All Small Six Power ratings.

[aussie7mains]

Yes sir, the "real" diesels have it going on. I'm convinced that their incredible longevity while producing torque @ 2.2 lbs/cube is a combination of their no-cut-corners build and the modest speeds they are governed to. Engine life is shortened if too much is asked of it, in induction OR high rpm.
You're right, any engine can produce big #'s for 6 seconds in the sterile cool environment of the dyno cell. As much as I like Engine Masters, most of the info (not all) is useless in my public-street driving world.

The diesel torque stems form the diesel cycle, they are not subject to "knock" so basicaly you can increase the manifold pressure until either the pistons melt or the crank falls out the bottom. Many run 30-50psi boost, that makes the torque! As to longevity, because of the very high cylinder pressures the best quality materials and methods are required. Also diesel fuel is in itself quite a good lubricant, this helps lube the rings and bores which helps the life of these components. How many petrol (otto cycle) engines do you see with, built in oil coolers, cast iron inserts in top ring lands, piston cooling jets, forged steel cranks and rods, serated big end joints etc etc.

 

[aussie7mains]

Wow that's a very nicely equipped Shop!

I was employed to look after the machine shop, Im actually a motor mech by trade, but have some machining experience (i also have a diploma mech eng) so was sort of chucked in at the deep end. Still managed to do quite a bit of specialised work on converting cylinder heads etc. We had a welding and fab area just next to the machine shop with MIG and TIG welders etc. I can tell you it helped a LOT when I was doing the blower stuff for my crossflow. The machines were 25years old tiawanese machines they worked pretty well. Im actaully quite proud of what ive acheived in my time, Ive made some cock ups along the way too. As you will be able to tell, one of my pet peeves is the inflated power numbers people quote after tests. IMO the real test is for a vehicle to drag a heavy load up a hill, that takes continuous high torque, which tests every part of the systems. I can tell you down here where 120tonnes loads are often the case, dragging that along into the wind can make anything wilt. One of the worst areas ive encountered is going form Southern cross to Coolgardie in Western Australia. Its uphill for about 170km, not a steep slope, but when battling into an easterly headwind of about 40km/h with 75 tonnes(165,000lbs for you guys) on its a test and a half for any truck.

 

[bubba22349]

If I am remembering right some of them also pull 3 (Trippel) Trailers over there in some of the areas is that Right?

 

[aussie7mains]

If I am remembering right some of them also pull 3 (Trippel) Trailers over there in some of the areas is that Right?

Commonly used:- Single semi, 3 axles air suspension. B doubles, two semi trailers with 3 axles each, the front trailer has a turntable mounted on its rear, double road train, two 3 axles semis coupled together with a dolley, 3 semis with 3 axles each and two dolleys. There are varying rules, but most triples are only allowed outside the cities. B doubles is very common where I live. Most prime movers (tractors for you) in the heavy range over 50 t are USA or euro, kenworths are very popular here in Victoria where they are assembled, most are tandem drive normal control bonneted trucks. Popular engines are detroit cummins and some paccar. Not many caterpillar powered trucks around any more, sometimes you here a detroit two stroke which I love. The euro trucks are not so popular for heavy work but they are mercs DAF, MAN, Volvo, scania. Japanese trucks rule the smaller end of the market, isuzu is biggest seller. Iveco is here too. The USA f series and dodge rams are here, mainly the dodges, but rumour has it Ford will soon bring out a RHD F series again. Land crusiers and Nissan patrols are very popular, the nissan is considered as indestructable especially the TD42.

 

[Cox Custom Mechanical]

If I am remembering right some of them also pull 3 (Trippel) Trailers over there in some of the areas is that Right?

You also have quads, an A section and 3 B sections. Not as common anymore but they still get around mainly fuel tankers.

 

[Frank]

The diesel torque stems form the diesel cycle, they are not subject to "knock" so basicaly you can increase the manifold pressure until either the pistons melt or the crank falls out the bottom. Many run 30-50psi boost, that makes the torque! As to longevity, because of the very high cylinder pressures the best quality materials and methods are required. Also diesel fuel is in itself quite a good lubricant, this helps lube the rings and bores which helps the life of these components. How many petrol (otto cycle) engines do you see with, built in oil coolers, cast iron inserts in top ring lands, piston cooling jets, forged steel cranks and rods, serated big end joints etc etc.

