BIG trucks, LITTLE car!

[blkfordsedan]

^ I am happy to see they brought Diesel back into the name. Brings me back to the two strokes. We have two 71 series DD's one is a 2-71 in our Allis Chalmers crawler, the other a 6-71 in our '53 GMC PD-4103 highway bus.

The most beautiful sound ever is a screaming 6-71. drool My dad was a huge DD fan and I grew up with them. We had several 6-71's and 4-71's transplanted into old Ford tractors, skidsteers, heavy equipment, etc.. They were cheap, simple, would run forever and use very little fuel....and leak oil, LOL. We also had a 4-53 transplant in a '72 Ford F350. I also have a '79 F250 with an OM352 Mercedes swap....I believe Freightliner used the same motor in some straight trucks?

[TheresGabe]

That is some awesome old DD talk right there... I was actually in Detroit at the Detroit Diesel plant a few weeks back. That place is INSANE! It's HUGE, and some of the most amazing robotic processes I've ever seen. (Plus every other car in the parking lot is a Mercedes!)

[2xclutchin]

The most beautiful sound ever is a screaming 6-71. drool My dad was a huge DD fan and I grew up with them. We had several 6-71's and 4-71's transplanted into old Ford tractors, skidsteers, heavy equipment, etc.. They were cheap, simple, would run forever and use very little fuel....and leak oil, LOL. We also had a 4-53 transplant in a '72 Ford F350. I also have a '79 F250 with an OM352 Mercedes swap....I believe Freightliner used the same motor in some straight trucks?

You know, alot of people believe if they didn't leak oil they were broken, Lol. The 2-71 I mentioned is freshly rebuilt so that is actually oil leak free. The 6-71 on the other hand is definetly DD's attempt at a rust preventitive for the block. :p As long as maintenance was done well, they actually stay pretty leak free. (Not trying to say you didn't maintain them of course, as alot of them just did, lol.)

On the fuel note, idk what the 6-71 is but the 2-71 will only burn 1.54 gal per hour at full governed speed. 1800RPM. I would assume if one triples the 2-71 number, it would be close to the 6, lol. I'd love to swap a 4-53 into my pickup, but that will probably never happen. I have though thought of swapping a 2-71 into the backseat of a festy, mwahahahahaha.

[neanderpaul]

To blow your mind... On controlled tests, the new DD-15 (Detroit Diesel 15l) EPA-13 with the "Evolution" Package has recorded 14 MPG, while towing! For those of you that know big trucks, you know that is INSANE. I'm glad to work for Daimler, as Freightliner is MILES ahead of any other big truck company when it comes to innovation.

Mind is BLOWN! That is incredible! I saw a boat tail (Kammback?) on the back of a big trailer today. It was a light frame with a skin. It must have been easily removable to get the doors open. It was like this iirc.

[Ape]

Yeah those boat tails, side skirts and Moon style wheels covers are all attempts at more fuel economy. Pretty cool things happening in the trucking industry. You see a lot of owner operators trying out their little tricks to get that extra .5 mpg!

But speaking of International getting crap from the Gov. Are the OVR trucks running Maxxforce engines? I know the military MaxxPro switched from International engines to Maxxforce because of them not being complient.

[TheresGabe]

Owner operators are the first people to remove their spare tire to save weight, and other fun things... Ugh. International is having to figure out a lot of new things. They have just come out and said they will have a DEF system in the next year. Until then, they are going to be using Cummins engines to be compliant...

[2xclutchin]

My pa had a N14 Cummins in his 99' International with a Eaton 18 speed, he was seeing something like 7mpg, this was after it being turned up to 525hp on the engine computer, then purchasing a Pittsburg Power system, giving him up to 650 or so hp (At the turn of a knob, he was proud of that thing, hills were no longer an object.). I can't remember the number after switching to X ones (Super Single type tire) but it was a considerable gain. He also saw quite a gain from an electric fuel pump system that helped the mechanical fuel pump called a Fass or fast filter system. Alot of money was spent to keep his HP and up the economy, then he got into heavy hauling and it wasn't as much of an issue. Then you have so many axels that no matter what you do your economy will suffer.

One big thing that helped was the APU he got. The coolest thing was the truck actually originally ran the AlCan highway, so it has a long frame factory. Sorry for my novel. Lol

[DriverOne]

This is my kind of conversation! Mind you, I worked for Swift OTR, and drove a Columbia. Then, I swore Swift stood for Slow, White, Incapacitated Freightliner Truck. To be entirely honest, the truck I enjoyed the most was an '08 Volvo sleeper, but I've never had the opportunity to drive a semi as they were meant to be driven. My current employer US Xpress also has choked out trucks. It's a paycheck.

I haven't heard the name Sapp Bros in years! It's a tug at the ol' wandering spirit. Hey, take a pic for me, would you? I'd love to show my wife.

[2xclutchin]

BTW I forgot to add, our bus I spoke of with the 6-71 DD gets 13MPG. Yes 13, and it celebrated it's 60th birthday this June! So I guess maybe you were right about DD. LOL

[Tommychu]

BTW I forgot to add, our bus I spoke of with the 6-71 DD gets 13MPG. Yes 13, and it celebrated it's 60th birthday this June! So I guess maybe you were right about DD. LOL

Yeah, but how many gallons of oil did it dump per mile? Gotta factor that in with the Green Leakers.


Edit: didn't see that post on the second page.

[2xclutchin]

Yeah, but how many gallons of oil did it dump per mile? Gotta factor that in with the Green Leakers.


Edit: didn't see that post on the second page about it not leaking. Dang.

No, that one leaks, the 2-71 in our crawler doesn't leak a drop. It doesn't use to terribly much though, but I havn't done a actual check, jsut fill it when it's low.

[Tommychu]

Also, as far as the Freightshaker talk goes, I used to love Freightliners but the last fleet I took care of before I quit the tire game ran nothing but Columbias and Cascadias. Nothing inherently wrong with the trucks themselves but the company was absolutely painful to work with and they perpetuate every bad trucker stereotype in the book. They had a habit of running my colleagues out of their yard with baseball bats. Between that and the horrible memories of spending hours beating Dayton wheels off of Coca-Cola's FLD120s (one of them took me until 4 a.m.) every time I see a 'Shaker I throw up a little...

[DriverOne]

[TheresGabe]

This is my kind of conversation! Mind you, I worked for Swift OTR, and drove a Columbia. Then, I swore Swift stood for Slow, White, Incapacitated Freightliner Truck. To be entirely honest, the truck I enjoyed the most was an '08 Volvo sleeper, but I've never had the opportunity to drive a semi as they were meant to be driven. My current employer US Xpress also has choked out trucks. It's a paycheck.

I haven't heard the name Sapp Bros in years! It's a tug at the ol' wandering spirit. Hey, take a pic for me, would you? I'd love to show my wife.

Too funny... I actually have hung out with the owner of Swifts family in Phoenix. Good times. You want a pic of Sapp Bros? ha! you go it!

[TheresGabe]

Too much fun to snap a pic of the Festy between rigs... Looking good next to an ugly blue Century today!