The crash part was the first thing I considered Never thought about the shifter issue, nor the pain in the ass serviceability. Aerodynamics, ehhh, I think the weight is more of an issue as far as economy, heck, I believe the big three, or how ever many there are now, gave up on aerodynamics for increasing economy
Those Hendrickson tandem drives also had a "power divider" which was like a posi unit; for off road use only. Old man Hendrickson had a chrome plated aluminum beam mounted on the wall of his office. The nearest competitor was RYCO which was used on Macks' and a lot of others. You could spec out a new tractor from whoever with many choices of power and suspension etc. All the "H" models were spec'd out not on wheelbase, but as B to BOC or bumper to back of cab. They did have long noses on them, but a narrow steering wheelbase which let them turn tighter than the competitors. Learned a LOT working there as a kid! ws
Driving a cabover like an Izuzu 2000 something model recently in San Franfreko gave me the similar feeling of being in a shoping cart hoping the idiot pushing you has never seen the movie jackass.
Another big change in trucks - at least in New England - is the switch to front-discharge cement mixers. Virtually all of the mixers in the northeast are the rear-engine style. Down here in sunny SW Florida amid the algae and dead fish, most mixers are still the rear-discharge type. I wonder why?
Up north stuff rusts and so it gets replaced. Down south stuff just gets repaired and keeps going. Plus backing up is the most dangerous driving maneuver. And if you don't have to back your drive wheels into the muck, less chance of getting stuck. I do like that screamin' Detroit but I bet it would get real old on a long trip.
Is that a two-stroke Detroit diesel? When I was in the Marines we still used Gamma Goats and they had the two-stroke Detroit diesels. Anybody who rode in one was required to wear hearing protection. Those things were loud but they could go almost anywhere including water, they floated!
I'm not sure if that's a 2 stroke or not. I just remember grwing up with these trucks. We had a house right on Rt 17W in Sullivan County NY years ago and we used to sit and watch the trucks come blazing past. All kind of trucks. From mid 60's and 70's Transtars and Whites and Diamond Reos to 40's Macks and everything in between. What a childhood!
I would say fuel mileage would be the key thing now. with the aerodynamics of a brick it wouldn't be too fuel efficient. You do see them in local work garbage trucks mostly. I love the old COEs a 50s F-500, or GMC Cannonball would be so cool. Throw the cab on a motorhome chassis, drop in a BBB ( for torque) and have a ball. Tim
In general, ALL Detroit Diesels were/are 2 strokes. They all have blowers and or turbos with non-ported pistons and a fully pressurized air box comparable to an intake manifold. They were all exhausted via either 2 or 4 exhaust valve in head system which was cam driven. These were all considered industrial, medium speed engines (<3000 rpm) from the 41 series (41 C.I. per cylinder) up to and including Cleveland Engines (265 CI/CYL) and Electro Motive power units at displacements of 567, 645 and a whopping 710 CI/cyl. In 1980, DDEC came out with a 60 series which was a 4 stroke to comply with EPA Tier 3 and 4 emissions. EMD now builds a 1010 CI/CYL 4 stroke. 90% of the noise you hear on the DD 2 strokes is actually the blowers sucking air. ws
Bill beat me to it but Detroit Diesels from that time were 2-strokes. 2-strokes in things like snowmobiles use ball bearings on the crank and are crankcase scavenged which means the intake air is used to lubricate things before it gets ignited in the combustion chamber. The Detroit Diesels used the blower for cylinder scavenging so they could run plain bearings like a 4-stroke.
Yes it was, that is why they were almost unstoppable. If the tractor started to get stuck, the trailer would push it along. Plus, the whole thing would float, even fully loaded. The spinning tires provided the propulsion. They were just extremely loud, no way to sneak up on anybody.
We had an Astro 'cracker box' (no sleeper) that was used as a backup tractor. It was like driving a fish bowl. Scary to think that, in a crash, you were very vulnerable. Pretty interesting facts, on Detroit diesels guys. Thank You.
My Dad used to say "you could put a Detroit Diesel sticker on a rock and the rock would start leaking oil".
