DumpsterToy wrote:Hope they do a better job on building them than Navistar did. Have a friend who is a true Cat. man. He and his son have around 50 late model dump trucks. They have six or so of the Cat trucks. From what I hear, they wish they had never seen them. When I drove for them, they had almost 100% Sterling dumps. Their latest purchases have been Western Stars.
I'm certain there are exceptions out there, but I believe there are a lot of guys who share the opinion(s) of your friend.
A couple months back I got some seat time in a 2013 CT660 with twin-steer and, once I got used to the cab layout etc I found it to be a nice truck overall. Power/torque was responsive, decent ride, low noise, great visibility and I found the cab had more room than the Peterbilt 360/370 series trucks had - with the exception of getting into/out of the cab, as the door certainly limits a larger guys ability to seamlessly jump in/out. Again, I think you have to be open minded when compared to what you're used to driving - former Paystar drivers will adapt easily, but for guys who have driven newer model MACK, KW, Pete etc it definitely takes some getting used to.
From speaking with three separate owners the major issue(s) all revolve around parts, warranty and service - not performance. In one case, it took 6 working days to get a replacement coolant part, which is completely inexcusable. It's for reasons like these that one contractor has already replaced two of their three 2013 CT660's with new MACK Granites, and another contractor made the switch to T800's instead of purchasing more CT660's.
Maybe some of the parts availability issues have been resolved, or will be when CAT brings their truck building into their own facility, but for many it's too late now....you only get one chance to make a first impression. I hope they get things nailed down, because I liked the truck overall, and think it's definitely a mean looking ride.
