KW t680 with by factory 450HP vs 450 HP (Upgrade by Computer)

Original

Buy the engine with the beef, Horsepower etc. That way you dont need to fool with it with computer hocus pocus later.

 

I think the horsepower rating is somewhat irrelevant. I drive a t880 with a paccar rated at 500 hp. It doesn't feel like 500 hp. I have driven old cat c15 powered trucks that felt way stronger. I think an extra 2l displacement makes a difference.

 

@x1Heavy is right, I have owned trucks that I have "turned up", and I have driven trucks with that same horsepower/torque from the factory. Factory settings seem to run better with less problems down the road. Besides, horsepower isn't what you want, torque is what pulls the load up the hill.

 

The more you have in torque and the more horses you have, the less effort is to lift a load over the mountain and less fuel as long you stay out of it.

When you govern a truck, cut it back, restrict it, load it down with emissions most newbies don't understand (Example not using high idle 1200... to keep engine cylinders from carbonizing over) and any other effort to shave fuel you just stabotage yourself all the way around. and you wonder why your rigs are late.

 

Higher the horsepower higher the cpl rating. The quality of the steel in the engine is less on lower HP rated cummins engines. Thats why if you want a 500 hp buy a 500hp . Turning these emission trucks up for Hp they aren't designed for either destroys the engines or wears cam lobes bearings etc faster than high cpl rated engines.

 

Not always true, sometimes there are 2 torque ratings with the same hp

 

I appreciate the schooling. Really do.

I had a truck once rated at 350 horse and about 1350 torque. Limited to 60. By the time you wound out 8th and ready to shift the roadranger into 9th you stayed in 9th a moment, got asthma and fell off a few mph and have to down shift again on the way to say Harrisburg PA on the rolling hills. Up down up down up down. Geesh. (Cummins big cam and it would take me years before I could properly appreciate a good big cam again, particularly when mated to a rockwell transmission.)

ATS gave me a 350 Cat on a Fuller I believe it was. I called it a 350 cat, but not sure if they had that rating when made about the early 90's time period. Closest would be the FLD 112? Or maybe a short 120? (Ive always believed my FLD 120 was just limited to a big 70 inch condo like the one in my avatar) model without the side skirts covering fuel tank and battery. (For weight savings, single fuel tank.) Ive always suspected this kitty was closer to 300.

It was a adequate truck with one flaw. Need to fuel constantly in OTR work with a single 145 gallon tank. I am writing about this truck from my past in a effort to learn from others who might have had a similar truck from about that time period. It did have a 42 inch or so sleeper on the back of the cab with a wabco bunk heater and a AC pipe from the front cab system. As well was one heat out put inside the bunk.

But you had to run this one. If you got it up to speed say 65-70 or a little more you could stay in top gear most of the way to Harrisburg with a occasional downshift say at Thrumont Maryland and again near Hanover and a couple more times just south of camp hill. Particularly with that famous light and flyover which was a problem. (I think it's been erased with a different geometry)

The one thing I never understood with this truck was how much or how little torque. Do I dare say it has about a thousand in torque? Maybe 1200?

What's really crazy was about that time period I signed a note to purchase through a school designed to build O/O's out of company drivers in a strict 4 year process of lessons and real world hauling and so on... that one was 41000 dollars for about a 425 give or take, probably take closer to 400. On a rockwell 9 it was a midroof FLD 120 with dual tanks and so on. I only had that truck a week, but it was the best in the entire remuda on that lot that day when I went through the 30 or so trucks to pick one to buy. They would hold title with me for 4 years until paid in full among other things. I don't want to spin this post beyond because Ive told this story previously last year. It was a nice truck, well broken in in previous work up past 200K miles and so on. Which means you probably can get 5 years solo out before a million maybe? Be time to have that money ready for a new rig maybe.

Anyway, just a assorted scattering of thoughts some of my trucks in the past has been really anemic (Ignoring for the moment the historical Old Iron, built 1990 and prior to 1930) in company work and I have developed a life long distaste for those things. One truck out of Gettysburg had a third GIANT fuel meter. When you pressed the fuel pedal the giant needle shook and swept from left to right. At a certain spot it will squeal then scream at you. If you really romped on that fuel then you had flashing lights and a sort of a deedledeedledeedle... The kind of romp you need to rev for a shift up or down.

I drove that a half mile. Turned around back to the yard, parked. Walked into operations boss. Took the keys and put it on his desk and said, Im going home. When you have a better truck that does not have the BS fuel gauge gaurd needle on that dash call me and I'll be a good boy to run some more.

He said he would like to talk, I asked him there is nothing to talk other than need a truck that is "Normal" without that outrageously big, loud and in your face fuel use meter needle. He that day had about 20 tractors parked.

He handed me one. The previous driver just quit. Can i get a load and get going already? Im late.

 

OMG, You know nothing about tuning engines. According to your theory my 2015 Cummins with A 650 Power Tune, Dynoed at 553HP to the ground should be ready to tear itself apart any time now.

 

You gotta look at what's inside. They could be the exact same engine, just detuned for a mega to keep noobs from tearing #### apart. Its a resale thing most times.