I’ve been running my 3408 powered Kenworth for over 20 years and it hasn’t missed a beat except for 2 blown turbos in all that time. It’s putting out 550 HP @1900 RPM at the wheels, but I see yours is air to air aftercooled whereas mine is jacket water aftercooled as from the manufacturer. It pulls 11 axle A-Trains @ 174,000 lbs (79 tonnes) all over the Australian outback. One small mistake, you’re wrong about the bore and stroke being the same as a 3406. The 3408 has a shorter stroke but the same bore, although a lot of parts are the same. If it had the same stroke, the engine would be 19 liters, not 18. My engine’s never been out the frame, it’s had 3 in-frames and it’s done nearly 70,000 hours since 1980 when it was built. The secret is clean oil, properly dosed coolant, proper start up and shut down, and bearing rolls at the right intervals. Plus never let anyone else drive it.
Are 3408s a bit fragile? We have a Sig Series 02 KW Cummins coming up on 1.45m kms that has the shit thrashed out of it by 5 different people (all of who would be struggling to drive a stick up a dogs arse btw) and its had about 5 clutches and 2 partial gearbox rebuilds. The whole truck is turning to shit but the motor has had 2 turbos but not so much as the head off it. It overheats too. We just leave it alone as much as possible in case it stops lol. I suppose comparing an inline 6 to a V8 is a bit unfair since V8s suffer secondary vibration that inline 6s don't. We have a few 3406 Cats but they don't have the poke on hills our Cummins engines do. Would i rather a Cummins over a 3408 for the type of work you do? Nah I'll take the 3408 (that's the mechanic in me. I like you can open them up and the cylinder bmehp is lower than a 6 as well as the hp being at 1900 as opposed to 2100 ;)
ThePaulv12 I hardly think mine is fragile, just look at the hours it’s done and the weight it pulls in extreme heat. There’s still a few operating here in Australia with bigger loads than mine. As long as you do the bearing rolls, like any early 3400 series, and you don’t lug it below around 1400 rpm, the crankshaft will last. I’m a firm believer in oil sampling every oil change too.
Nowadays they put out those kind of numbers with six cylinders not eight, plus considerably more torque and decent mpg not gpm like this hog. Don't get me wrong, it's cool as all get out, but not efficient.
@@opaqueman5043 we're still pretty far from making capable electric semis. There's just no way to pack the range a massive tank of diesel does with current battery technology.
The truck is still running today and there is not an ISX or a c15 that wants anything to do with it. It will snack on those PDI tune C 15 6nz engines they would not even be a full meal for that old cat
That's J & J Transport's old truck. It's got a 4 way behind the main box. Jimmy took good care of those trucks. Their main business was hauling transformers
For those who wondering why that big 18 litres V8 engines with over 600 bhp have relatively low torque figure? In my educated guess, it is a legacy from the past. Cat offered 3408 at max 450 hp 1450/1460 ft.lb back in 80's, why so? Because clutch and transmission back then not as strong as today and simply cannot handle big amount of torque. 1450 ft.lb was a big number 30-40 years ago.
That was my dads truck there is a lot of stories behind that truck. Broke the chains on the dyno for us. So you know I’m real underneath the American flag sticker there is a ding and the pin striping on the bunk is not the same height one sides lower then the other. Dose it still have the 4 and a 6 twin sticks in it.
Cool story but it’s power didn’t break the chains lol. Must have been a weak link. 1700 foot pounds torque and 600 hp doesn’t equate to much in today’s standards with what goes on these dynos. It was powerful for its day but the worked over 6 cyl are putting out way over that in torque and you have trucks with worked over cats and Cummins putting down over 1200 hp on these dynos. So no, this 3408 didn’t brake those chains because of its power
Beautiful truck!! Fantastic engine. I used to work at a Kenworth dealer and nearly all of us there would come around and look at one of these when it came in. For me, it was the 3408, either PC or DI or the 1693. Real powerhouses the old-fashioned way - brute strength!
