Medium-Truck.net

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gordiesgarage
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Medium-Truck.net

Post by gordiesgarage »

Hey does anyone have any experience with medium-truck.net? How do you like it? Good coverage? Find the information your looking for?
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steven kiser
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Re: Medium-Truck.net

Post by steven kiser »

what exactly are you looking for? the mitchell program is the one i use for trucks.
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Re: Medium-Truck.net

Post by Toughbook »

I have been with them for almost a year now. I met with my salesman today to go over some stuff. The biggest problem, lack of, or whatever you want to call it is that there is no parts or labor! My salesman was under the impression there was. I didn't fight it though, just very dissapointed. He said they are working on getting it in there. Howlong that will take is anyone's guess.
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Re: Medium-Truck.net

Post by steven kiser »

sorry to see that your first post was on a negative note. speaking for myself, on big trucks i rarely quote a labor cost. at least with my customers the trucks are well used and show signs of it within a year. i work on a fair share of heavy duty trucks and find that most other shops consider a truck that's a 250, 2500, etc at that level medium duty. at my shop they're run of the mill. a 550 super duty is medium duty in my shop. the heavy duties i see, internationals, kodiaks, npr, w's, fuso's, etc i work on them with an in house labor time. i'm not cheap and the truck dealerships i am friendly with will only give a very vague quote on most jobs so i follow their lead. an example is if an international is in the shop and needs a 4 wheel brake job i charge 1.5 per front and 2.0 per rear wheel. this includes rotor replacement. anything beyond that is more. an air can, one hour, slack adjuster, one hour, s cam, one hour with wheel off, another 2 hours if frozen and has to be sleeved. king pins 5 hours plus machine shop labor. i drop the axle and send it out as a unit. on a truck i will charge to replace pads and rotors on a king pin job as opposed as a light truck where i'll just charge for parts. i have all the proper heavy duty truck tools so i really don't get involved with jobs i have to really struggle with. a tip here that you really may want to listen to is if you're not set up for medium-heavy duty trucks then either equip yourself or stay away from them. i say this not directed at toughbook but as a suggestion to all. i've had trucks towed into my shop because another shop started to "repair" it and hit a wall because of being ill equipped and the tow exceeded the cost of the repair. trucks are in a different league, heavy duty that is. a 1/2 ton at one time was a truck. now it's just a overpriced car. at this level they should have their own classification. maybe a 2500 wannabe series............i've had people want to know if i work on "heavy duty trucks" and show up with a 2500 and i've asked them where the "heavy duty truck was", i thought he was just dropping by to chat driving the family truck. he pointed out the "hd" on the tail gate. was in a quandry here. didn't want to insult him or make him think i didn't know what i was talking about so i told him i must have misunderstood him when we spoke on the phone. i told him i thought he said 6500. what ever.........
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Re: Medium-Truck.net

Post by Tim Martin »

I find that on medium and heavy duty trucks its difficult to make an estimate and be able to stick to it. Maybe I am doing something wrong but thats how it is for me. Say you are replacing springs on the rear of any given truck, if the fasteners loosen easily you got it made but if they are tight and need heat or whatever it can consume much more time than you planned for. So, basically speaking I refuse to give an estimate I might say it will cost at least so much. Most medium and heavy duty truck owners try to understand if I explain to them why I do not give estimates.
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Re: Medium-Truck.net

Post by Ruger77 »

We also work on several medium duty to heavy duty trucks. I have been exploring the Mitchell software for both and was surprised at the cost, and lack of salesman info. We charge an hourly rate and actual time, and use a MOTOR time book for guidance. It is expensive to get setup to work on these correctly, sometimes I think we need to do more...or none at all.
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Re: Medium-Truck.net

Post by steven kiser »

you have to be equipped to work on medium or light duty trucks to really be able to quote a price. a labor guide assumes that you have the correct equipment to do the job. an example is a clutch on a 550 super duty. you can fight the transmission in and out with a floor jack on you back taking the better part of a day. we take the truck in, put it up on a lift, use an otc transmission jack attaching the transmission to it, remove the transmission, slide it out of the way with the transfer case still attached, pull the bell housing, clutch assembly and flywheel and reverse the procedure. the transmission is secured to the jack plate and usually needs little or no wiggling, it just slides right in. it usually takes us about three hours. i make a good buck. your still fighting it out. if your doing springs without a one inch impact gun and the air volume to attain the power needed your in for a battle royal and you'll feel you didn't charge enough to make it worth your while. i know that i'm not really pin pointing an answer here but without the proper equipment even the best labor guide is of no help. with the correct equipment i can quote a price make a good buck while you'll have to add to the labor time to compensate for your on time. you'll be more than me and make less money. sounds kind of crazy but that's how it works.
never argue with a fool, they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience
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