July 2004 - Performance Zone
July 2004 - Performance Zone
Mobility, unfortunately, becomes harder for us as we get older. After spending a day under Chuck Dunning’s W900L Kenworth, my 55 year old body told me not to go to the gym the next morning. Chuck’s KW is powered by a Signature 600 Cummins engine with a reverse flow muffler under the bunk. Chuck and his wife Mary, heavy haulers from Tonopah, Arizona, were in search of more fuel mileage. Their average for this extremely heavy KW is 5.0 mpg. Keep in mind that this is a 4-axle tractor with a double frame, and the steering axle is a 20,000 pound Eaton. The tractor weighs 25,000 pounds without a trailer. Chuck is only 68 years old, so I told him that if he wanted me to redesign the exhaust system, he would have to help.
First we checked the back pressure in the exhaust manifold and the exhaust pipes. The 600 Cummins developed 15 lbs. of back pressure at 20 lbs. of turbo boost, and 30 lbs. back pressure at 30 lbs. of boost. For a stock turbo, it was a very good match. The back pressure in the pipes was 40” of water column, so the next move was to remove the big, single, reverse flow muffler from under the truck. The 27” resonators were out of stock so we used two 12” resonators and welded them back to back, making a 24” resonator. Checking the system again, we found that the back pressure in the pipes had dropped to 10” of water column - that’s a 300% decrease. Now it was time for a test ride. The KW not only sounded better, but it also gained half of a mile per gallon on its way home to Arizona.
Presently, our shop is designing our own resonator which will be lined with fiberglass to make it even quieter. Remember the 60’s, when we had dual exhaust with glass packs? Wow, we we’re cool back then! Well, we are going to be cool again!
The reason I started this article with the word MOBILITY is because the disk jockey called “The Truckin Bozo” that airs on the clear channel, has been stricken with diabetes, and now must be in a wheelchair. Carol Watson and her crew from America’s Truck Wash & Chrome Shop in Tridelphia, WV, decorated a special chair for the Truckin Bozo. This chair has twin 4” chrome stacks, LED lights (powered by a motorcycle battery), and a mud flap with a chrome silhouette of a lady and a chrome weight across the bottom. The Bozo will be proud to be in this chair (see photo).
Another client and friend of Diesel Injection of Pittsburgh has be stricken with Parkinson’s Disease and is now confined to a wheelchair. His name is Bob Quay and he has been a mechanic in the Claysville, PA area his entire life. He is not far from America’s Truck Wash & Chrome. Well, two weeks ago, I meet a lady that supplies electric powered wheelchairs to people on Medicare at no charge to them. I called Bob and he stated that he was on Medicare, so we set it all up and he got a motorized chair. This wheelchair has a top speed of 4 mph and will travel 20 miles on the batteries before recharging is necessary.
While visiting the office where the motorized wheelchairs and scooters were stored, I noticed several wrecked chairs. If we were to take one of them and rewind the armatures, change the gearing, add an extra battery, chrome stacks and some LED lights (from America’s Truck Wash & Chrome, of course), we could create a high performance motorized chair. Wouldn’t it be neat to cruise around Florida or Sun City, Arizona in a 20 mph wheelchair? If and when I ever get to a point in my life that I need a chair, this is what I would want! Now that would be MOBILITY! My father, Clayton Mallinson, is 90 years old and sharp as a tack. He is also a genius with mechanical and electrical equipment. I think this would be a great project for him to tackle. I’ll tell him what I want, and it will be his job to build it! But enough of that - let’s get back to high performance diesels.
Justin Petti of Riffle, Colorado owns a 2000 W900L KW which he uses to pull a bull rack throughout the Western states. His truck is equipped with a 550 Cat and has the Pittsburgh Power Cat Box installed to enhance its performance. Because of the altitude in Colorado and the small turbocharger on this engine, he was only able to run on power level 2, which adds 60 horsepower to the rear wheels. After installing “The Big Cat Turbo” he is now able to run up to power level 4. Grossing 81,000 pounds, he was able to cruise up Donner Pass heading east and never dropped below 54 mph. Most of the time the KW was pulling 60 mph. He was passing trucks and running out of C.B. radio range in a matter of minutes. With this turbo, his exhaust gas temperature dropped 200 degrees. Justin is 29 years old, and when asked how he liked his Cat Box and Big Cat Turbo, his reply was, “This is too cool!”
I want to take a moment to thank you, my readers, for all of the favorable comments you have given me pertaining to these articles. All of this high performance stuff that we do has become possible because of my father being so understanding of me when I was young and racing Corvettes. I worked in dispatch offices during the day, and in a beautiful garage by night, that he made for me to build race cars. And race we did, holding the track record at Nelson Ledges Road Race Course in Warren, Ohio for 7 years (from 1973 until 1979) in a 1966 Corvette Coupe, which I still have. My mother and father put up with a lot of aggravation from me during my youth. Someday, I might tell you about my life story. But for now, let me just end by saying “thanks” to my mother and father for giving me such a great childhood!
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