That's very cool, doing the machine shop work! Love it. I was on the other end of the spectrum. Approximately 900,000 gallons of diesel went under my right hand (boat controls) on under my right foot over a 30 year period. Began right out of HS with a Detroit 8V-71 on a 4.5:1 gear in a commercial shrimp trawler. Then long-haul semi owner-operator for 20+ years. Had 4 3406 Cats, and 2 Detroit 60 series over the period. Always bought well used trucks- they were cheap, I knew how to make them last, and I never had a contract that paid more for loud chrome pipes, 50 side-marker lights, or Peterbilt on the grill. Had kids to feed, plus it was fun to blow past the big Pete's in my plane-jane Freightliner when the occasion warranted their being taken down a notch.
My last 3406 was actually the oldest, in an '82 KW. It was white from the factory, came out of coal mining equipment in West Virginia and was rated @ 2300 rpm on the plate. Oh my word, that engine was a horse! It had 40 lbs of boost @ 1200 rpm. No dump valves. Don't remember the turbo stat, but was as big a diameter as a basketball. Took a full 3 seconds to spool from no-load, with a jet-black cloud of exhaust. But once it caught up- was untouchable uphill. Used pyrometer to determine fuel input on long pulls, it had enough fuel on the rail to melt 'er down.

The other 5 trucks were tuned "stock" for their rating, with the rpm governor set at factory no-load specs. I mention this because for whatever reason, all trucks came with the governor set at 1800 rpm. The 60 series is factory ok @ 2250. Since top speed is gear-bound, the extra 450 rpm is where I could pass the big-shots- on rare occasions- seriously.

Another contributing factor to their longevity to add to your list above, the cooling systems are well engineered. No shoving all the cooling water into the front of #1 cylinder. Fed from the lower side of the block, well channeled, and migrated up, with an exit manifold near every exhaust port. Also had full-flow when cold. The thermostat was not a dam that just blocked it off.

 

[aussie7mains]

I only ever drove the trucks for test, never commercially, but i did drive a variety of them small and large. I always wanted to do some marine work, but here you need a MMED certificate before you can touch that. I never had one, you needed to do sea time to get the Marine motor engine drivers cert, but you couldn't get a job on a boat without one!!!! I always wanted to do R&D on engines, but living in Australia thats hard as only the manufacturers did any, and none was done in my state. However after nearly 30 years i finally got the last job I had doing just that. I enjoyed my final 10 years of work with a Canadian company called Westport, they were good to us. We did a lot of work on CNG engines mainly in transit busses, mostly Renault and Merecedes 12 litre things. we also did work for the Chinese, Indians and Russians. Indian and Russian stuff was pretty good, but the PRC was very "indifferent" quality. Most of the chinese and Indian stuff was copies of Euro engines. The Russian one was a clean sheet job I think most of the design work was done by AVL in Austria, it was a very nice engine, it was only 6.6 litres but went up to 280kW, heaps of boost and EGR to keep emissions down. This is where I got my dyno experience, whist i did not do the dyno work myself, i did observe many. I retired at 60, I had received a cancer diagnosis at 54 and thought best to get out as soon as I could afford to. Here in Australia we have "compulsory superannuation" All employees have 9.5% included in their wages that goes into a super account to accumulate for the years to give you an income when you retire. This is given favourable tax treatment and has worked really well. It has been going since 1983. There is about $3.5 trillion sitting in these account here in Australia, thats about 100,000 for every employee. This has kept the Australia economy afloat when times are bad. Its invested in all sorts of things. There funds are mostly run by management derived for the trade unions and they get really good returns, better than any of the banks. I believe you have 401k accounts that are similar, but NOT compulsory. There is a commonwealth government provided aged pension, this is means tested and NOT available until you reach 67. Anyway we have got way of topic here, but I do like yabbering on a bit, as you can tell. We could cover politics, but thats a subject for elseware, I do watch and wonder about the USA political system, it seems like a "bloody mess" from here.