Axle Gauges

Axle temp gauges for both drive axles (2 different gauges)
Transmission temp gauge
Engine Oil pressure gauge
Engine Oil temp gauge
Water temp gauge
PYROMETER.

And there’s a bunch of various air pressure gauges for various air tanks and braking pressure gauges, one even for the hand brake.

That’s usually an owner operator spec truck. You can monitor the gauges and catch something going wrong BEFORE it grenades. If you’re loaded heavy and pulling hills, those axle temp gauges will let you know when you need to back it down and avoid cooking your rear ends. This is especially the case if you have big HP.

“How much HP is big HP, Six?”

Since the average company driver will never see more than say, 455HP...I’d say 550HP and above. The bigger the engine, the more gentle you want to be on the drivetrain.

 

Typical air suspension gauge , reads psi in air bags....



Once you’ve loaded it a bunch you can guess pretty close to the weight by the psi......

 

I think most Freightliner fleets are running the 505 HP Detroit or at least the last two outfits I was at ran that engine, and they're not neutered .... A good engine as far as company fleet truck engines go.

 

Absolutely. The average for the big box carriers is around 430-455HP. I always recommend that if someone is going to buy their own truck to buy a truck with a minimum of 500 and a 13 speed. There’s a huge difference in performance and economy between a 430 Detroit and a 505.
But big HP, you want the full gauge package of an owner op spec truck. The last thing you want to do is be going up some big pull in the summer, engine working like a champ, but you cook your drive axles or transmission at the top of the pull. If the gauges show you’re heating up, you can back out of it BEFORE something bad happens.

 

Like this?

 

No like this:

 

It's the oil in the axles themselves.

The brakes thermal situation is a separate issue. I suppose the brakes will simply crumble before they generate enough heat to heat up that mass of metal from the drum, to the nuts and axle end and eventually all the way into the gearbox in the middle where there are some truly important parts.

When the oil in axles and transmission etc are at temperature after moving say 30 miles after starting the new workday, the tractor literally feels like a 18 year old again ready to run without the stiff arthritic movements that cold oil has not yet warmed up and circulated through. Once the temp is reached though, she'll get frisky.

You then have to consider the weight on those rears and how you are driving her. If you abuse the weight and or overdrive that unnecessarily rough You are going to find there is a problem with those temps. The one other thing which I have had happen before but never visually confirmed is the total loss of axle oil. When the rears break bad enough and your tractor dumps the thick axle oil onto the pavement in what I call a fatal bleed, that oil is hot. The temp gauge in the cab for that axle should fall to the bottom because there isnt any oil left to temp. That would be a very useful warning if something did happen. (And sometimes it does...)

I once had the bearings fail, crumble right out of inside the left front drive axle tires and made a turn onto a larger road with a shoulder the entire dual wheel, tires and the several foot two inch thick section of axle came running out of the axle housing. And there I am sitting on the shoulder with a oversized truck that cannot move until the tow truck gets there. I had been noticing the axle temperature rising on that one for the first three milk farms I picked up and failed to make the connection when at the 4th and final farm I did a pretrip and found bearing rollers on the ground around the left front drives with ring and racer parts as well, shredded metal. I did not have the experience in those years to diagnose or imagine the possibilities when your axle temp starts to rise excessively in normal service and pull 200 some odd RPM to maintain normal behavior on the speed etc. Little things like that tell you that the truck is hurting and is crying out in pain for someone to understand whats the matta.

If you have the knowledge and understanding to find what is the matta with some tractor that is sick... you are well on your way to being a great driver.

Unfortunately in today's push button computer stuff inside that truck... no knowledge needed and if something did happen it would be too late with a code thrown by then something usually happens.

 

Last company I was with had the airbag pressure gauges for the drive axles, now I just have the temp gauges. I miss my pressure gauges more than I thought I would.