Volvo is a throwaway truck not to mention its foreign. Buy American and shift it for Christ's sake. Oh and don't forget to take your flip-flops off before you walk in the truck stop
these engines were used in shrimp boats, tugs, and large lobster boats and it was very common to see them rated at 1000 + hp continuous hp, shaft hp in the 1100 range.
Awesome to see old school equipment. I have owned 4 trucks and had all the major engines. The Cat was the most powerful and expensive to work on the Cummins was decent but the most dependable and easiest on fuel was the 12.7 Detroit. Before you all get ur knickers in a twist remember That's my opinion yours of course will be different.
Ray McGhee I’m just a wrench but I like the older 60 series. It gets no love. It’s fairly simple , has decent power and gets decent economy. It doesn’t kill any category , just performs well and that’s what’s needed for a workhorse. Done many a engine dyno pull with some guys from interstate mcbee as they were developing replacement injectors years ago. I forgot how many runs we did , but it was over about a 6mo period every few days, and probably 4-6 pulls each time they came. Heh those ol boys learned pretty good how to swap injectors, I think we got it down to about 45 mins with 3 guys.
MrHillfolk Lifetime wrench here too , your description is exactly correct , been around them all , young and the old moth eaten stuff too worked on gensets w/v 71 series Detroit's, 1693 cats , all the old Cummins , even the ones w superchargers B's I think , compression releases also, but with the steel haulers and the graveltrains horsepower was/is king .But with the spreading out of the auto industry that isn't what it was years ago.
Very cool. Nice truck. I suspect that long after our government craps out these trucks will still be moving up n down the roads bringing people what they need😁.
Well I been reading the comments and replies figured I would add one of my own back in the day I drove a 83 359 with a 3408 and a 6x4 it was at 1150 hp and 2400 foot pounds of torque if you were real conservative about how you drove you could get 4.2 out it but usually 3.5 mpg and it had 308 gears in it it was never late for anything but a fuel stop and was registered on paper in AZ at 165 mph it was so hot that at nighttime you could get the elbows to turn red pulling hills but it would bust and split a 4 speed auxiliary straight down the Center
AWESOME! Thanks for posting. Don't know what kind of mpg's this guy is getting but God bless him for keeping some old school iron like that big beast out on the road! If that ain't pure American muscle, I don't know what is. I think I'm still having heart palpitations after hearing her beautiful song on that dyno!
Plenty of parts are interchangeable though. I’m rebuilding a spare 3408 truck engine and a lot of part numbers are the same, except for heads, block and crank of course. Water pump and oil cooler are different too.
You can make it a b model 3408 by putting a b model crank and cam in it convert the fueling over to a b model cut c16 pistons in it c 18 connecting rods and a 3508 turbo and marine heads then you can put some real power to the ground
@@bryanwilson5011 And hope that offset crank won't break. Why don't you think that truck pullers use the 90 degree Mack V-8? Because it is nearly indestructable. Caterpillar 60 degree V-8 (from a shortened 3412) crankshaft is weak and cannot take much more than 800hp reliably. Why don't you think that Caterpillar doesn't make the 3408 anymore-in favor of the superior C18?
@@Tchristman100 that's why they put the b model crank in them old tc cats bud in 1987 v8 cats were b models bud that's why you cut in c16 pistons I mean really you need it all spelled out for ya
@@bryanwilson5011 Really sort of a moot point now since the only 3408 that Cat makes is the G model for natural gas with spark plugs putting out a measly 425hp maximum. They do still make the 3406C mechanical (like my 3406B jacket water aftercooled).
Old school trucks are coming back (except in California where they've been outlawed by the climate change fanatics) At my first job in the 1970s & 80s we had some light duty Ford F7000s with the 3408s. Very reliable and generally trouble free. We averaged about 6 mpg on the road (5 in the mountains) At the time we still had some with 534 gas engines that got about 4 mpg. They were pigs.
