for offroad applications that see abuse like dumps, etc as they will take it better, or for heavy hauling. Fronts the same, depending on spec as said depends on what weight you can get to.

Strictly IMO, but unless it's a decent chunk cheaper, you'd have to pay me to buy a new international. And run from the Maxxforce, or whatever they are calling it today, garbage engine. So many problems, and diamond international is a fawking joke. I am waiting for the day it's in the news a truck left their shop and killed someone because of their incompetence. Had I not caught one problem prior to it going, my truck trailer and track hoe could have been toast because of them fawkers.
 

skegpro

Active VIP Member
Joined
May 11, 2009
Messages
9,930
Reaction score
21,329
Location
In them hills.
Depends on the use. A lot of the reason to jump to 44 rears over 40 is for offroad applications that see abuse like dumps, etc as they will take it better, or for heavy hauling. Fronts the same, depending on spec as said depends on what weight you can get to.

Strictly IMO, but unless it's a decent chunk cheaper, you'd have to pay me to buy a new international. And run from the Maxxforce, or whatever they are calling it today, garbage engine. So many problems, and diamond international is a fawking joke. I am waiting for the day it's in the news a truck left their shop and killed someone because of their incompetence. Had I not caught one problem prior to it going, my truck trailer and track hoe could have been toast because of them fawkers.
Agreed.

I want a crew cab with 5/6 seats so this really limits me to Freightliner/International.

Diamond is brutal to deal with, can't even get a quote out of anyone.

Dialed Glover in Camrose and was talking to a person in no time.

New international engine is the A26 and I think they are serious about not sucking this time round........
 

skegpro

Active VIP Member
Joined
May 11, 2009
Messages
9,930
Reaction score
21,329
Location
In them hills.
If your only running it as a body job there is no reason to run anything more than 40000 lbs rear ends. As for steering axle configurations, out here in BC it all depends on what you have the truck configured to do, some applications you can go as high as 9100 kg ie a dump truck with a 20000 lb front end, but only 5500 kg if it is a highway tractor.
I have a 51,000lb payload.
I may have to go with a semi?
 

174mcx

Active VIP Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2009
Messages
373
Reaction score
1,189
Location
rocky mountain house
The only reason for heavy duty is for off road work. I ran a lowbed for example to haul a D8 down the hwy I needed a tandem jeep and a tridem lowbed, as soon as I hit the bush road I would unhook the jeep and run all that extra weight on the truck for traction and maneuverability. No need if your not off hwy and have a heavy load you can move and manipulate.
 

skegpro

Active VIP Member
Joined
May 11, 2009
Messages
9,930
Reaction score
21,329
Location
In them hills.
The only reason for heavy duty is for off road work. I ran a lowbed for example to haul a D8 down the hwy I needed a tandem jeep and a tridem lowbed, as soon as I hit the bush road I would unhook the jeep and run all that extra weight on the truck for traction and maneuverability. No need if your not off hwy and have a heavy load you can move and manipulate.
What are the fines like for being overloaded on public roads?
 

Scrambled

Active VIP Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2009
Messages
1,122
Reaction score
2,603
Location
Nanoose Bay B.C
My brother in law bought a brand new international single axle diesel for a propane truck in late 2015,had to get it cvi before insurance would cover,not a word of a lie it left the factory without any front shocks,now he is on his 2nd engine after they tried to rebuild the first one and never lasted,had nothing but head ache and hassle dealing with head office after the dealer said they were done fn with it so much and getting no where,he had to threaten to sue there ass if they didn't get it resolved,still having lots of little issues but it's still running.i do believe they are now going ahead with a case against them for money lost due to it being in the shop for months.
 

skegpro

Active VIP Member
Joined
May 11, 2009
Messages
9,930
Reaction score
21,329
Location
In them hills.
My brother in law bought a brand new international single axle diesel for a propane truck in late 2015,had to get it cvi before insurance would cover,not a word of a lie it left the factory without any front shocks,now he is on his 2nd engine after they tried to rebuild the first one and never lasted,had nothing but head ache and hassle dealing with head office after the dealer said they were done fn with it so much and getting no where,he had to threaten to sue there ass if they didn't get it resolved,still having lots of little issues but it's still running.i do believe they are now going ahead with a case against them for money lost due to it being in the shop for months.
Crazy, so what would they buy for a truck next time?
 

skegpro

Active VIP Member
Joined
May 11, 2009
Messages
9,930
Reaction score
21,329
Location
In them hills.
Never wanted to actually find out but i've heard either $1/pound or $1/kg you've over. It's not cheap.
Gah, maybe I should go with a semi.

Alberta really seems to limit a body job.
 

Cyle

Active VIP Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
7,182
Reaction score
4,762
Location
edmonton
My brother in law bought a brand new international single axle diesel for a propane truck in late 2015,had to get it cvi before insurance would cover,not a word of a lie it left the factory without any front shocks,now he is on his 2nd engine after they tried to rebuild the first one and never lasted,had nothing but head ache and hassle dealing with head office after the dealer said they were done fn with it so much and getting no where,he had to threaten to sue there ass if they didn't get it resolved,still having lots of little issues but it's still running.i do believe they are now going ahead with a case against them for money lost due to it being in the shop for months.

It's crazy how many problems people are having. We bought a used truck from diamond, in a few months of owning it spent more time at the shop then using it, they agreed to buy back at price we paid provided we bought a new truck because they couldn't fix it. It's been nearly as bad, about 10 times in shop in 3.5 years, probably lost it for 3 months now, other then the EGR I believe it was and replacing turbo, the other problems are minor, but it went back numerous times because they couldn't figure out a simple problem. The biggest problem is they have no fawking idea what they are doing. Two separate times when we got truck back they forgot to properly hook up all batteries.
 

Cyle

Active VIP Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
7,182
Reaction score
4,762
Location
edmonton
Do the make anything bigger than a the L9?

Need something north of 400HP but don't want a 15 liter.

No idea, but a good indicator is look up resale in the same truck with a maxxforce compared to a cummins, it's insane what they get. As soon as you mention international and/or maxxforce to pretty much anyone, they know the resale is really bad. If a cummins is $10-15k more then the international engine, do it all day long. You'll get that back in resale easy.
 

skegpro

Active VIP Member
Joined
May 11, 2009
Messages
9,930
Reaction score
21,329
Location
In them hills.
No idea, but a good indicator is look up resale in the same truck with a maxxforce compared to a cummins, it's insane what they get. As soon as you mention international and/or maxxforce to pretty much anyone, they know the resale is really bad. If a cummins is $10-15k more then the international engine, do it all day long. You'll get that back in resale easy.
Yeah Maxxforce was crap, no about that.

Have you seen any of the new A26 engines? What do you think?
 
Top Bottom