Opinions on specs for 7-13 axle setups - your dream HH truck

425s are so wide they will tend to hydroplane on wet roads or slushy roads

 

Nope you still feel the groves about the same

 

Darkhorse, are you guys located near Davenport Ia. There is a Darkhorse near tbe quad cities

 

Ok thanks, was curious

 

700+ horse. If I have to import a engine from Europe rated upwards of 1200 (Germany makes a good V12 engine for their tanks. Desiel) and at least 2250 torque, 2500 would be better. More. Always more. I might want a 4.25 or smaller rears. I don't know what the industry considers the max in rears but I want that. If they can build a multi core radiator that is 2000 square inches I want that too.

I would run no less than 3 Axles for the drives all of them are connected. One pusher and one tag added to the mix. So that makes 5 axles back there. Maybe the pusher set can be a pair of axles. These tags will have to swivel because ordinary tags would be ripped off the rims under Heavy haul.

I would have the front steers powered for two reasons, the maxiumum go forward for one to pull the HH load, and the other, should the drives fail or snap that front axle will be enough to pull the rig to one side and get replaced with another from the push truck set.

There would be some custom suspension work to alleviate the lean that these trucks will do when working at max load pulling one of the HH's

Regarding the trailers. They would be a bridge type with a set of 3 axles together to make 6 and then the rear axles will be three in a set times two to make a 6 axle set. It would be articulated Call it 12 axles back there. That's enough for most loads in HH. And both sets of 6 themselves will be bridged with the load actually on it. Maybe a low boy type platform slung in the middle. That way you can load most whatever on to it.

Another concept which I have been working on for fun is to go to the Auction with used military equiptment. Purchase a Hemitt. Strip everything out of that thing leaving a bare deck above all 4 axles behind the cab. Place two larger desiels up there on the back and a decent fuel tank. Behind the two engines will drive a generator for either DC or AC power. That goes to the wheels themselves which are driven by planetary supported electric motors. Or perhaps a hydraulic electric driven set. That way you can run the desiels at a constant rpm, generate huge amounts of power and not even God can stop it from moving forward. We are looking at 2000 horse and essentially unlimited torque.

A final concept would be to buy two of the big Oskosh Tank transporters. Throw away the cab and one 5th wheel on one of them, join the frames together and pair the engines so that all the 6 drive axles pull together in one direction. Hook it to the HH trailer and let's go. It will take some fabrication and building but a hybrid monster made of two of them will do very well with such HH loads.

You are already in the money for hauling HH, so spend some of it to build truly heavy vehicles for the job. It's not very fast but it will move it no matter how heavy. That would be a good goal.

Some would call me crazy, but I consider all tractors in commerical trucking with 80K design weight inadequate to HH. You need like 2 pulling with tow bars and then a herd of three or 4 more. Come on give me a break. Let's build something righteous. My way. Only need one or two for a load.

 

The truck you laid out would only weigh about 70,000 pounds and have the turning radius of a battleship.

 

Sure. You take up a whole intersection and half a divided highway with a HH. What's the problem LOL. =)

 

JD's comments were referring to the bobtail.

What is "HEAVYHAUL"? Big truck, big trailer flashing lights going down the highway. Right? That's what everyone sees. When they see that biiiiiiiiiiiig trailer going don the road, they think, "Yeah! That's what I want to do!" Hold on to the steeringwheel and ride down the road.

I show up to a receiver, they come out to meet me in a squad of pickup trucks. All of these guys with their degrees come to confer with the lowly truck driver. Cameras are flashing, all the big wigs are taking pictures of the rig.
Today's discussion is "how are we going to get that big arse load to the back of the plant?" So, we are taking a tour of the facility to determine the best way to get in. I'm being chauffeured around in a new pickup truck, looking at everything. There is a big hump in the road here, guard shack, 14 wide gate, fork in the road, a pole there, a bunch of construction worker POVs. Wow, looks like a moat for a castle out back. There's the crane, in the back lot on the other side of the skinny
S road that goes through the moat.

"We didn't think about this when we built the place, driver."

I understand. We do what we can, right?



It's a good feeling after you get empty, and all the big wigs are happy. Everyone is taking pictures as the crane hoists the load in place and the workers scramble to bolt it to the structure.
It's not that big load on the big highway.its that big load driven with precision through tight quarters that makes that name for you.

 

Love it! But you forgot the part where you were waiting for a guy like me to pull out first. The difference is that the old equipment that is being replaced that came in on a trailer like yours is leaving on 2, 3 or even 4 trailers after being cut and or disassembled into manageable pieces, jacked up placed on skates and slide sideways through an opening we had to make, and then lifted onto trailers for transport. So I pull them through the moat down the windy road, past the pole and the construction workers, through the gate, past the guard shack, over the hump and down the road. All of his with no recognition, fanfare, applause or meeting with engineers. They could care less because my job it to make room for that bright shiny new piece you are transporting. But I must say, long before I arrive the crane guys had to figure all this crap out and deal with the hump and the shack, and the gate, and the windy road and the moat.

It always amazes me that they didn't think about how they were going to replace all that crap when they built it. Power plants are the worst!

And as I pull away with my little convoy a guy like you pulls up and here come all those new pickup trucks full of engineers and plant managers with those cameras excited to see their new equipment. I just roll down the road stopping to get stitched up along the way. LOL