My grandpa was a diesel mechanic on the 3rd shift back the day, worked for Mason/Dixon trucking out of Kingsport. Anyways one of his jobs was running the trucks on the roller dyno like this. Said he always had the driver's door open when he did these pulls, so he could hear the engine/driveline better and it was really hot back in that room as well. I'll never forget him talking about nodding off for just a second while he was doing a pull, getting the truck up to speed on the rollers. Said he woke up, engine was roaring, there was a brick wall about 10' in front of him, he jumped right out the open driver's door. Scared him to death lol.
I haul logs out of Louisiana we’re always over not very many trucks around could have kept up with her unfortunately we got rid of her because body was falling apart it was all there though
4 was a good number you could turn them to 400 horsepower on both sides and still do 4 mpg engine brakes were the reason they dropped it in us. Was still available in Canada after 87
That's a really pure CAT 👏👌👍 That's a really a hilarious on the hills 😃 no one passes this beast 🤣 👏 😃👌 this is a best truck ever see👏👏👌👍 cheers from Norway
These days they build em just to barely make it out of the warranty period, if you follow the manufacturer recommended service internals you be lucky to see 500k on the dash before she needs a inframe.
That is very well put: making them only last until the warranty period is over. I just don't think heavy duty diesel engines can take all the emissions b******* that gasoline car engines can with without consequences.
true, but they have refined diesel fuel for cleaner burn, less lubrication now so wears engines faster. I would imagine regular early oil changes with a good fuel additive they should all go 800k+
You can make it a b model 3408 by putting b model crank cam and fueling system cut c16 pistons in it with c18 connecting rods marine heads and a 3508 turbo then you can put some power to the ground
I love how everyone is so fast to shit talk about a Cat or a Cummins or a Detroit and so on!!! But 99% of them have NEVER even OWNED or worked on any of them!!! Let alone ALL of them to actually have a foot to stand on to put one or the other down. LOL!!!
Shit? Give me a break! 90% of the motors in our shop are Cats. On the rare occasion we have Detroit, it's more often than not a fuel or blower problem. Almost never mechanical.
@@SgtStickyTits notice I said NEW Detroit's. It's sad a shitmins can't even go 100k without a cam lobe shittin the bed. Series 60 Detroit's can't even go 75k without shittin the rear or front main seal. I worked for caterpillar for 7 years. I worked for Cummins for 6 months. I quit Cummins when I found out what a bunch of fraudulent fucks they truly were. Ship a cam to us with "MADE IN USA" on the box. Pull the cam out to find shitty grinds and shitty hard faced surface. Look on the end of the cam and see "MADE IN BRAZIL" the fuck? Call Cummins. "The camshaft are casted and hardened in Brazil then shipped here. The finishing process is done here. There for its "MADE in USA" " uh.... That's not the way it works.... But... Ok. Every single cam we replaced lasted between 65k and 100k. The shop wound up habing to replace a guys fully built and tuned 800hp big cam 400 because the cam was hollow 😂
@@robby844 You must of worked at a shop with a bunch of morons working there because I have had #2 Big Cam 3's and a Big Cam 4 and they ALL had over 1.5 million on them without ever being apart or rebuilt and the factory installed camshaft still in them never replaced.
Every dyno, whatever the vehicle type, always done at direct ratio (1:1). On semi truck like this, if it got 13 speed or 18 speed eaton fuller, the direct ratio is on 7H gear (11th gear on the 13 speed eaton or 16th gear on the the 18 speed eaton)
If you own rig & trailer free and clear and if you have a good lanes or a fixed contract that pays. You can run pretty much anything you want,hell I'd run a hopped silver 8v92 just to piss off the envirodicks. Every time I'd turn the key would be a great big F.U. to the world.and bring a smile to my face
Keep that old girl lubed, greased, and polished so she’ll go another million while lookin pretty. That’s the perfect truck to restore as a show piece when it’s time to retire it off the highway so people don’t forget what an oldish truck is.
And you can literally fix it yourself on the side of the road. Between the lack of breakdowns and cost of mechs nowadays it makes up for it’s inefficiencies in fuel cost by saving labor and downtime costs.
