I'll add to Rockwild's post a little. Having been in truck sales for a few years, I learned what to look for and what to look out for. The other thing I learned was to ask around. There are some oldtimers that know a lot more than me. Going back a few posts, the DT444 is the same engine as the Ford Powerstroke. It is a city engine at best. We always hated getting them in trade. They weren't worth much to the next guy.
The DT466 is a good engine. been around for a long long time. Travis looked at getting a big trailer to haul around, the only thing was it would involve a bigger truck if we wanted to haul more than two rigs. That and if you wanted living quarters, you were having to sacrifice rig space. The price on them is crazy also.
When we looked at trucks, there were specs all over the board. Many weren't spec'd for hiway driving. I found a lot of info on www.expeditersonline.com . They have a classified section that had a lot of trucks also. Those guys make a living driving these trucks all over the country.
I think the greatest thing about the big truck is that we can travel in comfort. This last weekend, we traveled with four people and two big dogs. There was plenty of room for everyone and my wife even slept most of the way in the upper bunk. Being able to haul two rigs without a trailer is great. Then if we want, we can put a trailer on the back and haul at least one more. The gearing is a little high, but with some tuning, things will work better.
The biggest addition I want to do is make a movable wall in the box so that I can heat or cool a smaller section. That was the biggest problem this weekend. A space heater doesn't heat a 22' uninsulated box very well.
