Engines
Most of the big names in the diesel field--Caterpillar, Cummins, Detroit Diesel and Mack--have big news on the product scene for 1998. Cummins Engine Co. made the most recent announcement.
The Signature 600 by Cummins is the producer's latest diesel. The company calls it "the first electronic dual overhead cam 600-hp diesel in automotive history." It was also termed "All new from its oil pan to its overhead cams."
"This is a breakthrough engine design that incorporates the technology advantages that you would expect from Cummins," said Roberto Cordaro, executive vice president and group president of automotive.
"Never before has a team of specialists been able to fully integrate so many critical systems in developing a new platform. It has been designed around and for electronic controls, and the result is a no-compromise approach to performance, weight, size and durability."
The 600 not only turns out power at the 600-hp level but also 600-horse engine braking, the producer said. Its overhead cams get the credit with one being used to drive the high-pressure fuel injection system and the other to drive the valves and the Intebrake integrated braking system, the manufacturer explained.
Caterpillar set the pace in diesel development during the early part of 1997 unveiling a 600-hp version of its 3406E engine with a displacement of 15.8 liters. The producer turned up the heat in the big power race by announcing that it has a 700-hp diesel under development.
Detroit Diesel had an announcement, which is sure to be welcomed by diesel users. Relying on a recently acquired maker of turbochargers, the company is counting on advances in those components to help meet upcoming exhaust emission rules while planning to deliver improved fuel economy from its engines at the same time.
Mack Trucks has just unveiled the latest version of its E7 diesel, called the Mack E Tech. The company said its tests showed the E-Tech delivered a fuel economy improvement of 2% to 3%. The powerplant has the newest version of Mack's electronic engine control setup, the V-MAC III system, as well as an all-new high-tech engine brake.
Light news
Bradley Van Riper, director of research and development at Truck-Lite Co., Falconer, N.Y., traces growing interest in LEDs to the fact that they outlast conventional bulbs used in lights on trucks.
He said bulb failures rank among the top three most frequent truck/trailer problems. He also said an LED's strong point is that it is a light source containing a semi-conductor junction in which visible light is non-thermally produced.
By avoiding the heat found in conventional incandescent lights, LEDs last longer, start faster, use less power and resist shock and vibration. Van Riper said improvements in the diodes it used in its LED units have enabled the company to reduce what it charges for the units four times in the last two years.
Modifications, which enable its LEDs to resist the wear and tear encountered in truck/trailer use, have just been added to the Truck-Lite line. In one key change, the LEDs are being made more resistant to scuffing, scratching and attack by chemicals.
Meanwhile at Ford
Last month's Truck Tracks column reviewed the locations in North Carolina and Canada where Freightliner will be making the heavy trucks acquired from Ford. However, veteran truck industry observers are starting to wonder if Ford is really out of the heavy truck business. To date, the company has said little more than that it plans to go on selling light-duty models and will add new medium-duty trucks in 1998.
There is a precedent for announcing a move out of the heavy-truck business, only to re-enter it with renamed models. General Motors did that when it apparently moved out of heavies in 1986 and turned that business over to a new-found partner, Volvo.
It wasn't long until straight trucks with Gross Vehicle Weight ratings above 33,000 lb and Gross Combination Weight ratings above 100,000 lb (which sounded like heavy trucks) appeared in the Chevrolet and GMC lines.
Except for its original financial investment, GM has never played a big role in the Volvo-GM partnership. Its names have been stripped from trucks offered for some time, just like there are few references to Volvo White models anymore.
A mixed bag
Dana will purchase Eaton's axle and brake business as it sells its clutch business to Eaton. There were some hints that the two firms were reworking the way they serve the truck market. It was spelled out, however, that both Dana (Spicer) and Eaton (Fuller) will continue to offer lines of truck transmissions.
