Cummins not highly thought of in OTR trucks

[jtaylor]

I drove an 04 ISX last year and was definitely unimpressed. No torque off idle, I could pop the clutch and count to three before it started to pull. Big disadvantage when you're trying to get 160,000 lbs. started up a grade, or on a soft job site. Nothing like a Cat. Once I got up in the top two gears on the highway, it would run pretty good.

First injector went at 3,000 miles, next one at 16,000. Third one went shortly after, then they all got replaced. No problems since. Nothing but first rate service from Bridgeway Cummins in Detroit.

And they do run HOT. And 3. 8 MPG on a really good day.

On the good side, they are super quiet. At idle you can hear the gears in the trans over the noise of the engine.

 

[kcv67]

The new Sure Wish I Finshed Training trucks around here are the new Volvos with the projection lights. I am here in western Mt and those SWIFT trucks are all over here.

 

[A Johnson]

I have a theory that they all make good engines. If they didn't, there wouldn't be a need for salesmen. Same goes for

Ford,Dodge, and Chevy. Every engine manufacturer has a learning curve.



I think its funny how a owner (you pick the brand) will think he bought a great engine up until it has a $5k repair at 500,000 miles and then its the biggest piece of junk ever made. (And Billybobjoes engine hasn't had anything done at 1 million miles therefore I deserve warranty. ) Never mind that up to that point it only needed fuel and oil. He forgets that he was overhauling his '73 Pete every 250k or sooner.





A Johnson

 

[bmoeller]

Originally posted by E7mack96

Id have to disagree,



My mack is a 460 XT - 1760 ft. lbs. tQ and 487 hp. It is a blast to drive with a 13 speed.

The 350 is fine most of the time. Pulling a 50' pot is a different story. On the flat and/or no wind, it pulls it fine. Sure it'll pull all day at 1400 RPMs if need to on the hills, but you sure better not be in any hurry to get where you are going.



We demoed a '99 CH with a 355/380 Maxicruise, with a Eaton 9spd. What a guttless wonder. Our '95 pulls better. The '99 only had 300k on it too. I think it was most likely the programming more than anything. Throttle response (also plenty of dead pedal) was horrible. Empty, you could feel the extra 30 horse kick in, but loaded, it wouldn't try to come on 'til it was too late to do any good. Didn't matter if I used cruise or not. No difference at all.



We had a 400hp 855 BCIII backed by a Eaton 13 in our old KW cab-over. That pulled great. Sure miss the power.





Boss is stuck on the Macks, and still likes the KWs. We were looking for a 3rd truck for a while, and I located a Pete 379 that had a 500hp Cat, but he wasn't interested. That'd be a great match for the pot.



More power would be great. So would having some leg room. I have the seat against the wall, not enough. I've already broken 2 turn signal switches from my knee hitting it going for the clutch. That's what happens when you have to wear jeans with a 40" inseam.

 

[John - K5AWO]

Originally posted by Andy Perreault

Swift is the largest trucking company in the country. I saw on the local news that they placed a huge order with Kenworth trucks (built here in Renton, WA), and it was one of the biggest orders Kenworth has ever gotten. Andy

Andy, looks like some folks are going to be lining up for jobs there... .

--------------------------------

Kenworth production lines rev up, company to hire 250

Kenworth Truck Co. is looking to hire 250 workers this summer at the company's Renton manufacturing plant, as demand continues to rise for big trucks.



The company said it needs experienced assemblers, painters, forklift drivers, maintenance mechanics and electricians. The pay ranges between $11 and $24 a hour.



Kenworth Truck Co. , a division of Bellevue truck maker Paccar Inc. , is a leading manufacturer of heavy- and medium-duty trucks. Paccar said industrywide sales in North America during 2004 could outpace 2003 by 20 percent to 30 percent. In last April, Paccar said that Phoenix-based Swift Transportation Co. had recently ordered 3,000 Kenworth trucks for its fleet. The European market for large trucks is expected to be "slightly better" than last year, Paccar said.



Paccar chairman and CEO Mark Pigott told industry analysts in late April that to meet the growing worldwide demand for trucks, Paccar's build rate rose 7 percent during the first quarter of 2004. Pigott expected it to increase again in the second quarter. The growth was attributed to an improved economy and increases in orders from companies upgrading their fleets.



Paccar reported record revenue and net income for the first quarter of 2004. Paccar, known for truck brands Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF, earned $182. 2 million on revenue of $2. 5 billion for the first quarter of 2004, compared to earnings of $110. 8 million and revenue of $1. 92 billion in the first quarter a year ago.



© 2004 American City Business Journals Inc.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Originally posted by Andy Perreault

but you can nowadays you can only get the Cummins and Mercedes engines in Freightliners.

Dunno about that, maybe it depends on the model. Large LTL company I work for just got a new one at our "outpost" for one of our linehaulers that I am pretty sure is a Cat. I don't know what for engine model it is. It would not be a big one, since these are single axle day cabs set up for pups.

 

[Will24]

This is from the century class brochure...

#ad

 

[Andy Perreault]

Originally posted by OFitzgerald

I think your looking at it wrong for the reason Swift bought Detroits.....



All the wrenches(mechanics) they have know how to work on detroits..... if it breaks down more or not the downtime/lost labor/worker retraining would cost far more than a few rebuilds early because something pukes.....

Dl5treez, Will24, & QTRHRS, I was just relaying what the Swift driver told me.

Casey, I like the "Sure Wish I Finished Training" remark. LOL, the driver I mentioned is a trainer. He comes up twice a week from Oakland. You should see some of the trainees try to back up in our tight yard.

