Truck Engines

[Asad]

What kind of engines do Big Rigs and Buses use? And what kind of displacement to they have? I've heard everything from 10 Liter V12's to single prop engines. What is going on in there?

[Dr. Disque]

they use 5-8 litre turbo diesel inline 6's, V6's, and V8's usually.

[Asad]

Originally posted by Dr. Disque
they use 5-8 litre turbo diesel inline 6's, V6's, and V8's usually.

Thats it?!?!?!!?!?!

How much do they put to the ground?

[Sniper]

99% of all 'semis' use an inline 6, around 8.0 litres....some larger pickup trucks use a deisel V8 instead of the 6 ........nearly all are turboed........

[Dr. Disque]

they typically have about 200-250 hp and 500-800 ft lbs of torque.

[Piche582]

Most Big Rigs use massive I6's as previously said. Horsepower varies though, I know truckers that lay down 400-500hp with 600-700ft lbs of torque that'll turn over all 8 rear tires. The standard ones in the 200-300 hp range get moving by using 6-7 spd transmissions with 2spd rearends with usually 4.88 or 5.13 on the bottom and 4.11 or 3.73 on the top end. This works out to 12 or 14 forward gears and 2 speeds in reverse. The final gearing can be so low that most trucks can start out in 4th or 5th gear if they aren't hauling anything. I used to work on diesels and on certain models the top speed in 4th gear with the rearend in lowange was about 5mph.

[Moloko]

But yes... there are guys and their "custom" rigs what have v12s v16's etc. You can tell as soon as you hear them, they sound like beasts. There is one particular yellow one around here that shakes the ground for hundreds of feet.

[FanaticalKilla]

Buddy of mines Dad has a Semi with an upgraded Turbo and a Chip. He can do 130km/h down the highway easy.

Anyone ever hear of any huge problems with the 6.5 Turbo Diesels in the Chev 3/4 Tons. My buddy just had to rebuild his motor and it only had 55,000 miles on it. And because it was off warranty Chevy wouldnt claim any fault. It was an expensive rebuild at $12,000. Got any info post up?

[Wolf]

If you see a semi with a single exhaust stack, it's likely an I6, if there are 2 stacks, it's a V8. They're all turbo diesel. There are a variety of engine manufacterers, the main ones I can think of are Caterpillar and Detroit Diesel.

You can get some engine specs here:
http://www.caterpillar.com/products/engines_n_power_systems/shared/truck_engines/truck_engines.html
http://www.detroitdiesel.com/

The MBE 4000 is an in-line six-cylinder engine with ratings available from 350-450 horsepower and up to 1550 LB FT of torque. The MBE 4000, weighing just 2,040 lbs., gives Detroit Diesel a heavy-duty engine that can be targeted to regional distribution, vocational and bulk-haul applications. The MBE 4000 is currently featured in Freightliner’s FL112, Columbia and Century S/T