Re: Weight vs Horsepower & Torque
Reply #3 –
Dave M,
You mentioned "old days" of pulling max loads up mountains. My dad starting driving in 1960. My recollection is that his first truck was a Mack cabover with a Cummins 215 HP engine. It transmitted power through a quadriplex transmission with something like 18 usable forward speeds. It was straight six with no blower. Max weight then was about 77,000#. He made a lot of runs between OKC and California. He probably used all of those gears between OK and CA. On the one trip I got to make with him, I remember his putting an arm through the steering wheel and shifting both shift levers while syncing things up with the clutch and accelerator.
His last truck was a Peterbilt conventional with a CAT engine. He loved to drive all of his trucks except for the International Harvester. His favorite was the Peterbilt. I expect it had the best HP/Weight ratio of any of his trucks.