TomC Truck Conversion

[TomC]

The mechanical Cat's with jacket water aftercooling were a bit higher rpm then the air to air intercooled ones.  I found that 16-1800rpm was the right cruising speed that kept the pyrometer (exhaust temperature) from creeping up.  The continuous speed rating for this (and most truck Diesels) is 1800rpm-which is just under 65mph-fast enough for me.  Your right about engine speed, if I had a Series 60, 3406E or C15.  Good Luck, TomC

[jackhartjr]

Tom, GREAT work thus far!
I always LOVED those KW's.
We had one at a company I used to work for, the power in that CAT was awsome!  It kept having the drive axle tire replaced...had so much power that when going up a mountain it would burn the rubber right off the tires!
Not to hyjack the thread, I saw a guy that had on of the BJ and The Bear trucks, (There were three I think) and he said that ape had completely ruined the interior...he had to replace it!
Jack

[TomC]

Jack-the first BJ and the Bear truck was a 1980 108" Aerodyne that had a Cummins 300hp and a simple 7spd transmission in it so the driver didn't have to think much about shifting it.  The other two had Cummins 400hp and 13spds.  And you're right-everytime they sold one, they had to put a new interior in it from the smelly monkey.  Good Luck, TomC

[busnut104]

Nice job Tom, I was thinking before the bus that I would like to build a truck conv. I was going to use a conventional cab so I could tie in the living are with the driving area like the bus. Pretty hard to do with a cab over, having to tilt the cab.

[TomC]

If you look at the other post of the interior, I have a boot that separates to connect the cab with the living area.  Granted it is only 40x20, but easily accessible.  The only real drawback to the truck design is missing the big windshield for forward observation.  Good Luck, TomC