Flow Below Added

Been a rough year for sure. Back in May my turbo popped when I was empty and on my way home one day. About 30 miles from the house. The engine actually ran away and I panicked. I thought it melted down but it didn't. I got it back to running and working again. Then a few months later this seizure happened. I feel like the 2 are connected and could kick myself in the rear for not rolling in new bearings after replacing the turbo. Live and learn right? Sometimes the hard way. I'm down but I'm not broke and definitely not out. Still booking my own freight not answering to any dispatcher and the captain of my ship, just with a pay cut. I'm leased to a solid company and fortunate there. I'll get back into my own rig.

This was my truck westbound at the 137 mm on Monteagle back in May. You can still see all the 8 gallons of black engine oil on that guard rail and on the shoulder of the highway to this day lol. When I got it home and drained it there was only 2 gallons left in it. Put a new turbo on and it ran again for a few thousand miles more. #### Detroits are tough.

 

There’s no way I’d hang a guard off the front of a modern, aero tractor. Part of the aerodynamics is the cushion of air in the front of the truck. Putting a guard on there disturbs that cushion and will wreck the fuel mileage. Read up on aerodynamics or try and catch an aero engineer for further explanation.

 

Oh man. That sucks. I don’t like seeing it like that. Glad a truck was available to keep you moving.

 

@rollin coal Is there 3 different strength settings on the jake? Maybe it’s in the strongest position which is way too much? Also it seems these autos…(with Jake in off setting) just letting your foot off the throttle and it downshifting seems to be enough to scrub some speed. While in a manual you’d just leave it in gear and use the jake a touch.

Sent you a PM but yes I know that look of oil very well. Thru a rod out the side of the block and dumped a ton of oil. The truck still sits with weeds growing up 10 yrs later. lol Had to move on even tho I’d invested a ton into that old first truck of mine.

 

A former employer put them on 2 Volvos and those trucks lost ~.5mpg, running the exact trips and weights, everyday. They’re on a dedicated that travel through a heavily populated deer area, 4X a day. When the fleet mgr blamed the mileage on the added weight, I kept my mouth shut, as no driver could ever know something he didn’t. A few hundred pounds wouldn’t hurt mileage like that. But, horrible aero will.

Ray Evernham was on a show, some years ago, where explained all the important aero tricks/qualities one needs to look at. Not disturbing that cushion of air in front of the vehicle was #1. Also, he debunked the claim a clean vehicle gets better fuel mileage than a dirty one. Again, it came back to there being a cushion of air running along the vehicle’s surface. Don’t disturb it.

Keep plugging away. I admire your efforts toward being efficient.

 

Yes. They were the guards that mount where the tow hooks slip into the sockets.

Agreed. In windy conditions, the mileage loss has to be exponentially worse.

Those trucks ran ~240mi, on 2-lane roads, 2X per day. It’s possible, the mileage loss for interstate travel could be even worse, since it’s higher speeds and wide-open terrain. Gotta’ be careful with this one.