New International A26 12.4L Engine

Mono-leaf or taper-leaf front springs? Hendrickson, Meritor or Dana-Spicer front axle? Would like to have one that rides decent too.

 

I have Hendrickson 13,200lb axle, mono leaf. I don’t think it’s rough. Meritor is a good one too. The Dana steer axle should only be used if you’re at axle capacity over 90% of the time. If your axle is not at capacity the Dana will chew up tires. If your axle is at capacity that often, it will perform better than other brands.

 

Going to test drive a new LT with an A26 and an Endurant 12 speed auto tomorrow. It's already sold but they are going to let me drive it a few miles to see what it's like, since I've never driven one. Salesman said they have a few pre-orders that they may be able to change the specs on if I want to buy. If they aren't available they are looking at April of next year for delivery now. Buying a truck has gotten crazy these days.

 

Did the test drive on the new International with A26 yesterday morning. Was actually a new 2020 that had been built in May of 2019 but had been sitting on the lot and was just sold, had 2200ish miles on it. It had the 475 HP/1700 TQ A26, Endurant 12 automatic shift manual, 2.64 rear end ratio 13,200# Hendrickson Steertek NXT front axle with mono-leaf suspension, 40,000# Meritor MT-40-14X-3CFR, single reduction rear axles and International 40,000# rear air suspension. Bendix front disk brakes and rear drum brakes. My first impressions were good, a little more engine vibration and sound in the cab than I expected, even with the insulation package. More than the Detroit I drive now, but not bad. The Endurant transmission shifted really smooth, with no jerks or jumps, and was much smoother than the Detroit DT-12 I'm driving in my company truck now. The ride was much smoother than the 2021 Freightliner Cascadia I am driving now. Granted, it was only a bobtail drive a few miles on the interstate and returned on city streets, but I was impressed with how much more comfortable the ride was than the Freightliner. There are things I like better about the Freightliner and things I liked better about the International, but the International was more comfortable to drive. It would be nice to be able to drive one for a week or two pulling loads but that's not really an option. It was enough to verify most of the things I have researched and info I have received from other drivers. Next step will be getting a day off during the week to call, or preferably sit down with the salesman and sales manager, to spec. out and order a truck. My spec's will be similar to these, only with the multi-torque 410 HP / 1650 TQ A26 and 2.28 rear gear ratio. I am setting the truck up for mileage and running at 55 (California) to 65 MPH range. I appreciate the input I've received here and especially from Misesian. Thank you very much.

One more question. What are your experiences with or thoughts on the fabricated front axle? I assume it is lighter than the cast axle and may be part of the reason the ride is better with less unsprung weight. Thanks

 

If you are specing a brand new truck yourself ,i would either go all disk (my preference) or all drum.
I wouldn't mix.

 

Yes, planning on going all disk brakes. The Freightliner I have now has disk all the way around and I like them better than the one I had before with drum brakes.

 

I’m not sure if the differences on the steer axle models, fabricated or cast. My understanding is that the fabricated models are designed as one unit. The cast models are typically sold to much heavier applications. If you’re getting a fast ratio, get the downsped calibration A26, they only have one, it’s the 400hp 1550/1750 at 975rpm.

 

I post a lot in the 9+ mpg club on Facebook. If anyone is interested I can copy the updates here as well. I usually make one every 7-10 days.


International LT A26, Air Dog, Fleet Air Filter
This one was 2907 miles, 9.2 mpg, 12.6% DH
I last filled in Breezewood, PA 68k gross continuing my trip, 11 stops, Bedford, PA - Cincinnati, OH - Lebanon, KY - London, KY - Frankfort, KY - Shepherdsville, KY - Louisville, KY - Louisville, KY - Ellettsville, IN - Evansville, IN - final Indianapolis, IN.
DH to Oaktown, IN load 79,700, they had a scale, to Cincinnati, OH.
DH back to Oaktown load 79,800 to Cincinnati, OH.
Begin picks for weekend load Cincinnati, OH - St Henry, OH - Versailles, OH - Gas City, IN. Only had 8k pounds of product, to Fort Wayne, IN.
Reload Fort Wayne to Carlisle, PA to fuel 70k gross.
That first load out of Oaktown, I tried to be creative and avoid the Indianapolis disaster construction, big mistake. I attempted to go across IN58 to 69 to IN46. IN46 is a lot more hilly than I thought it would be. I was going up the hills at 15-25 miles an hour. The second time I just went to Cincy via Indianapolis. It was definitely not worth it to go a different way.

 

So you have your truck specked just right and go to some pretty heroic measures to get that 9+ MPG range.
After whatever investments this behavior costs you, how much extra cash can you put in your pocket on a good week?

 

i don’t want to get into a debate about new vs old. You’ll never convince anyone that these new trucks are cost effective. In 462k miles, I’ve spent very little on unplanned maintenance and get excellent fuel economy. This truck saves me a lot more money than my last one and spends more days earning revenue.
The only changes I’ve made have been adding the Air Dog and the Fleet Air Filter.