Diesel Brothers: Truck Building Simulator – Guide to Making Money

by Falagar / Articles, Misc. Guides / 22 May 2019

This guide is intended to help you make money using the game’s core mechanics. It revolves around progressing to a point in the career/multiplayer game where you will have access to high-quality wrecks (incomplete vehicles offered at the scrapyard) and worn parts, which you will then use to build trucks to be resold at the auction house for a substantial (200-300%) profit margin.

The strategies outlined in this section can be used at any point in your single or multiplayer career. However, for the purposes of this guide, it will be assumed that the player will be starting a new game.

1. Start a new single or multiplayer game (there are some advantages to using a multiplayer save in the beginning to earn money; if you do not wish to actually play with other players, you can set the lobby to ‘private’ or ‘friends only’ when you choose to host a game).

2. If you selected ‘singleplayer,’ enter the game and play through the tutorial as normal. Continue to take new orders and save as much money as possible (we will be investing those funds in shop and scrapyard upgrades in the next few steps). Only accept customer orders that have a high payout ($9,000 to $15,000) and can be completed easily within a relatively short period of time. Avoid accepting orders that are labeled as ‘hard’ and require you to make significant changes to the suspension/engine/transmissions (removing entire axles etc.). Those are very involved and generally take up a lot of time, ultimately reducing any bonus funds you may receive for completing the order in half of the given time.

3. If you chose to start a new multiplayer game, tutorial orders are disabled by default. You will begin to receive regular orders right at the start. In the beginning of the game, you do not own a lift or any other garage upgrades. The fact that you do not have a lift limits the types of orders that you can receive. Without a lift, you will not receive any orders that require suspension/engine/ transmission work. You can use this to your advantage. The orders that come in will all be very easy. You will be asked to repaint body panels, add roof racks, and customize decals only. Some of these orders also pay up to $16,000 (not including the bonuses for getting them done quickly), just like the more difficult ones where you have to disassemble axles etc. So my advice for a multiplayer save is to hold off on buying a lift until you save up $150,000 to $200,000. If you only accept orders that pay out a minimum of $12,000 to $15,000, you should be able to save that amount after completing less than 15 of them. Yes, it will get repetitive and boring, but it’s an easy way to get cash in the beginning.

4. With completing orders, you will also earn new fans (600 to 3,000 per order, depending on the difficulty and how quickly you get it done). Once you save the amount of money mentioned in Step 3 above and reach the number of fans needed to purchase the transmission and engine lifts in ‘shop upgrades’, buy them.

5. Go to ‘Scrapyard’ on your map. Once there, walk up to the checkout area and press E (default). A purchase menu will come up. On the bottom left, click ‘upgrades.’ You will see a diagram (like a skill tree) of the upgrades available for purchase. They are unlocked from left to right and most require that you unlock the upgrades in tiers.

The layout of the upgrade diagram is provided in the image above. After you unlock the first upgrade, which opens another area of the scrapyard, begin investing in ‘Better Scrap Quality’ upgrades and those that unlock more wrecks. Again, the upgrades are in tiers and you must unlock them in order. Each costs anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 (some of the later tiers are over $100,000). You will be the best judge of how much money you will need to have saved up in order to unlock ‘Better Scrap Quality’ to at least Tier 3, ‘More Scrap’ to at least Tier 3, and get both improved wreck upgrades. Once all of those are unlocked and you have some spare cash (try to have at least $50,000 in your account), you are ready to start earning some serious cash.

Buying Wrecks

Now that you have saved enough money and upgraded the scrapyard to at least Tier 3 in scrap amount, quality, and wrecks (there are only two tiers for wrecks), you are ready for the next step.

With the first upgrade to the scrapyard, two of its four areas should be accessible to you. You may find a wreck in one of those areas, both of them, or find more than one wreck in each.

Once you find a wreck (shown below), approach it and press E (default) to examine it. You will be shown a tool tip with its overall quality, completeness, and profitability. Quality speaks for itself. The higher the better. It directly depends on the upgrades you’ve purchased for the scrapyard. Completeness refers to the overall state of the vehicle in terms of the number of parts present and missing. Again, the higher the better. Profitability is what the game has identified as the profit margin if you were to invest in the truck and resell it. Look for wrecks that are affordable (I try to look for ones that are no more than $22,000), higher quality (again, depends on the upgrades you’ve purchased, but strive for 70%+ as that is generally considered regular/good quality), and relatively complete. Those that have engines and transmissions are especially attractive.

Sometimes, the wreck’s hood will be closed and you cannot really see underneath the body to figure out whether or not it has an engine and transmission. The easiest way to check is to press Q (default) while looking at the wreck. A list of all parts that are missing will come up. Scroll through it and get a better idea of what you are working with and which parts you will need to buy to complete it.