Andy

 

[fbaurley]

Im surprised Swift bought Kenworths with Detroits, thats kinda an odd combo. Diamler chrysler owns Mercedes, Freightliner , and Detroit deisel. Cummins used to do tons of business with Freightliner, but after DC formed the conglomerate the didnt want to give business to a competitor like Cummins, because they were making there own engines( detroits) From what I understand to get a Cat engine in a freightliner is another 4K. There are a lot of frieghtiners with detroits on the road for fleet trucks. This is the lowest priced rig you can get. I belive Cummins has an agreement with Internatonal, Volvo, and Paccar for engines, wher as Cat is just a neutral player and sells to everybody. This probabaly has something to do with Freightliner dropping them.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Andy, I could be wrong, it may be a Mercedes engine in that new truck. By the way, Cat or Mercedes, it was on line maybe two days and came down with a major water leak. Spent the better part of a week at Freightliner. "You'll" have this I guess.

 

[Will24]

Aren't the mercedes engine's sold as detroit 4000s and 900s?





-Will

 

[MMiller]

Hmmm, dad's t600 with 12. 7 detroit is over 500,000 miles. Had it dynoed in Des Moines. It's sheet was posted for a long time on their bullitin board as highest hp 12. 7. It was taken down by a fresh overhauled 12. 7. My buddy works there. He works on my dads truck when its in there. No its not in there very much. Valve adjust, clutch adjust, air compressor. No it doesn't leak oil, no it doesn't burn oil. The only trucks that pass it going to the elevator are BIG CATS. Dad then passes them up when they are fueling up. Gets 8-9 mpg 80,000 lbs down to the elevator. Doesn't drive over 72mph or economy goes down. Kinda funny the cat guys ALWAYS shut their trucks off when waiting in line, trying to get 5 mpg. It ran 1900 rpm WOT when we got it, when you shifted the next gear was 13-1400 rpms. It is a stump puller. And will run down the interstate with the best of them. I won't dog detroits, the one I see everytime I see dad runs awesome.



I work on cats, I have always liked cats, but man are they pricey. Yes they run good, yes they have lots o torque. Most engines are good engines with MAINTENCE, and TLC. ALL engines can be junk with a bad driver/owner/mechanic. I wanted my dad to get a cat, and after driving his, I wouldn't be scared of one. Drove an old 855 for a while. It was weak, but terribly overgeared, with high profile tires, and burned oil. Somebody had ruined it before me.



I have been around a large variety of diesels. My dad has farmed with tractors powered by Perkins, Case, Allis Chalmers, John Deere, and Caterpilliar. The perkins were very reliable, gutsy, and economical, the allis liked high rpms- no low end grunt, and the case had no torque curve. John Deeres are pretty good, but the Cat powered Challengers are absolute torque monsters. See I don't love one kind of engines. Dodges have cummins, tractors have cats, and our semi has a detroit.



Michael

 

[DGFoster]

What is the biggest over the road Cummins available now?

 

[Blakers]

Can you still buy a 2-cycle jimmy or Detroit in a truck these days?



I'm sure they still make them for stationary applications, if not other applications.



Thanks.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Originally posted by Dl5treez

QRTRHRS,



Easy way to tell--if it's yellow, it's a CAT. A Detroit Series 60 is seafoamish green, and the Mercedes engine is a kinda light blue/green color with a big Mercedes-Benz plaque on the LH side of it.

I finally got a look at it yesterday, it's one of those Columbia's and it is CAT yellow. We also just got one in with the Mercedes engine.



Re: CAT fuel mileage. Back in the seventies during the fuel shortage days, I remember seeing this truck pulling a van trailer passing me. The driver had painted "Buy a V8 CAT, get 2. 5 mpg", ouch!

 

[Tcolesanti]

I've driven a lot of different makes of trucks with a lot of different engine/transmission combos, call me crazy but I just loved the 6V92TA Detroit with a 13spd roadranger. I could run away from most of the cummins powered trucks we had. Note: most of the cummins we had were 300's or 350 big cams. Nevertheless we now have an '01 Sterling with a 465 Cat and 13spd. That Sterling pulls so hard on the low end its ridiculous. You can almost keep up with traffic going light to light pullin a 230LC John Deere excavator. I will always have a soft spot for the old 2-stroke Detroits though.

 

[JPS]

mercedes engine

Would be curious how you get along with the Mercedes engine. Friend has 3 of them and one has a vibration,no one seems to know what it is! These have the auto trans. Trans. made in Canada, can't think of the name right. would appreciate keeping me inform. Also are there any forums where we might learn about the "big rigs"? Thanks, jp

 

[dseabaugh]

I've driven and maintained Cummins big truck motors with 500,000 +++ miles that have not been touched. No bearings or anything. and would only use a gallon of oil in 7,000 ,miles. 855 Cummins in frames $800. 00 parts out of frame overhauls $7500. 00 or exchange rebuilds. . I just got a quote from Fabick Cat on one of my Cats/ $23,000. I like my Cummins. You couldn't give me a detroit. I wouldn't want to spend all day cleaning up the greasy oily mess it made hauling to the scrap yard.

 

[dseabaugh]

MMillier, I have to agree with you on the cat's liking the fuel. Every Cat I've own drank it like a pipeline, but if it would turn over one revolution when it was cold it would start and lots of torque. The detroits don't use much fuel, they run on crankcase oil

 

[Will24]

Blakers, nope, the two cycles I do believe are done. There is a new series of 4 stroke stationary industrial engines out from detroit.





-Will