My dilemma Cat vs Cummins

[Brock]

Over the last 10 years I have owned 7 trucks in the Alberta..... 7 life sucking trucks! Over the last year and a bit I have been selling them all off trying to get down to 1 unit. At the beginning of 2019 I parked the last trucks and stopped hiring and have been floating everything for the 3 remaining trucks off 1 trucks income and while that may sound stupid, I've been making alot more money without employees and extra trucks! I have spent the last year paying off all the debt I racked up and getting ready to rebuild my peterbilt (as that is the truck I'm keeping)

Some of you may remember that I spent alot of money having my peterbilt Cat engine rebuilt, so much on that engine is new, we did harnesses, ecm, compressor, oil cooler, water pump and injectors and fuel pump with all regulators, I replaced every single sensor on the engine. We did not do Turbos as they were relatively new.

Well that scam artist didnt cut the counter bores even though he was paid to so the head gasket blew shortly after. He put a new one on and 2 weeks later it blew again. My wife and I tore it down to find the problem and it's been sitting ever since last summer now opened up (covered but still)

Now we are getting a mechanic to pull the block Monday and we are debating which route to go. We already have boughton the cylinder packs and spacer plate, the head was still new but we are gonna send it to a machine shop to clean up, If we keep the Cat we will send the block and crank and rods to a shop to get the full works then we will build it up beautifully.

The injectors ended up accumulating surface rust on them as there was a small leak in the roof of the truck and it was dripping on the injectors I had laying inside so I dont know if they will be reusable. If I dont need injectors and turbos then this would cost the same as it would to swap a ISX.

If I do need injectors and turbos I can add $23,000cdn to this bill so a used ISX swap would be much less.

I am considering selling the cat for parts and putting in a used cm871 instead. I can find one for 10 to 15 canadian. There is a recon that 4 years old and another couple options.

With the cat itll be new but its cat, expensive parts and crap mileage, with the isx I'll have great mileage and good parts and amazing support due to quick serve and this forum.

I'm struggling, i know I'm comparing a full rebuild to abused engine but I'm really leaning ISX..... the wife is thinking Cat if we dont need injectors and turbos cause itll be cheaper and rebuilt.

Thoughts?

[Lonestar10]

If your gona keep the truck rolling as a money maker...then better mileage cheaper parts and a vast knowledge base to fall back onto will payoff in the bank account 10fold what the cat will.

[Magard]

Maybe Uniliever can chime in on this. But I know a good cat can be a money maker. Also a used isx is gonna need to be tore down and liners shimmed to .014 to be right. So that opens a can of worms. Are you gonna reset old liners? I would want new. Are you gonna not put used head back on? I would want new. It sounds like the cat is a twin turbo. I would look at rebuilding it and putting a single turbo on it. Less boost pressure and less components= more reliability. Uni is the guy for all this information. Maybe pm him.

[Brock]

Unilever said ISX as SDP parts are insanely expensive.

Its just hard cause I'm comparing a fully rebuilt Cat to a used drop in ISX that could blow at any time. To me I think I'm willing to take the chance because this will be my personal truck for years to come and long term I see more profitability with the ISX even factoring in a rebuild.

Especially since Cat parts are junk, hell I buy 1 compressor every year!!

[redbeard]

After all you have been through, I believe you know the answer.

This forum and the help we receive is a game changer for us. Information is king.

Cummins is not or friend or partner, this is a business and surviving the hurdles thrown at us in today’s engine and profit environment is not great odds.

Caterpillar is proud of there parts, and the platform has been around long enough, good mechanics know them well, but do not freely share there information. We’re at there mercy.

We probably will not get rich in trucking, and I’m saddened to say most will not survive financially nor support a solid retirement with the cards dealt with the level of mechanical service and expense that has became so rampant in this industry.

I’m fourth generation in this business and looking at the end game, just want to keep what I’ve acquired and be comfortable at this point.

This forum gives me hope that we can make this livelihood work to our benefit.

[Magard]

Well your already into this decision a ways. If I went isx I would reset liners at .014 checking cross hatching before I reused, and put a new head on it. I wouldn’t trust a low miles rebuilt head. Bearings and new oil pump shimmed like Rawze does. Two cam engine seems to benefit most from more oil pressure. It’s gonna be expensive either way you go it seems like. All this information is from this forum. You probably know it better than me.

[Brock]

(10-20-2019 )Magard Wrote:  Well your already into this decision a ways. If I went isx I would reset liners at .014 checking cross hatching before I reused, and put a new head on it. I wouldn’t trust a low miles rebuilt head. Bearings and new oil pump shimmed like Rawze does. Two cam engine seems to benefit most from more oil pressure. It’s gonna be expensive either way you go it seems like. All this information is from this forum. You probably know it better than me.

I wont be buying a ISX and rebuilding it before putting in, I'll buy the ISX and swap a bunch of the extras on the outside before install then when the time comes, I'll just have to do a quick inframe.

[Unilevers]

making that SDP Be decent and run properly is gonna cost you 50 grand or more. even then its only ever going to get 6mpg on good days. If you went cat convert it to a 70 pin as SDP parts are crazy expensive and not worth it and dont laugh. im serious atleast 50 grand to make the SDP be reliable and right. A set of ball bearing twins is over 15000 right now for a SDP.

You could get a 871 core, Freshen it and shove it in there for less than that. It will go right in that pete with minimal parts as that truck could come with that engine. go to a wrecker and get the mounts and such. Cut the end off the truck harness and wire on 871 plugs. do some programming and put it on the road. You will be 30ish grand like that and can fix the dam thing and it will get 7.5mpg on a good day. Plus you know how to fix it.

theres a reason theres 6 sdp cores on the ground at my local place......

[Mattman]

What does sdp stand for?

We have several cat c13 and c15 twin turbo accert non Regen engines at work. They are practically bullet proof.