It means it's set up to run at the higher horsepower when you have the cruise on but derates to the lower hp when the cruise is off...another fuel-saving feature.

Thats the trick to the split HP, hit that cruise while climbing and you will feel it pull, if you have to drop a gear, hit the cruise again when you get it in the lower gear and it will still keep pulling with more HP than mashing the throttle to the floor with your foot.

I have a 350 Cummins, hual logs up and down mountains and it does fine. I would love to have more hp, but for a older engine that is all mechanical and avg 5.5 with loads avg 88,000 I can't complain.

I wish i had a 375 or more horse. i got a 350 11.1 det and it does the job. it does not have big power but it will beat most bigger engines on m.p.g. 6.5 ave. with over 1 mil mi on engine with no work done to it. but if i had a big motor i would not get as good fuel mi cause i would have my foot in it more often..

Excuse the smile things. I meant I thought that was excellent advice. Also this one MPG is everything.

LOL, I don't know if I should be insulted or not? :lol:

Re: Is 430 HP enough?
 

I just bought a used truck with a 435 hp Cat C15. It has 1,650 lbs of torque, and if I could give advice, I'd say - go for a truck with higher torque rating and direct drive transmission. Torque is what moves the truck up the mountains and with direct drive transmission you have all the torque "at the wheels".

My truck has an overdrive transmission (13 speed), and in the top gear I have 0.73 ratio which means I can only get 1,650 times 0.73 of torque at the wheels :( Direct drive tranny would have the ratio of "1" meaning I'd get the entire 1,650 lbs of torque...

I tried to uprate the engine to 475 hp, 1650/1850 multitorque, but the previous owner had put in a 1,650 lbs rated tranny, so the dealer said, "No dice; you'll damage the transmission if you increase the torque."

On the positive side even with 435 hp I am doing okay. I run around and under 60 mph and my trips are between the North-East USA and Canada.

PS: If you have problems in the mountains with a lower HP engine, you can always save some money and: 1) switch to low profile tires; 2) change the axle ratio; 3) re-rate your engine if such an opportunity exists.

Well Tracer thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I don't understand too much of it. But anyway I'm coming down to two trucks.

The first one has the smaller HP and has 385,000 miles on it. I actually like that one better. I've got them to go as low as they claim they'll go on the prices. The one thing he conceded on was he will put new tires on the truck. It is a 2004 Freightliner Century. I can get an extended warranty for that one.

The second one is a 2005 Freightliner Columbia with 325,000 miles on it. It still has a warranty on it. I don't have the info in front of me but the HP was I think 470/510. There is a difference of price of $9,000 between them.

They both are very clean. On the Columbia he won't come down on price anymore so I'm wondering what else can I squeeze him for? I'm going to talk with a few people this weekend and then decide I guess. I have the time to make them work for my money but I have a lot of work lined up so I want to get moving.

Any ideas what else to look for or what else a dealer will "throw in"?


By the way there are some Penske trucks coming in next week. 2005 with low miles in the 200,000 range. Basic models, don't have aluminum wheels etc

I would hire your own mech to take a look at whatever you choose before you actually seal the deal. Get a dyno too. Spend a tiny bit just to verify before spending so much.

My truck is a volvo and it has the volvo D12 465hp motor. Now it will back out a bit on steep hills if pulling @40K or so. BUt the fuel mileage avg @ 7.5 or higher. It makes me smile when the big motor trucks who pass me on the hills are getting fuel when I go by the truck stop. It is not a big issue to me since I pull a reefer and run ATl to Central Fl. and back.