Excellent point you made. As one who's lost $400 a day for the last 20 work days because I can't find an available $189 an hour mechanic to take me within 4 days after I call them I'm calling a mobile mechanic and just crying uncle. Don't forget about the DEF fluid cost which could be as much as four cents per mile and then those DEF filters are like $1,500 so yeah.... I might hop on the spreadsheet and try and drill down more on this. But for me, hauling intermodal containers, I pretty much have to get 6 miles per gallon but I still use a pre EGR pre ELD tractor to do it. If I were in higher paying freight I think I could stand a five mile a gallon truck.
that's a a really a king of the road not so much trucks passed this 😂 Take care of this beast 👌 cheers from Norway CAT 3408 a one of the best ever V8 CAT made
NICE TO HAVE A TRUCK LIKE THAT, SO LONG YOU MAINTAIN IT RIGHT AND Y OUR DRIVING STYLE IS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THIS ENGINE AND YOU CARE ABOUT MANTANICE OF THAT ENGINE.
Drove a 3406b in a89 k-w it was like a mule headed back to the barn loaded or empty ,get your ducks in a row boys and this won't hurt a bit. Company trucks right lane.
Still running 2 3408 Cat Powered 1985 W900's in our fleet. You take care of them and not abuse them they will last. Caught one driver Rough Handling one of our trucks. We had him pulled into the next Scale house and fired him.
Don't try this at home your wife will slap you as if you have one 25000 and up to rebuild friend of mine had one rebuild in Nevada Mine by one of the best cat Rebuilders no BS but if you have the big dollars and you don't give a s*** go for it you'll be the first one on top of the hill that's for sure
Did this truck come from southeast pa? Fixed a twin to it (same color and exact same stripes) a whiel back, but i belive it had a 3406.....wonder if they owned this truck as well
I’ve always been fascinated by this engine and know virtually nothing about it. One old timer told me they don’t like cold weather and are hard starters. He said they can be expensive to repair and aren’t reliable but again that’s one man’s opinion.
My first job we had some 3408 Cats in trucks for peddle runs. They were very reliable but he was right in repairs being expensive. Parts are indeed expensive.
Fuel is an issue today... I have no idea which old and new engines are the most fuel effiecient... Guess alle the elctronic injection and working together with the auto transmissions works for better fuel consumption. But all the emmisions after treatment works the other way... Just a thought and in no way an expert opiniun from me
Benjamin Esposti Dumbass regen that uses fuel. Smh, so dumb. Modern diesel emissions equipment reminds me of the year I was born. 1973. Let’s slap some shit on here to choke power and kill fuel mileage, and still not be all that clean. But look at cars now, who drives a new car home and cuts the cat off anymore? Besides the engine management issue , it won’t really add much more power even if you retuned for it. Modern gasoline emissions equipment actually works and isn’t much of a hinderance. I won’t buy a 08 or newer diesel, I’ve gotta resort to my old toys now.
Would like to see somebody come up with some Jake's for one of these 3400 series 8s.... I'm just thinking out loud here but theredically wouldn't the jake housing off a 3406b work on the 3408 head?.... would have to make a custom rockerbox cover though
No , because 3400 series cat don't have a rocker arm for injectors ( which is used by a jake ) 3406 uses a adjoining cylinder rockers to triger the jake the timing of rocker arms don't come out wright for a 3408.
That’s so awesome. The engine in my pickup dynoed at 1138 HP and 1285 Flbs of torque. But it eats fuel like mad! Two fuel pumps are needed when that tune is in.
Anatoliy Dashkevich Yes it’s a gas engine. It’s a 454 LSX with twin turbos. Finally found a great tuner in Florida. Low boost in 1st gear. Maybe 7 pounds. 2nd gear 10-12 Pounds, 3rd gear 16 pounds and 4th gear it rips at 24 to 26 pounds of boost. It’s had 100+ dyno runs and 300+ passes at the strip. Texas Speed & Performance know what they’re doing.
