Need some advice on buying a Semi

Yours is fine, I would be pulling it much lower than that rpm anyways.
 
SmokinCAT said:
Yours is fine, I would be pulling it much lower than that rpm anyways.
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Much lower? How? It gets freakin hot. The farthest I ever really seem to pull a gear unless its a special circumstance is 1600 or so
 
Lots of good info thanks guys. A buddy wants me to go and team drive with him. That means getting his own truck (he's a otr driver for many years). He knows a lot about trucks but won't hurt if i learn also. I already have my class a permit just have to take the drive test. The way the job situation is going i might take him up on his offer. Again thanks for the info keep it coming.

Sent from the recliner butt naked
 
SmokinCAT said:
A lot of the bearing issues with the narrow bearing B model was the bearing itself, I have heard more than one person say that the bearing tech has gotten a lot better, and while the bearing is narrower the crank journal it spins on is a larger diameter, the C/E have a wider bearing but the diameter of the journal is smaller, and the acert combines the two give the best of both.

I have been doing some research lately and there are factory 1900hp V12s that are running the same bearing as the early B, so half that is 950 so I think a narrow journal B will be just fine these days.

I think you could cool yours off a little by advancing the timing.
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My dad has been turning 2,600 rpms with his B model Cat for 5 or 6 years now, in his pulling truck. We've never had the pan off or have no clue as to what bearings are in the truck. Who knows what kind of power it is making, but a bit over 425 hp. ha ha He also ran a cranked up B model over the road for about 4 of 5 years with no issues.

The bearing issues resulted from a bad batch of bearings that Caterpillar was supplied with when building these motors. When they discovered they put a bad quality set of bearings in the motors they started suggesting rolling bearings in every 250,000 miles.
 
SmokinCAT said:
A lot of the bearing issues with the narrow bearing B model was the bearing itself, I have heard more than one person say that the bearing tech has gotten a lot better, and while the bearing is narrower the crank journal it spins on is a larger diameter, the C/E have a wider bearing but the diameter of the journal is smaller, and the acert combines the two give the best of both.

I have been doing some research lately and there are factory 1900hp V12s that are running the same bearing as the early B, so half that is 950 so I think a narrow journal B will be just fine these days.

I think you could cool yours off a little by advancing the timing.
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Its running 18° initial, I had it out to 21° for a while but it didn't seem to make any difference.

I've heard the bad batch of bearings deal but I always figure bearings were fairly cheap insurance. I had #1 and #6 liners sink before I got to 250k to pull them and see.

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RockinRam96 said:
My dad has been turning 2,600 rpms with his B model Cat for 5 or 6 years now, in his pulling truck. We've never had the pan off or have no clue as to what bearings are in the truck. Who knows what kind of power it is making, but a bit over 425 hp. ha ha He also ran a cranked up B model over the road for about 4 of 5 years with no issues.

The bearing issues resulted from a bad batch of bearings that Caterpillar was supplied with when building these motors. When they discovered they put a bad quality set of bearings in the motors they started suggesting rolling bearings in every 250,000 miles.
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Mine looked good for the abuse I put it through it had seen well over 3000rpm a few times over the last 5 years. I put a set of coated ones in it last week so it should be good for a while with me taking some of the fire out of it so it can be used.

The rod bearings are priced well too, my friend just put a set in his E9 Mack, they were $100 per rod.
 
Any headway on this. I thought the OP was going to look at that Blue KW a week or two ago and come back with pictures and more info.
 
That 1984 Kenworth guy didn't return my phone call last weekend. I called him again last night and left a message, but he might be out driving.

I found a 1989 Kenworth, black with a CAT, 13 spd, unknown gears. It looked real sharp, but the people don't really speak English. I barely translated that the tires are shot, it's been sitting a while, and the batteries are gone so they don't know whether is starts or not. It has 150,000 miles, but the odometer might be broke. They were only asking $6500 and I can't find the craigslist ad anymore.

I called about a International this morning that is for sale down the road. Not sure what year or model it is, but it 'runs great' according to the window. It looks like this only white:

international-semi-tractor-front-left_349_640x556.jpg




I do appreciate all the info on the different motors and such, every bit helps make a more informed decision.
 
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Its a little high on miles, and geared a little low for a highway truck pulling reefer or dry van, my truck has the same rears and I feel like it revs to high at 70+ mph. I'd be looking for 3.36's or 3.42's, but if its been inframed already........ that would be a good price
 
You could throw some tall 22's on it but that's more weight.
 
My boss likes to buy trucks right around 500k or less
 
BRE said:
You could throw some tall 22's on it but that's more weight.
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You'd need tall 24's to get the final drive ratio closer to where its not revving hard. My 07 Pete with lowpro 22.5's, 3.36 rears, an 18 speed, and a Cummins was at 1400rpm@75mph
 
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