Comments By Oscar Graham III

Oscar, what always concerns us about you is how you are always so focused on all the peripheral things about this career. There's not a new driver out here who cares one whit about how the various class 8 engines vibrate.

That is why we have such doubts about your ability to make it in this business. As an entry level driver, or even an experienced driver, you are going to get whatever engine and truck you get, and if it vibrates some way that you don't like your employer is going to laugh hysterically as they send you back home to your comfortabke position on the couch doing "research" on how to get started at truck driving.

When you get serious, and have some realistic questions about how to make it in a field where 95 percent of the curious minded newbies never survive their first year, we might begin to take you a little more seriously. As for now, you're just sort of amusing.

I'm not trying to be critical or hostile. I want you to realize that based on the things you post in here, you fit the perfect profile of a guy who will never survive out here in this endeavor.

I hope you can make it, but you need someone who will shoot straight with you and get you focused on the things that are critically important.

I'm sorry. I thought this was a TRUCK forum about ALL THINGS TRUCKING. I did not realize that most people here feel the equipment itself in this trade was not a critical thing. It seems to be all about just the training and the driving here. I was hoping people here could lighten up and be a bit more cheerful and perhaps sometimes welcome threads just about anything related to trucks. I did not realize people had to be so grouchy.

The sole purpose of this thread of mine was to get YOUR opinion about commercial diesel engines and not to complain. Some drivers may have a soft spot for some engines and others may not care. After all, you the driver, have to feel and hear your vehicle's engine for countless hours, miles, weeks, months and even years.

I figured some drivers might also be enthusiasts of the mechanical nature of their vehicles as well as what the job pays. To me, the big-rig excitement is all about the grunt of the diesel engine, the roar of the Jake brakes and the whine of the turbochargers as well as how to shift a transmission correctly and back a rig to the dock masterfully. The money is important but it is not about just the money.

Mr. Old School, I DO feel that one does have to be enthusiastic about any career to make it in that career otherwise there might be just day-to-day drudgery on the job.

I wish I could find a Web-based forum where people can just kick back and shoot the breeze about all things trucking no matter how small or tall.

Like Red Simpson sings, "There'd be no truck drivers if it wasn't for us TRUCKS!"

Perhaps, Brett could offer a "Truckers Lounge" or "Home Terminal" forum where anything goes, truck-wise.

PS - If I were to wanna be a truck, I'd long to be a Kenworth classic-hood model sporting a Cummins underneath. I would want my driver to also professionally float my gears.

There is also a big difference in suspensions vs a Ford cab chassis. Basing an opinion on one encounter and no bed on the truck? Kinda dumb if you ask me.

I have mostly driven cat motors. One isx. I could get used to it with more time. Now I have a series 60 12.7 Detroit that has it's own characteristics. I am beginning to like this little girl.

Dumb? As I have told everybody before, I have never even sat in a Class 7/8 truck, with or without the motor running, so I have no idea what the Class 7/8 engines feel like or sound like in any of them from the perspective of the driver's seat. My only truck experience has been Class 6 and below. Class 7/8 stuff would all be brand-new to me if I were to touch such a truck in person.

Can we please refrain from the name-calling here, Pat?

Maybe you can tell me how a CAT motor feels and sounds as opposed to a Cummins or Detroit in any Class 7/8 truck you may have experienced.

All else the same, does the CAT engine generally cause more vibrations in a Class 7/8 tractor than Cummins or others or is it louder than Cummins or other engine brands? A tractor has no body too just like cab chassis. I would not know how human-felt engine vibration would be affected by the degree of mass over the rear of the chassis. I always thought it was in the motor mounts and the way the engine is balanced and designed.

I take it your "little girl" is the Series 60 12.7 Detroit engine you speak of affectionately. You know.... like calling a ship a SHE.

Cummins diesel engines were well-engineered, refined and well-balanced.

Looking back at history, Cummins is the first American diesel originally designed specifically for truck use.

Oscar, it's still pretty obvious to me that you're not going to become a truck driver.

But... I do think you'd be an excellent sales rep for Cummins Diesel engines. You've got just enough BS on something that you don't have a clue about that I think some of these purchasing would be like putty in your hands.

Go for it!

The engine I may be saddled with won't be a deterrent for me to become a truck driver. I was just making a polite conversation about engines. I was a diesel mechanic by trade in the army once, you know. I only complained about a CAT I experienced one time in a medium-duty Ford chassis cab. I am sure most if not all modern OTR trucks, regardless of make, engine and transmission, have pretty smooth mechanicals and don't shake like hardware store paint mixers.

I am going to guess that you have never pulled a heavy load or your opinion of CAT would be different. Each has their own characteristics and niche they do better than the other. Detroit is fuel economy. CAT is pulling power. Cummins falls somewhere in the middle.

Now with that said, I have made some changes to mine puts it right up there on power and on top for fuel.

Of course, if one is going to be in a truck cab for countless hours as a living, one might also consider the "comfort" factor of the engine too, sir.

