Western Star 4900 Buying Used

Some time ago, I joined Tex Sheppard in his 4900 Western Star on a grueling 5000-kilometre run that began in the hinterland north of Mareeba in Queensland's Atherton Tableland, an hour's drive inland from Cairns.

Tex’s run traverses the continent from Perth to Townsville. To put that into perspective, even if you cross seven European countries, for example, from Bacau in Romania to Porto in Portugal, you would only have travelled 3800 kilometres.

It's early Tuesday morning in Townsville, and there is a hive of activity at S&K Transport's depot. The day before, Tex and his Western Star had returned from Perth with its two trailers. He had uncoupled his 4900 Western Star from the trailers and headed home for a few days with his family and a well-earned rest.

In the meantime, his trailers were unloaded, serviced and washed before being taken 400 kilometres further north to Mareeba on the Atherton Tablelands.

Here in the fertile plateau of the Great Dividing Range, the elevated position provides a climate suitable for intensive agriculture crops, like bananas and dairy farming. It was here they loaded Tex's trailers with bananas destined for markets on the continent's west coast.

"This Western Star 4900 is a few years old now, and already it has clocked up 720,000 kilometres," Tex began. "I've never had any problems with it or the Cummins. It is the Signature 620 version, and it pulls exceptionally well."

Even so, he admits the fuel economy is a little heavier than he'd like but concedes that long pulls with two and sometimes three trailers do eat up a lot of horsepower and the only way to get the horsepower is to feed the engine fuel.

Both Cummins ISX and Signature engines continue to be the benchmark for retarding power, delivering up to 600 braking horsepower at 2100rpm – regardless of their horsepower rating, which is essential in the road train business.

And Tex agrees: "These Cummins engines have terrific engine brakes. They are the most effective I have ever had.”

Meanwhile, Western Star has placed a lot of emphasis on enhancing the cabin environment, which Tex is impressed with: "The first thing I noticed coming out of another brand truck was the extra room in the cab," Tex said. "I have the driver's seat right back as far as it goes, and there is still ample room behind it."

Another aspect of the 4900 that Tex is impressed with is the lavish cabin appointments, so much so that he has even taken it to the next level and fitted gold switches to match the gold bezel gauges.

Tex is also more than impressed with the room in the 54-inch Stratosphere sleeper. "There is significant additional headroom in the area between the driver's and passenger's seat. This additional headroom means I can stand up and walk through the cab to the sleeper compartment without crouching or bending over," he added.

A little before midday Wednesday, Tex pulled his shining 4900 Western Star in beside the fuel bowsers at the BP Cluden on the southern outskirts of Townsville. Here he was topping up his 1800-litre diesel tanks and those in the fridge vans as well. "This is the last of the cheap fuel," he said.

Then he pulled in front of his dog trailer (the second trailer) that had been dropped off earlier, reversed the dolly underneath, turned the "road train" signs around, and was ready to go.

Recently, the opening of a new bypass road for road trains heading west out of Townsville has made it a damn-side easier and safer for operators to get in and out of town now. "It's much better hooking up here at the BP than it was out on those dirt pads," Tex recalled.

"In the dry, they were dust bowls, and a mud-puddle in the wet, you had no chance of keeping your truck clean. Both you and your truck would be dirty before you even left town. Now, this is so much safer too. If you come in during the night, at least it is well lit up so you can see what you're doing without having to hold a torch."

Today, the midday traffic was light, and Tex gently guided his 4900 onto the Bruce Highway for the short run down the bypass road. Then he made the right-hand turn and poked the 4900s nose west.

With only two trailers this trip and no weight restrictions on the Belyando Road, he could take this shorter route south today.

However, when he has three trailers, or there are weight limit restrictions on Belyando Road, he has to travel further inland before heading south, where fuel is far more expensive.

Testament to the performance of this Western Star is to watch it make light work of the climb up the Mingela Range. It has a distinct sharp note that's commensurate with finely tuned engines.

"There's a lot to like about this Western Star 4900," Tex admitted. Simple things like access by the non-slip steps through to the flat floor inside the cabin that give anyone up to baseball player height the opportunity to walk around inside the cabin without stooping over.

“There's ample storage room in the sleeper. I've had it fitted with an additional fridge, microwave and television.

"The truck sits really well on the road, which might sound like an odd comment, but it handles and steers without any surprises, and you need a sure-footed truck when you have a few trailers swinging off the back.

“But most importantly is the reliability and' touch wood' we haven't had any issues at all with this Western Star. Reliability is the key to us maintaining our commitment to our customers to deliver their products on time," Tex concluded.

It was somewhere in the darkness along the Belyando Road that I said farewell to Tex and his finely-tuned 4900 Western Star that he's dubbed the "Outlaw Express". He'd be in Perth in three and half days, and, I'd be herding cattle into a waiting stock crate further up north, but more on that later.

As a used truck, the 4900 Western Star is one model certainly well worth consideration because of its driver appeal and ability to adapt to a multitude of applications.

Additionally, spare parts availability is not an issue with this model as most components, including cabin and dash items, are still used in production trucks today.

Furthermore, 4900 Western Star trucks are easy and notably cheaper to rebuild than many other brands. They are a real Meccano-set type truck that you can easily bolt components onto to suit your application.

However, when shopping around the used truck lots, pay particular attention to their service history. It's certainly worth weighing up the benefits of spending a few dollars more for a well-maintained, owner driven 4900 compared to the discounted price on one from a fleet operation with fleet-style maintenance program that may cost a small fortune to repair.

Given that most used Western Star 4900 models will have wound the speedo at least once around the clock, plan your budget to include replacing most of the suspension bushes and have the king-pins inspected as a matter of course.

It goes without saying the condition of the brakes needs to be factored into the purchase price.

If you’re looking for a cheap, budget truck then you’ll be disappointed because Western Star 4900 models are premium sought-after used trucks and their pricing reflects this.

Nevertheless, you might be lucky enough to pick up an early model at a bargain price. However, if you're looking at later models from 2015 and onwards, be prepared to pay at least $200K for a fully optioned one with a generous amount of bling.

Make: Western Star
Model: 4900
Engine: Cummins Signature
Horsepower: 620hp (462kW) at1800rpm
Torque: 2050lb/ft (2779Nm) at 1100rpm
Fan: Horton two-speed Drivemaster
Gearbox: Eaton 18-speed Roadranger
Front Axle: Meritor FG-941 6.5T
Front Suspension: Parabolic Taper leaf 6.6T
Rear Axles: Meritor RT46-160GP with DCDL
Rear Axle Ratio: 4.56
Rear Suspension: AirLiner 46K with Dual leveling valves
Brakes: Meritor S-Cam with auto slacks
Safety: Wabco ABS with traction control and roll stability control
Fuel Tank: Polished Alloy
Sleeper: Stratosphere
Interior: Vinyl Trim
Dash: Burl woodgrain with bright finish instruments
Seats: Premium driver’s seat with armrests
Bumper: Polished Alloy bullbar

Here is a small selection from our classifieds current at the time of writing.

2017 Western Star 4900 Series - $158,000

2003 Western Star 4900 Series - $90,000

2009 Western Star 4900 Series - $130,000

2015 Western Star 4900 Series 4900FXC - $209,000