June 2008 - Performance Zone
JERRY RAY JOINS THE TEAM
By Performance Specialist Bruce C. Mallinson
Do you know it all, or do you think you know it all, or were you blessed with an open mind that is willing to listen to what other people have to say? Do you agree with the following statement? “Show me a man with 97% knowledge and 3% drive and I’ll show you a loser, however show me a man with 3% knowledge and 97% drive and I’ll show you a winner!” That is where it is – it’s all in the drive! If you are an owner operator or want to be an owner operator and you don’t have the drive and determination to make changes to your truck to make it a better, more efficient machine, then you should find a new profession or drive a company truck. You will not make it today in the trucking industry with a stock, low performance, low fuel mileage truck.
I want to tell you a story about a young man that has fire in his eyes and determination in his soul. When it comes to drive, this young man has it! I met him when he was six years old – he is the son of a great owner operator named Jerry Hairhoger. Jerry is a hard working man who has always been a perfectionist when it came to his truck. For 31 years I have been dealing with Jerry and I’ll tell you that his very presence will put a smile on your face. He is now retired from trucking, but not from the truck – you can find him and his blue 1973 Kenworth (that he purchased new) at all of the local truck pulls in Western PA, Eastern OH and Western NY. It’s the Kenworth with the heart-shaped window in the bunk and most of the time he has the longest pull. But that’s enough about Jerry, let’s talk about his son.
Jerry’s son, named Jerry Ray Hairhoger, is an owner operator that is always willing to help other owner operators. In fact, when he was running a flatbed from Pittsburgh to Chicago with his extended hood A-Model Kenworth, he would get about 30 calls a day on his cell phone from other owner operators asking questions about their trucks. This young man started his working career as a welder in Randolph, OH. But welding was not what he wanted to do. Jerry Ray wanted to be just like his father – an owner operator that drove an A-Model KW. In fact, when he was four years old, his mother would take him down to the Pennsylvania Turnpike where his dad would wave with both hands to his little guy as he drove by in his Emeryville. When he was eleven years old, his dad started allowing Jerry Ray to steer the truck while driving across the Ohio Turnpike. By the time he was twelve years old, the young but experienced boy was already driving his dad’s truck.
After graduating from high school, Jerry Ray wanted to become an owner operator like his dad, however his father felt that welding would be a better career for him. Jerry Ray got a job at City Weld Trailers in Randolph, OH but he was unhappy, always looking for excuses not to go to work. Being raised by a father like his, do you think this young man could be a happy welder? Heavens no – he wanted to drive and he wanted a truck like his dad’s. When he was 24 years old (1996), his father gave in and took him to West Point Salvage where they found and purchased a 1977 A-Model KW with a short hood, a small bunk and a KT Cummins with 450 horsepower for $12,500 that was to be cut up the very next day. A few weeks later, they disassembled the engine and then came to Pittsburgh Power and bought $13,000 worth of high-performance KTA Cummins parts (enough for 900 horsepower). Think about this – this young man was not a truck driver, he was an unhappy welder, and his father spent $25,500 on a junkyard truck for him. But she did not stay a junkyard truck for long.
The father-and-son team quickly went to work on the KW. They completely rebuilt the engine, stretched the frame, moved the cab back, and then installed an extended hood and a double bunk. This young man went from an unhappy welder to a very excited owner operator with 900 horsepower and 3,000 foot pounds of torque under his right foot! Now his truck was just like his dad’s but with even more power (dad was still running a Big Cam Cummins with 700 horsepower). His father and I were criticized for giving such a young rookie so much power. Everyone that knew about the project said the engine would not last for even a year. Well, guess what? Four years into driving this beast with no engine failures, Jerry Ray increased the horsepower to 1,200 by adding twin turbos, a high-lift camshaft and hydraulic variable timing. Now, twelve years later, our Pittsburgh Power distributor from New Zealand just purchased the 1977 KW from Jerry Ray to have as a toy truck. The old KW is now on her way to New Zealand where she will never have to pull a load again. This truck was not even for sale, but as you know, money talks!
Do you think 1,200 horsepower and 1,150 cubic inches of engine would be hard on fuel with a young man behind the wheel? Well, this high-performance truck averaged 5.5 mpg over its lifetime with Jerry Ray. Now Jerry Ray needed a truck, so he bought a 1997 W900L Kenworth with a DD3 Detroit with 470 hp. Wow, what a let down. He came by the shop and installed one of our loaner Detroit ECM’s set for 525 hp and 2,200 rpm, and though it was still a far cry from the KTA Cummins with twin turbos that he was used to running, he was able to live with it for a couple weeks until we got his ECM finished and set for 575 hp and 2,400 rpm. He now had a local haul and was able to live with the underpowered Detroit. I am sad to say that his local haul was drastically underbid by a large trucking company, so now the W900L is parked. But I am glad to say that Jerry Ray is now working with us here at Pittsburgh Power in Pennsylvania.
Now in charge of “Special Projects” at Pittsburgh Power, Jerry Ray will be doing things like un-bridging Cat motors, helping owner operators with power and fuel mileage problems, designing engines for truck pulling, working on special turbochargers and large injectors for Caterpillar, Detroit and Cummins and much more. His latest project is building special rebuild kits for DD3 and DD4 Detroits with ceramic and Teflon coated pistons. If you would like to contact Jerry Ray, his e-mail address is jerryray@pittsburghpower.com. If you have any questions regarding performance or efficiency issues, call us at (724) 360-4080 or visit www.pittsburghpower.com. We now have 13 employees here at Pittsburgh Power in Saxonburg, PA and six of them spend most of their day on the phone with owner operators. Jerry Ray and all of us at Pittsburgh Power look forward to talking to you, but if you call and have to leave a message, please be patient with us, we will get back to you just as soon as possible. Welcome to the team Jerry Ray!