Perhaps, the CAT motors don't vibrate so much in Class 7/8 rigs. I don't know since I have never been in any Class 7/8 truck before. I just remember that CAT in a new medium-duty Ford I test-drove one year shook quite badly at idle. Could have been inferior Ford motor mounts too.

I have driven Dodge pickups with 5.9 turbo Cummins: smooth as a baby's rump. I have driven an Army 5-ton with 855 Cummins: still, smooth as a baby's rump. Distinctively quiet inside the cab too.

I have always had the impression that Cummins diesel engines were well-engineered, refined and well-balanced.

Looking back at history, Cummins is the first American diesel originally designed specifically for truck use. CAT has its origins in tractor/construction equipment use.

So my rig is a 13 spd (EF trans). And when I was in school they had me on a 10 speed. And the instructor layed out what gears for what speed. For instance 8th gear is about 35 mph. 9th is 45mph, 10th is 55mph and above. Now it wasn't a big deal on the upshifting, just max it and shift it. But it helped on the downshifting. He had us slow down to 30mph and downshift to 7. By the time we got moved over and revved it was right about at 25mph. Then slow down to 15 and go to 5. Then stop.

So my question is, does anyone have a chart or reference they use for what speed to downshift at? And what gears do you skip thru? I've done some Google searches but nothing that I want pops up. I'm stuck going down 1 gear at a time or just coming up and stopping until I can figure it out.

Did they teach you floating the gears in school or just double-clutching?

What's your favorite Class 7/8 diesel engine?

I like Cummins because of their smooth idle and quietness.

I drove and worked on Cummins-equipped trucks in in the Army as a mechanic. M900-series 5-ton 6x6 by AM General.

Inline-6 855 cu. in. I was impressed by this fine engine.

A masterpiece in machinery. An inline-six, not a V-8, is a TRUE truck truck diesel power plant.

Later on, in 2005, I sat in a new Ford Class 5 truck with a CAT six and it vibrated like a paint mixer.

Then, the following year, I drove a late-model 22-foot Penske moving truck by International and that was pretty smooth.

Sitting in the CAT-equipped idling medium-duty Ford made me think CAT motors were crude for truck use.

I have never sat in, driven or ridden in any Class 7/8 truck in all my 53 years.

P)S- The International moving truck from Penske was diesel powered, of course. A straight-six.

What's your favorite Class 7/8 diesel engine?

I like Cummins because of their smooth idle and quietness.

I drove and worked on Cummins-equipped trucks in in the Army as a mechanic. M900-series 5-ton 6x6 by AM General.

Inline-6 855 cu. in. I was impressed by this fine engine.

A masterpiece in machinery. An inline-six, not a V-8, is a TRUE truck truck diesel power plant.

Later on, in 2005, I sat in a new Ford Class 5 truck with a CAT six and it vibrated like a paint mixer.

Then, the following year, I drove a late-model 22-foot Penske moving truck by International and that was pretty smooth.

Sitting in the CAT-equipped idling medium-duty Ford made me think CAT motors were crude for truck use.

I have never sat in, driven or ridden in any Class 7/8 truck in all my 53 years.

LastPass password manager does not automatically generate my password in the password field when logging in, only my username. Is this page not compatible with password manager clients?

Yesterday I was bobtailing back from Findlay OH & there was a road closure. I had to detour down a country road (with no lane divider) in the middle of farmland USA.

Out of nowhere 2 dogs come bolting out of a cornfield into the road (I use cornfield generically, no idea what they're growing).

I'm probably doing 45-50mph at the time. There's a motorcycle in the oncoming lane that SWERVES INTO my lane (head-on) to avoid these dogs. I have 2 options. Hit the brakes or take the ditch. I hit the jake, depress the clutch & basically stand on the service brake. The motorcycle comes within arms reach of the tractor before swerving back into his lane.

I'm a dead stop, heart beating out of my chest. I thought I was going to kill him! I hit my hazards, open the door & puke everywhere. The bike... just keeps rolling.

I compose myself & get back into the truck (which is a loaner). The red exclamation point on the Qualcomm is flashing & I have messages asking if I'm okay. The truck recorded a hard brake critical event (obviously).

My usual truck (which is equipped with a drive cam) is in the shop for service. This truck doesn't have one...which is a shame. This was the exact kind of videos they show to new-hires in orientation. I could have been famous! Lol.

Seriously though, everyone is fine & I maintained control of the truck. I have to talk to the safety dept. guy (who is out of the office for the holiday) on Tuesday. This should be a fun conversation.

I'm a little concerned with having to discuss a critical event, but All-in-all...I wouldn't have done anything differently. I saved someone's life yesterday. I'm happy with that.

Stay aware! Anything can happen, anywhere at anytime. 👍

Charlie:

It's obvious where the NEW UNDERWEAR comes into the story. I would slow down through those cornfields. Maybe 35 MPH max.

There is a song about a heroic truck driver, Big Joe, who "takes the ditch" (or was it a cliff?) to save a bus load of school children while dying himself.

Red Sovine in Phantom 309, year 1967

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-itm-001&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=itm&p=Phantom+309#id=2&vid=2698ae4b18148ed281031249f8***d68&action=click