Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/680184
The Louisville Truck Show is now over for another year and it was wonder- ful to meet all of our owner operator friends. I must say this show is like a family reunion, being we have been working the show for the past 25 years. The attendance was down slightly from 81,000 last year to 74,000 this year, and that might have been because the truck manu- facturer and engine manufacturers decided to not participate this year. We stayed very busy and did NOT miss the OEM's, besides, why would you purchase a new OEM built truck with all of the related problems. You can build a brand new truck with a 2002 trouble free engine with 650 to 700 horsepower that will run one million miles and get great fuel mileage properly driven. To me a glider kit is the most intelligent purchase you can make today. After the Louisville show we were invited to tour the PACCAR Engine Plant in Columbus, Mississippi. Two of our engineers, Debbie and myself were impressed with what we saw, a spotlessly clean well organized facil- ity with American workers who cared about what they built. It's always nice to see people with a good work ethic, after-all isn't that what built America? The 13-liter engine is what we focused on and we like the piston, connecting rod combination along with the con- figuration of the head. The intake and exhaust valves are offset so the exhaust doesn't have to push past the valve in front of it and both intake valves will receive the same amount of fresh air. The block and head casting are made of compacted graphite iron which is lighter and stronger than cast iron so the engine is several hundred pounds lighter. Another beautiful item on the PACCAR engine is a Holset Turbo- charger. Over the years I have had the privilege of working with several Holset engineers, and have the utmost respect for them and the fine product they produce. It was a brilliant deci- sion for the PACCAR engineers to work with Holset and stay away from the turbocharger group in California. Who knows, we may be working on PACCAR Engines in the very near future. By Bruce Mallinson, courtesy of Pittsburgh Power Inc. 22 www.bigrigowner.com J U N E 2 0 1 6 High Performance Diesels > Louisville Truck Show recap