Built a Peterbuilt 379 back in the day with a Cummins K38 1250hp v12 turbocharged engine. Ran a Allison transmission as the roadranger couldn't handle the torque and the Allison transferred the massive amount of torque of 3200ftlb to the diffs alot smoother. A voith retarder was installed also. We gained a coal contract to haul for the mines in Western Australia. She ran 24/7 pulling 4 trailers over 250 tonne payload. Only shut her down to change oil n filters. Oil n filters were changed every 250 hours which was every 10 days. That truck worked that contract for 6 years straight. We rebuilt the engine and diffs at the 3 year mark and replaced the trans as she was already at around 22,500 hours by then. At the 6 year mark she was at 45,000 hours. That engine pulled beautifully low revs and just plenty of low down torque at 1150rpm she would really pull. By the time we finisher that contract the engine was still in great condition as we had kept ontop of oil leaks over her life. She was breathing a touch by then bit still performed well. She was using about 2 litres of oil between services for top ups by then but at 45,000hours that was fine by me. That truck had well and truly earned her keep paid herself off her trailers, mine and my employees wages and even got us mortgage free. Was pleased to see it 2 months ago on the road still hauling heavy haulage and earning money for its current owner.
That is an awesome story. I know you Australians do a lot of super heavy hauling. I would love to see pictures of the truck you described. Send me a message if you have any
Every now and then I look for this truck online… this was my grandads truck he built for heavy hauling. I was about 6 years old and would go up to his shop in evergreen with my dad to help him build it. He retired in 2004 and sold it to my uncle who heavy hauled with it for a number of years before selling it to a guy in South Dakota to turn into a show truck. Total beast of a truck. If I could rationalize quitting my current job to go trucking I would buy this in a heartbeat.
I thought I recognized it. Titan was the company name. I did heavy haul in the 90s. I seen this truck at Wagner. Met your grandfather. Cool truck. Has an extended extended hood. You can see the rivets in the video.
I owned and operated a 94 T600. 3406 (opened up,unrestricted) 13 spd with 390 rears. Was the very best I ever operated and the only one I owned. Was O/O for about 6 years. Made good money with that little truck.
What a sweet old truck! It's actually pretty cool seeing one of those with a mostly original dash too, instead 5 billion accessories from the chrome shop.
A Caterpillar expert, an old friend, told me that if you match your horsepower to you Tach o your gear ratios; you can build a sweet ride. He's also the one who set up my T600.
I love how that is able to fit under the hood, it’s like taking two 3406’s and putting them into one ❤ with a peak torque of 3200 and you can get more and with the C32 you can get more 😢 I wish EPA 2004 and 2012 never happened or we would Caterpillar as an option over Craptroit and CacaCummins plus screw PACCAR. Emissions ruined Cummins and Detroit
Funny thing is it didn’t fit… he had to lengthen the frame by 10”. Subsequently adding the 10” on to the hood as well as you can see the chrome extension.
Going through the process of installing speed of air pistons, super porting and shaping the ports, contour angle back cutting and unshrouding the valves, adding thermal barrier and dispersant coatings, regrinding the camshaft to logger torque cam specs so the engine will have more power and torque and have cleaner emissions
Real curious what it got for MPG. I had a 3408 in my Pete in the late 70s . It got 3- 3 1/2 mpg after a tune up. It was hard on fuel but a lot of power
Wonder what the clutch and transmission setup is. Obviously they don’t make no truck parts that are actually rated for what a 27 liter will put out. What’s crazy is you could see like 4 of these motors working to push a tugboat around.
The transmission is an 18 speed high torque with twin countershafts. The complete power train and braking/torque retarder was all engineered to work together.
