Cat 475 vs 550 vs 625

A BXS or earlier you can get to run with less headache than I’ve seen guys go through with some single conversions. I’ve got a BXS that runs really good with no more than a set of injectors and a good Cat file.

 

I'm just simply saying working around those turbos for thermostats or anything just looks like a pain. I know they'll run good without much extra work into them they just look like they'd be in the way to me. I like my 6TS E model really, the good 601hp 2050tq file with a good Borg turbo and that thing will move right along at 78mph and do anywhere from 5.75 to 6.5 mpg doing it depending on wind. Impressive for a 90s W9 in my opinion.

 

Ive got a couple of W900B’s, an ‘89 and a ‘91 with 60” flat tops. I get the same mileage out of them as I get out of the electronic engine L’s with 72” aerocabs on them. They’re train tractors, doesn’t seem to matter what they’re in you’re going to put some fuel through them.

 

How horrible is the mileage when you're pulling 2 truckloads of freight at once? Been my experience the mileage is about the same whether you're 60k pounds or 110k.

 

Calculated on imperial gallons they’re all run between 5.2 and 5.7 avg. Pump to pump that could be 3.5-4.0 depending on terrain and how much wind is on them. Every one of those engines was 4.0-4.2 avg the way Cat gave them to me though. They all needed some sorting out.

 

They're not bad once you get used to working around them... And there's not really much other than the thermostats that you need to get into anyway (unless something happens to the precooler, which is rare). There's a few sensors on that side of the engine, but they're all right out in the open.
The stat housing is a bit of a challenge to get in and out the first couple times, but once you have done it and know how it needs to be twisted and turned to come out easily, and as long as you don't forget the coolant temp sensor on the bottom of the housing going in or out, it's not a big deal.
I've done lots of stats on both single and twin setups, there's very little difference.
As for mileage, the single can definitely get decent mileage, but the twins can be downright impressive in the right hands. Like I say, I've seen 7-800hp twins getting high teens loaded. It sounds crazy, but it works well, especially in trucks that don't spend their whole lives in top gear, the twins make power way quicker and lower rpm than the singles, which means they can get thru the gears faster (if the driver wants to), and because they're not holding each gear for as long, they're not burning as much fuel doing it.
Having driven both in stock (and not stock) tunes, I'd take a twin over a single almost any time (at least when it comes to the c15's, anyway... I still love my old 3406's too, they're just not overly competitive when it comes to matching the power and pulling of the newer engines when you haul the weight I do).

And just as an example, back when I first started with my current boss (2009), I was still just licensed to run body job, so I wasn't (supposed to be) pulling trailers yet. Boss asked me to take our big 2007 Pete quad hauler over to the glass shop to get windshields done for the inspection. On the way there, since it was my first time driving that particular truck, and being as by then I knew it had a factory 625 for the powerplant, I decided to give it a quick little shot of fuel to see how it actually performed (empty tandem gravel truck, no trailer), so from 65km/h (40mph), I rolled on the throttle. 800rpm, 18th gear. From 800rpm, that truck went from 40 to 55mph in the time it took me to put my foot down, never dropping a single gear. Now I was running a little V6 Fiero at the time, 2.8/auto, factory 140hp and about 2900lbs. It wasn't a speed demon supercar, but it was respectably quick for being an 80's compact in the auto. Has I done the same thing at the same speed with the car, it would have dropped right to first gear, squatted the back end, and buggered off... And still not caught that 20,000lb+ tandem. Watching the speedo climb when I rolled on the pedal, my little car could not have kept up with it, and I had no problem keeping up with my buddy's 350 Chevy half ton, so it definitely wasn't a slouch when it came to pickup, especially with a rolling start, but that big twin turbo "King of the Hill" cat would have easily left it behind.
I've driven my share of single turbo trucks over the years, but even in a cat, I've never had anything that could pull like that without dropping out of top gear, lol

 

High teens mileage loaded? What do you do to them to get that out of them?

 

And my favorite ….

 

LMFAO, I love it, that's awesome

 

I honestly don't know. I know they're tuned, I know it's big power, and I know that they will roll a little coal when you get on it at lower rpm's, but I unfortunately have no details about the trucks. They might honestly be higher than 800 for all I know for sure, but I do know that he has to use the inter-axle at almost all times (even loaded), or else it just chews thru tires like crazy. I have the same problem with my cat's too, but mainly only when empty or pulling low speed hills on less than clean dry pavement, that truck will burn all 8 tires off fully loaded if he wants to. He does (or did, I haven't heard anything about him in quite a few years) heavy equipment hauling, big tri-axle equipment trailers with jeeps and boosters. And enough axles and pivot points to get a driver in real trouble, lmao. He probably didn't need that much power, but he's like me in the fact that we don't like having the truck (or engine, on this case) needing to be flat out at it's limits just to haul an everyday load. So he went stupid with the tuning and then built up whatever broke til he had a good solid monster hauler, lol.
I don't know him very well, I only met him once or twice, and only briefly, my information on him and the truck came via a mutual friend who I've known since high school (30+ years already?? Wow, now that I think about it, lol)