TEN FOUR MAGAZINE - TRUCKING ON-LINE MAGAZINE FOR TRUCKERS

December 2004 - Performance Zone

EFFICIENT POWER
By Performance Specialist Bruce C. Mallinson

I find that the readers of 10-4 Magazine are always looking to improve their trucks. However, I am surprised at how many owner operators are losing thousands of dollars each year because they are driving stock trucks. Your truck is not efficient the way it comes from the OEM. Stock mufflers, air cleaners under the hood, and stock fuel settings on electronic engines are not fuel efficient.

Let me give you the names of some owner operators that are not afraid of making some changes to their trucks in order to save a lot of fuel. Forty-nine year old Pat Pickarts of North Freedom, Wisconsin, owns a 1999 Peterbilt 379 powered by an N-14 Cummins with 525 horsepower. This truck has dual straight 7-inch stacks and a resonator under the cab, duel stainless air cleaners (out in the airstream where they get cool air) and an 18-speed transmission turning 3:55 rears (see photo). The OEM engineers feel that this is NOT an aerodynamic truck and it will not obtain good fuel mileage. However, Pat is a man that is willing to make changes and take chances.

Looking for power and efficiency, Pat installed a Pittsburgh Power Computer, FASS Fuel System, and a turbo setup by Diesel Injection of Pittsburgh. His mileage is now a consistent 7.0 mpg. And this truck doesn’t take a back seat to any other truck on the mountain. Seven miles per gallon for a truck that isn’t designed for fuel mileage!

Ernie Adams of Johnstown, Pennsylvania is a twenty-four year old owner operator with a father who is also an owner operator. The father must be a great teacher who taught his son how to drive and be a smart trucker. Ernie’s truck is a 2004 Kenworth W900 flat top that pulls a covered wagon. A 550 Caterpillar Bridge engine that produced a whopping 5.0 to 5.5 mpg stock powers this truck.

During the America’s Chrome Shop truck show this past September in Wheeling, West Virginia, Pete from Diesel Injection of Pittsburgh and the employees of America’s Chrome Shop installed a Pittsburgh Power Cat Box on Ernie’s Kenworth. The first trip from New Stanton, Pennsylvania to Connecticut and back (grossing 80,000 lbs) the fuel mileage was 7.2 mpg. Ernie’s father thought that was impossible, so on the next trip (again grossing 80,000 lbs) he had Ernie run the truck extremely hard. The mileage dropped to a still-impressive 6.4 mpg. The following trip, driving properly, the fuel mileage was 7.6 mpg. And again, this 550 Cat doesn’t take a back seat to other trucks on the hills. In fact, trucks that used to pass this KW are now being passed by it. Do you think Ernie loves his Cat Box? You bet he does! And the amazing thing is that he only runs it on power level 3, which means he has four more levels to go!

As an educated 10-4 reader, I’m sure you’ll agree that Pat and Ernie are getting some pretty serious fuel mileage results. With that said, you should not be apprehensive about spending (investing) your money on performance items. Have you ever figured out how much money you could save every year by simply increasing your fuel mileage by a mere 1/2 mile per gallon? Let’s do the math. If you drive 100,000 miles and you are getting 5 mpg, you will burn 20,000 gallons of fuel. At a price of $1.79 per gallon, that’s $35,800 in fuel per year. Now, at 5.5 mpg, you will burn 18,181 gallons at a cost of only $32,545, which saves you $3,255 per year. Now, if you make even more (or smarter) improvements to your truck and gain a full 1 mpg, your savings per year will jump up to $5,967.

So now think about Pat Pickarts and Ernie Adams. They spent some money on their trucks to improve the horsepower and efficiency and their savings every 100,000 miles is around $7,684. It pays you money to make your truck more powerful, and it’s a lot more fun to drive when you don’t have to flat-foot the throttle on every little hill. So don’t be afraid to spend a little of your hard-earned money on these types of performance parts. In the end, it will come back to you.

We at Diesel Injection of Pittsburgh get the same results out of the Detroits that we do out of the Cat and Cummins engines. It’s cheaper to make payments to your credit card for performance parts than it is to drive a truck that doesn’t get good fuel mileage.

High-performance Cat 3406B and C engines should have nozzles that have increased flow, and the pop-off pressure must be increased in order to eliminate the black smoke during a long pull. It takes two weeks to build this type of nozzle and the price is about $985 for six nozzles. You will see a tremendous increase in power from these engines when using the larger nozzles.

Our straight-through muffler system is now available for the Kenworth W900L and the International. This is a complete kit and replaces the reverse-flow muffler that is standard equipment on these trucks. A savings of 3/10 mpg should be realized with the straight-through system. And if you have mufflers up the side of the cab, we have California approved straight-through mufflers that have a deep, mellow sound and also improve your fuel mileage.

10-4 readers are special, so they deserve special parts! Remember, you don’t have to sacrifice your truck’s power to be fuel efficient. So don’t! If you have any performance-related comments or questions, please feel free to contact me through Diesel Injection of Pittsburgh at (724) 274-4080 or visit the website at www.dieselinjection.net today.