Blowing up your boss mans motor

I will never forget one trip when another hand blew up his motor. It was either in 79 or early 80, I was driving a conventional KW that had a 400 Cummings, 13 over, with 4:11 rear-ends. I can't recall the name of the old truck-stop coming from west to east that was on the Southside of I-10 going though El Paso. It was not the 1st one, but the 2nd one. And most times that is where I stopped, & had done so that day. It was little after dinner when I left there & as I passed by the Petro east of El Paso two conventional Petes were pulling out on to the road. They to were pulling refrigerated trailers as I was & I called out to them, "Come on, lets go East."

Anyway they answered me & we ran across there together, at least for a ways, until we were going up that long hill before you get to Sierra Blanca. I was just easing along, they told me they had 290 Cummings, so I just stayed fast enough to stay out of their way. I was enjoying most of our conversations except for one of them. He kept calling to the other one to, "come on, lets go."

I finally thought about that & figured out that one trying to get the other one to go faster must have been working on his fuel pump, & had it jacked up somewhat. Anyway we got a pretty good ways ahead of him, them going up the hill to Sierra Blanca he challenge me, pulling out in the left lane trying to pass me. I just eased down a bit on my throttle & started pulling on ahead. I glanced in my rear-view mirror & something caught my eyes but I wasn't sure what it was, & at the same time it looked like he put on his brakes. The problem was he was pushing that 290 to hard & it had come to pieces, water & oil was blowing out of the radiator.

I let off & we both pulled over on the shoulder & when the other driver got there I had a good laugh. The other driver said, "Now I see why you've been calling for me to come on, you turned that fuel pump up, but tell me, What are you going to tell the boss?"

He replied, "I guess I will be looking for another job. That engine is now locked up tight, I had to push the clutch in so I could get it off the big road."

I turned a few engines up, but I never tried to pull with those who had larger engines, for I did not want to blow up my motor & be stranded on the side of the road nor did I want to call my boss saying the motor is now blown up. I suppose a few of you have seen this happen.

That must be one of the most dreaded phone calls for a truck driver, to turn up his boss's motor, them he has to call & tell him he just blew it up.