Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Doing A Complete 180

Last week our generator crapped out.  We've been eating out every night since I can't cook anything - don't worry, I'm okay - and I've had to blow dry my hair in spurts, since the blowdryer knocks out the 12-volt outlet midway through my 'do.  Thankfully it's cold outside, because if it were anything above 50 degrees, I'd be a complete bitch with no air conditioning for my sleeping cocoon.  A few nights we ran the truck, but in New York we had to rely on open windows and the ceiling fan since they're one of those states with anti-idling laws.
The generator  was going to take a few hours to install, so Ed had them put some new shocks on the sleeper too.  I'm wondering if I'll even notice the difference when I'm sleeping?  I'll have to remember to pay attention during the real test - when Ed chooses to hit every pothole in the lot rather than navigate around them like I do.

o while the truck was out of commission, we went shopping.  We looked at a new sleeper.  A bigger sleeper.  We were shown a 180" sleeper - we have a 132” - that we really loved.  It was 100" high, which is not how they normally build them, and it gave the entire sleeper area a feeling of vast space.  This particular sleeper had a mirrored cutout in the ceiling - which I'm not entirely in love with - but the mirror did increase the feeling of space dramatically. 
They had custom cabinets that the customer got at Lowe's, with glass inserts in the doors, a glass tile backsplash in the kitchen, the same glass tiles at the top of the shower interior, and custom fabric on all the walls and cushions. 
We really want something where we can have access to the bed and the table at the same time, rather than having to put the bed up in order to have a table to use, and the 180" sleeper offers that.  In addition, it has the back bed we really want, and a side door.

With the generator and shocks done, we got out of there for just under $10,000.00, but if we were to get a new sleeper, we'd be saying goodbye to much more than that.  Personally, I think it's worth it since we spend so much time on the road.  And I really don't mind spending time on the road, so I want to find a way to make it happen.  That might mean instead of six months off next year like we had last year, maybe we'll have to knock the time off down to three months.  I think I can live with that.

In the meantime, we'll keep the rubber to the road and play a the lottery once in a while.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2011: Men (And One Little Man) At Work
2010: Miss Me Like It’s Forever
2009: Speak Already!
2008: On The Hunt
2007: Cash For Life
2006: Nice Melons


Gil said...

Seems high to a car guy! How many shocks did you need?

Ed said...

Gil the sleeper has 6 shocks under it. The old ones were ok, but they were 4 years old. The generator was around $8K, but I still have the old one to rebuild and sell. It still runs and probably only needs a new head or even just a head gasket. Our old one had about 15000 hours on it and everyone I talked to said it was at the end of it's life.

Belledog said...

A bigger sleeper would be amazing, and you do spend enough time on the road for it to be worthwhile. (Plus the recent specialized training.)

Love the glass tiles. Don't know about that mirrored ceiling, though.

And you can sell your present luxury liner truck for good money, right? Am curious how much value your truck will hold, particularly since you and Ed take such excellent care of it.

Keep us posted on the possible new crib. Always cool to have something new and better in the offing.

ELH said...

can they just remove your current sleeper and install the new one? or do you have to buy a new tractor as well

can they just remove your old sleeper and install the new, or do you have to buy a new tractor as well?


The Daily Rant said...

BELLEDOG: It would be amazing! We like being out here, but having more space would be awesome. Who knows if it'll actually happen. It took us a few years between wanting this one and getting it. But now that we know what's involved, I think the process would be shorter. And yeah, I'm not big on the mirrored ceiling either - it's very 1970's to me - and with the rope lighting that follows its wavy design, it's like a disco. And yes, we can sell our truck and/or sleeper if we wanted. The salesman was very impressed with the condition of our sleeper. I've seen some other people's big sleepers out here and have been SHOCKED at how they keep them. Some are really disgusting, I don't know how they can even enjoy the space.

ELH: Yes, we can just swap sleepers. That's what Ed might want to do since there is nothing wrong with the truck itself. On this frame, we can go up to a 156", but if we wanted to put a 180" sleeper, we'd have to stretch the frame to accomodate it. We've talked to a company who does that - several years ago we contacted them because that's what we were going to do with our old truck - so if we did the 180", that would be the only additional expense because we wouldn't need to buy a new tractor. That's Ed's preferred route! :)

Ed said...

The only reason to buy a newer truck is to satisfy the CARB regulations in California, but this truck is legal in that state until 2022. The frame stretch is a more likely option and one other is to buy a used 2010 or later day cab with at least a 15 liter engine have that frame stretched. The 2010 or newer truck is good beyond 2022.

I was having a discussion with another driver about the point of constantly buying a new truck everytime CARB sneezed. While we were talking, a 1971 Mack pulling a covered wagon flatbed drove by us in the truckstop. It was completely rebuilt. That truck has probably seen about 4 to 5 million miles and looked like it just rolled out of the showroom floor.

If a person is even slightly mechanically inclined, a truck can last over 5 million miles. Everything can be replaced for far less than what these truck manufacturers want for a new one.

Unknown said...

All so interesting.... who knew? Love the window into this world!