Where to buy glider kits, engine, etc.

lol calm down....i just wanted to see the truck! Looks good! what kind of front axle weights do you get with the set back axle and tanks?

 

I have the 5th only 1 notch from the front (2 inch slide increments) and on a 45K load, I was at about 11,600 on the steers, with full tanks. Steer weight will never be a problem. Nice thing is, with that 45K in the box, I still could easily put on another 2K. I only spec'd 100 gallon tanks on this one. Since I primarily stay in the upper midwest within 600 miles of the house, having 150's on like my last truck was unnecessary. Even 120's were not needed, so I went with the 100's to free up frame rail space and keep the weight down.

 

Cowpie,

Would those rears/18spd combo be ideal for pulling a reefer around the east coast midwest region?? You have sparked my interest in your recent truck purchase. I admit I was not a total believer until you proved me wrong. You have a very beautiful truck.

KH

 

Well, I am pulling gross loads off and on in the Midwest. Some on very hilly two lanes, like hwy 20 in Illinois between Dubuque and Stockton. Those familiar with it know what I am talking about. Quite a few good pulls on that stretch, with 35 mph corners in the bottoms, with steep grades coming out of small towns with 15 mph corners downtown, and the truck works just fine pulling a gross load thru there. It walks the hills on the four lanes just as good as anyone else, and usually better. At most, I may drop a half gear on something like I-80 in western Iowa with a strong crosswind and a heavy load. On a stretch like Hwy 151 in SW Wisconsin, same thing... As good or better than anything I have run before on that stretch. And that type of running will rival most anything out east. Some of the hills out east may be longer, but not steeper in grade. And when you consider that it will do this fine, and still pop a 7.6 mpg calculated average, it must be a decent setup. On the hardest run I have had to date, with a gross load, on two lane, hills, and winds, it did 6.7 mpg, pump to pump. That is the lowest mpg I have gotten on a fill. The best, with a lighter load and on 4 lanes with light winds, I have a few fills that I got mid 8's pump to pump, with the best mpg so far at 8.8

I'll have to give some credit to what I did for the engine by putting on a ported/polished/coated exhaust manifold, a larger turbo, and Walker Megaflows on the stacks. Those really allow that engine to give 100%. So while the 18 and 2.64's are a pretty good combo, the entire package is what is making it all work well and give good mpg numbers. And considering my ride came in at around 17K weight full of fuel, something like that would help anyone pulling a refer.

 

he has a real good looking truck, if he put a white strip going down the side of it, one could almost mistake it for a robert heath truck out of lubbock, tx

 

Congratulations Cowpie...nice truck,well specced and delighted that it is all working out for you. Your specs seem very similar to what Bruce Mallinson of Pittsburgh Power promotes in his writings. Was it from his writings that you got the ideas or from your own research?

 

I have to admit, yes. I got a lot of the ideas for spec'ing this truck from Bruce. I did talk with others, but Bruce was the primary source. Bruce and I emailed back and forth a few times discussing this.

I recently pulled 46K of roll stock paper from Arkansas to Omaha. All that crawling in the daytime traffic on I-540 and Hwy 71 from Ft. Smith to Joplin. Truck did very well and got 7.4 mpg on the fill up just north of Joplin. Temp was around 95F and the EGT's on the engine never got above 900F on any pull and the tranny temp never got above 180F. Differential temp never got above 150F.

 

I have read hundreds of pages of what Bruce has written and I think he gets it fairly right with his various theories. I know there are a lot of people on here who don't agree with what he preaches,but I think he is spot on in what he says. Did you buy any of Bruce's products? That's great MPG you're achieving for a 'new' truck. I'm looking forward to hearing how it improves as you rack up the miles. How does the engine pull with a heavy load? How does the truck handle? Delighted to see you saw your project through...it must put a smile on your face everyday when you climb behind the wheel. Well done!

 

I only got the crankshaft balancer from PP. I used a Bully Dog ported/coated exhaust manifold, a Borg Warner 171702 turbo with a turbo blanket from PTP Turbo Blankets. I used Walker Megaflow mufflers on the stacks.

The truck pulls great. When you can walk past other trucks on hills like on I-540 and Hwy 71 from Ft. Smith to Joplin, and have 46K of product in the box, it must work fine. And at the same time keeping EGT's below 900F, tranny temps 180F or lower (cooler is located mid frame and not up front where air flow would be better), rear temps at 150F on a 95F day and pulling off a 7.4 mpg when I fueled.

The only issue was me. Just getting used to having an 18 spd hooked up to 2.64 rears. Startablility has never been an issue. True, on some tougher starts, I used granny low to start out, whereas before with something like 3.55 rears, I rarely if ever used low. But even then, I have only started out at the bottom a couple of times.

Thanks for your comments on the truck. I think it is really a good ride. I have no regrets that I spec'd it this way. If i was involved in serious heavy haul, I wouldn't have tried this. But for normal 80K or less type of stuff, it works just fine.

 

Did Harrison take your old truck in on trade for the new one? Or did you have to sell it out right?