Diesel Power Wagon spotted!

[steved]

If serious use of the Cummins was intended in the PW, all that heavy Cummins Iron directly over the front sure is NOT a good thing in serious off-road work - too bad the mid engine and total vehicle balance concept has escaped the engineers in some of these special purpose vehicles...

My only comment to this is that I thought this was part of the reason for the "cab forward" design... I seem to remember reading that they moved the drivetrain back a few inches (not significant, but it all helps... ) for better handling and driveability... .



And you are getting a little off track with the whole mog comparison... they are designed primarily for offroading, but are not the most ideal "road" vehicle out there... the power wagon is first and foremost, just a truck with some do-dads to help offroad... but it is still just a truck.



You got to remember that there is always a compromise and that 99% of the people who bought a powerwagon bought one because "it was cool", not because of what it can do.



steved

 

[BHolm]

Um - what mog are you referring to? The early 60's had 6 cylinder gas engines mounted pretty far back. It is basically under your butt. The later ones had a 5 cyl diesel, arround 3. 0l.



I have not wheeled the current mog's, but they are set up for some kind of rear wieght, either from machinery or a bed which would get that weight ratio closer to 50/50. And the new ones cannot touch an older one.

Mog lesson, OT I know.



The 60's Mog was the 404 model, 2. 2L gas six, you sit right next to in the cab, the engine cover comes back as far as you knees. The next generation, 406 and 416 models like mine (a 1971) are fitted with the OM352 5. 7L inline six diesel. The 5 cyl diesel is a indirect injection car engine and was never fitted to a Unimog by the facotry. You might find one or two 404's converted that way but it is not a Unimog engine. The 5. 7L diessel is a large truck piece like a B Cummins. The engine cover extends back to about mid thigh in the cab. The Mog most certainly has a front wieght bias, I know I have one, I just drove it yesterday. The brand new Mog for sale via Freightliner dealers is the municipal version, a tool carrier more than an off road rig. They still make a serious off road version but it is not sold in the US, and it wouldn't matter much anyway with a price tag just over six figures.





I agree completely with the notion that most PW owners bought them for the cool factor rather than the actual usefulness of the options on the truck.

 

[WM-300]

Are the new Power Wagons assembled in Mexico ? or where?



WM-300

 

[JMcraines]

I agree and it doesn't even have to be serious offroad. I got embarassingly stuck in rain-saturated soil right next to my own house only a couple weeks after needing a tow out of beach sand. A '90sToyota with camper shell was running rings around me. Watch out for that extra 1,000 pounds of diesel weight over the front axle. Years ago I had a '37 Power Wagon in the Army, it would do 35MPH flat out on deep sand tank trails in high gear 4X4. Very fun to drive on twisty trails.

 

[Matt400]

The owner of the CTD PW did make it to the mag, I saw the article but feel a modded original CTD would have been more easy to do.

 

[JCleary]

Not to mention easier to re-register in a couple of years. What's he going to do about the smog check?

 

[MMeier]

I was at the local motorcycle shop today, and some dude pulled in in a red diesel that looked just like a power wagon, but it indeed had a Cummins in it.



When I asked him about it, he said he bought it, *and* a wrecked truck with 3 miles on it. Popped the Cummins into the Power Wagon and put on a Road Armor front bumper to house the winch.



He said he was going to be in Diesel Power mag next month. He also claimed 450 horsepower/750 torque running a stock common rail with a Predator module



I hope he has an overdrive unit in it, as his top speed must be less than 85mph w/o it. Still has the stock axles with the lockers.



Anyone seen this thing and know anything about it? The guy wasn't volunteering much

John, was this an older PW or one of the new toys?

 

[Highfinance97]

Since noone else mentioned it yet, he is in this issue entitled "Dodge Power Wagon 5. 9L Cummins Swap

The ultimate 4x4 finally gets the turbodiesel engine it deserves" <BR>

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Michael

 

[kompressor]

Diesel Power Wagon

Check out the article in Diesel Power mag for October nice truck.

 

[MA2LA]

The 10. 5 in the PW actualy has the 1. 5 axle shafts in it so its not realy bad but still theres a good chance it could snap

 

[brods]

While the weight of the CTD could help in climbing up hills it would hurt in most other kinds of wheeling. Forget about the rear axle, all that extra front end weight on a locked front axle After seeing the picture of the CTD with the front tires on asphalt and the rears on grass while trying to pull out a dump truck, I did some quick math. Using the same assumptions and with the PW’s 4. 56 gears we are talking about torque up to 30,000 lb-ft or more on the front axle shafts and ujoints! Axle bind from the locker would make matters even worse! Forget about it if you hop the truck in the rocks!



According to AAM the front axle is rated for 6300 Nm input torque. Converting to lb-ft using 0. 737561 lb-ft per Nm gives an input rating of 4,647 lb-ft for the front axle. The rear axle is rated for 8,334 lb-ft. (11,300 Nm) input torque according to the AAM site. It seems the front axle would be the weak link during hard wheeling. http://www.aam.com/technology/tech_prod_dl_frontaxle.html



I am also curious how the turbo spool up with the auto would be for low speed rock work. You know, where a lot of power is needed for just a instant to get a tire up over a rock. Another potential issue would be noise. It is nice to wheel where the spotter can give directions in a more or less normal voice. Yelling all day to be heard over a clattering diesel doesn't sound like a really good time.



A CTD in a PW sounds like a cool idea, but one has to question if it would add any real wheeling value or if it would be just another poser option.