Most of the time, you will find wrecks that are missing most body panels and in rare circumstances, even cabs. As long as you have a decent quality frame, engine, and transmission; it is inexpensive; and in good condition (above 70%), it is a wise investment and you should make a good profit. **Note: As of the writing of this guide, engines are not found at the scrapyard (even a fully upgraded one). They are the most expensive part of the truck and will set you back quite a bit if you have to buy them from the online shop. For this reason, I highly recommend buying wrecks that are not missing an engine or buying two wrecks (one with an engine and one without) if they are inexpensive to use them to build one truck. Transmissions are found in the scrapyard, but are not very common until you get to Tier 3 or 4 of scrapyard upgrades.

Shopping for Parts

Now that you’ve purchased a wreck (or more than one) and it is waiting for you in the backyard, it is time to start shopping for parts. Transfer the wreck to a lift in your garage. If you have not yet made a list of the missing parts, look at the truck and press Q (default) to see a list of what you will need.

**Note: If the wreck has absolutely no lift parts installed, they will not be listed. Keep that in mind if you intend to put in a 4″, 8″, or 12″ lift as all of the parts they require will be extra. If the truck has some lift parts installed, you will see the ones that are missing. In the list, you may see something like “12 inch right spring.” From that, you will know that the truck has 12″ lift parts installed. Knowing that will make it easier to figure out what it is you are looking for at the scrapyard when you go shopping.

Go to the scrapyard. Depending on the number and type of upgrades you purchased, you may see a few parts scattered here and there or piles stacked sky high.

Use the parts list you’ve made and start looking for the things you need. Try not to buy any parts that are below 65-70% quality (they will reduce the overall condition level of the truck when it’s fully assembled). **The exception to this rule are body panels: grills, front light frames, fenders, hoods, doors, cabs, beds, bed covers, and hatches. All of the mentioned body panels (except for ‘tarp’ style doors) can be reconditioned back to a full 100% quality by sandblasting them and then moving them to the paint booth (currently, parts often appear to remain the same quality level at the sandblasting shop and do not accurately reflect their restored 100% status until you move them straight to the paint booth from there).

With that said, DO NOT buy any parts other than the body panels mentioned above with less than 65-70% quality. As of the writing of this guide, a method to repair those parts has not been implemented. If you cannot find what you need the first time, you may need to make several trips to the scrapyard two to three days in a row or more. Most of the parts that spawn there are randomly generated and will update every time the scrapyard closes for the day. Any parts that you cannot find in decent shape there you will need to buy at the store. I generally avoid buying new parts unless it’s something like head/taillights, injectors, CPU, etc. If you happen to come across good parts that you don’t necessarily need for the build you are working on, buy them. Do not pass up the opportunity as you can save them for a future build and you never know when you will need them.

Reconditioning Parts

So, you’ve bought a wreck and scavenged most of the parts you needed from the scrapyard. What now? The tedious part begins… reconditioning parts.

Disassemble the wreck down to the frame. **If your wreck is a decent quality (65-70% minimum), only remove all of the body panels, cab, and bed.

Sandblast the cab, bed, and body panels you removed and then move them directly to the paint booth. Once you’re done painting them, you can return to the garage. Following this order (sandblasting -> paint -> garage) should ensure that all of the parts you worked on will be accurately reflected as being reconditioned to 100% by the time that you are back at the garage. **At this time, many users have reported a bug where front light frames (the plastic/metal housings into which headlights are mounted) get stuck at 83% quality or even drop to that percentage after being painted (even if you paint brand new ones that you bought in the online store).

Once you are done reconditioning the parts, double check your list to ensure that you have everything else you will need, including any lift parts that you intend to install. The 12″ lift, for example, requires a lot of different parts to be installed (significantly more than a 4″ or 8″ lift), so keep that in mind.

If you have gone to the scrapyard two or three times and have not found what you are looking for, the last resort is to buy the parts in the online store. Do what you need to do in order to ensure that you have everything to complete the build.

Reassembly and Finishing Touches

It has been a long journey, but you’ve finally made it to the part that is going to pay off soon…reassembly.

Put the truck back together and ensure that there are no missing parts or parts that are not properly bolted down. Again, pressing Q (default) while looking at your project will show you a list of any parts that are missing or not bolted down all the way.

To add some flare and value to your project, consider adding extras like roof racks, roll cages, and some decals to finish off the look.

Cash In

You’ve made it! Now, it’s time to reap the fruits of your labor and cash in on the profit! Using the steps outlined in this guide and your own creativity you should be able to assemble a truck that has 6 or 7 (out of 8) bars in quality for $65,000 to $100,000 (including the initial cost of the wreck).

You guessed it! Next, once you’ve moved your completed project to the backyard by using the garage computer, go to the auction house during the hours that it is open and select ‘sell.’ Choose truck from the list and put it up for sale with a $100,000 reserve (at higher levels and profits, you will be able to set a minimum reserve of even $300,000 or higher).

Sit back and watch the bidders fight over the custom machine you created. Your completed truck will sell for anywhere from roughly 200% to 350% of what it cost to build. That’s quite an impressive payday.

Falagar

He is the founder and editor of Magic Game World. He loved gaming from the moment he got a PlayStation 1 with Gran Turismo on his 7th birthday.
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