Yep, to accommodate this engine the cab was moved back 10 inches, re-mounted and an extra 10 inches of hood and bracing was added (on the cab side) of a normal Peterbilt extended hood... it's an EX-EXHD 😃😎
I'm not a truck driver or a mechanic but there was a very old generator powered by a Caterpillar D399 in a hospital. It was huge!!! Do you have any info on that engine? From what I saw...I could only tell its a v16 but thats all I know😅
Yes, Caterpillar did make a D399 V16 turbo diesel engine. It was mostly used in marine/ship propulsion applications, and yes, there are quite a few that were used to power generators too
LOL, yeah, this beast rolls up to 70 mph without blinking... and 😃 pulls a 100,000 lbs like a normal Pete would pull 40,000 lbs... speed ain't the big feature here 😁😎
@@Drakonniz to be honest, it's not very practical. We didn't do it, it was commissioned by a company out of Colorado back in the late 90's. The only V12 that was ever put in a semi truck from the factory was a Detroit 12V71. This mechanical V12 CAT is a generator, big dozer or ship engine. The width, length, weight and torque specs require "engineering" to get it installed correctly. I'm not saying you/we couldn't do it, but I'm guessing the cost, including the engine, would be about $60,000 and that's not counting the torque retarder or transmission... I'm guessing that "all in" you would be looking at $100K
@@G2Customs I am aware of this, however, i still need the information for a project I am working on (its for PTSD therapy). Any information you could provided would be most appreciated. Heck, even photos if nothing else would be wonderful. I am designing a custom vehicle on paper as a project. That is why I am asking. You are the only source of information I can find at the current time.
@@Drakonniz ok, first you have to remove the hood and replace both the top and side panels to extend it an additional 8 inches, or frame/rivet in an 8 inch aluminum extension... then remove all the mounts for the cab and sleeper. Disconnect all the hoses, wiring, air lines, A/C lines and steering shaft from the cab. Move everything back 8 inches. Remove the front suspension brackets. Remove the rear suspension brackets. Remove the fuel tanks and lines. Install a new c-channel steel frame insert end-to-end. Drill new mounting bracket holes in the frame (through the new c-channel insert) for the cab & sleeper, tanks and suspension brackets. Replace all the hoses, A/C lines, fuel lines and install or extend a new wiring harness. Install a new extended steering shaft. Remove the steps, move them back 8 inches. Extend the exhaust using 5" flex tube & clamps. Then measure twice and drill/mount new engine mounts... new transmission mounts... You're just about ready to bolt in a V12
Contact me if you want to buy a Peterbilt with a Caterpillar 3408 or the most popular engine is the CAT 3406... the 3406b is a legendary 14.6L mechanical diesel... the 3406e is the most popular version, more modern
The majority of 3412 are found in marine applications, to power commercial ships, tug boats, barges, etc. Also power generation, i.e. the 3412 is often used to run a generator, a stationary application.
I researched it a bit. Seems to be a might heavy for an over the road truck. I guess you would need a 20,000lb front axle along with the giant ass wide tires to handle the weight. I would enjoy an under the hood peak at this monster. I would think you would need to beef the frame up quite a bit also. What did you use for a drive shaft and running gear to handle torque?
Yes, it's a V12 twin turbo, one turbo on each side... usually you will find this engine in marine or generator applications... this truck is double framed and modified to accommodate the engine
@@G2Customs that's awesome..I been n trucking 21 year never seen that..I seen big cats n dozers yah kno ..man that's a mean set up...I got a c16 its a beast ..id love to pull with 1 of those....
Not a single gear was found that lol. If you put your foot into the accelerator a little more instead of pussy footing, you will find the gears as you need them
Ooook super driver... first, Henry did not miss a single gear 😃 AND in less than two minutes we went from 20 mph to 75 mph as smooth as butter... this video was not an attempt to "hot rod"
No Caterpillar V12 has a "Jake Brake"... a Jake Brake is only on the inline 6 cylinder diesels. This engine has an exhaust retarder, but, much more effective for braking is the torque retarder that is mounted on the driveline behind the transmission in this truck
I have quite a few still pictures of the engine... I'll try to put together a slide show... I might be able to get a video of the engine running, but we sold the truck so 🤷
Dude, he hit the clutch once in this video... and, if you think you, or I should tell Hank how to drive, then you are delusional... Hank is 80 years old, he's been driving big rigs longer than you & I put together... Hank knows how to safely shift a truck... guaranteed, he's not concerned about looking cool floating gears
