Ok, learned I may over taching a touch on the lowr gears, and was reminded that a/c eats hp and fuel. Thanks for the ideas guys, I'll give 'em shot and post the results.
DD-15
Discussion in 'Gordon' started by Palazon, Apr 27, 2013.
Page 2 of 4
-
-
Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds
Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.
-
try changing your shifting, up shift at 14 unless climbing a hill and down shift at 12. when i had 10010 the first series of the dd15 it did not like being down shifted below 12 the turbo would cut out below 12 and have no power to climb hills. they took me out of 10010 because i went dedicated.
Palazon Thanks this. -
Slide that 5th wheel up too. I see so many GTI trucks with the 5th wheel way back. I'm on the reefer side, I slide mine up almost as far as she will go. That'll give you a little extra mpg. Don't forget too, if you have the visor on yours, that cuts back the mpg too.
Palazon Thanks this. -
I will be honest with you, reefer side here, best I can do when I am really watching it is 7.0. And that is really pushing it. The hills and the trucks themselves just dont seem specd for MPG's. The cascadia's are heavy, lack of full fairings, carrying 300 pouinds of chains, 5th wheel all the way back (12 front axle) etc.
Driving the same roads for another company in a T700 specd for MPGs I would usually get 7.5mpg, and the cali to seattle run was usually 7.8.
And its not a matter of speed, both trucks capped at 62, both running cummings ISX, both with eaton 10spd trannys.double yellow and Palazon Thank this. -
Fifth wheel placement can actually hurt m.p.g's. Too far forward can cause too much friction between your steer tires and the pavement, which make the engine work harder, and you will be lifting the nose of the trailer causing the lip to catch the air. I found on 10010 two notches from the rear was best.
Palazon Thanks this. -
Ok today 7.3 mpg. To be fair this from Cheyenne, WY to Salinas, KS (mostly flat, gently rolling hills), but that includes yesterdays 500 miles at 6.4 mpg so that means today was much higher to make that large a change. Changes: Left the a/c off and changed shift up pattern on low side to 1000 rpm and high side 1400 (and landscape). Also was careful to NOT floor the accelerator.
5th wheel debate: I'm 2 notches forward and at 12060 on steers. Top gear 95%, Cruise 81%.
Thanks for the help and ideas! -
I'm sure your efforts helped, but the vast majority of that mpg improvement came from running downhill (6000' in Cheyenne, Wy vs 1200' in Salinas, KS) with prevailing tailwinds:
Give it at least 10,000 miles OTR before you start estimating a new mpg baseline, because you'll probably have several hundred mile stretches that vary from 5 to 10mpg -
Unless your alignment is way off, or your steer tires are underinflated, more weight on the steer axle shouldn't hurt milage. If it does, I'd get the toe checked on the steer axle. Saw one truck with the toe so far off it caused noticeable heel-toe wear on the drives in 200 miles, that'll affect milage for sure. Just keep it under the legal limit, shouldn't have a problem
-
-
It is and keep up the good work. Just don't start pulling your hair out if you get 6.7 next time and 6.9 the time after that. I remember being just exasperated by seemingly inexplicable fluctuations until I learned how much 1 rolling regen can alter your mileage (let alone multiple regen attempts if the process is interrupted)
Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds
Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.
Page 2 of 4