I got my *** handed to me one night goin up Sandstone Mountain in W.V. by a KW T2000 with a 600hp ISX in it. I told my boss I wanted to trade my Kitty Cat in.

 

, yeah, even cummins in the big truck industry is top notch! I used to drive a century with a red top, and even in our POS detuned Ryder lease trucks, loaded at 80K I could pass large cars on I-81 cummins out of Raven (MM104) frikkin monster. Not to mention the sound of the jakes on that truck. Cat has the nicest jakes on big ol fat pipes, Cummins a close second, but Cummins, hands down for the best motor all around!

 

I'm a Cummins fan but you gotta love those big Clatterpillars!

 

Yeah, I love my Cat, this KW I drive will run 126 empty or loaded, but I was impressed by that 600 Cummins. A buddy of mine has a 600 ISX with a million miles on it, a mechanic dropped a couple bearings out of it and told him it might go another million. Said they looked brand new

 

CATs sound the best, Cummins has the best parts network, and Detroit gets the best fuel mileage.

This day & age it's a toss up to which one is the best.

 

That maroon Freightshaker I had that is the first pic on this thread had a 60 series Detroit and I couldn't get over 5.5mpg on the road. The KW with the 550 Cat I drive now gets that. Maybe it was just that motor but I'll sacrifice
.5mpg for the power that the Cat makes.

 

Just by the way you're talking it sounds like the Detroit was underpowered in your application. That makes a lot of difference.....even in pickups.

 

500 hp, hell, i don't know. That was the biggest one they made back then I think. The guy also had another truck with the 430/470 in it. It would pull pretty good but the odometer didn't work so I don't know what kind of fuel mileage it got, then it blew up

 

LOL. Sounds like a bad batch.

We have two 575's and two 500's. All of them are averaging 4.5mpg in trucks grossing 105,500 both directions. 53' chip trailers or hauling wet lap pulp. Hardly ever empty.

Our CATS are getting just under 4mpg doing the same job. Our ISX's are the superstars of the fleet. 565hp versions pulling in almost as much as the Detroits (4.3mpg) but shifting less to do it. Great engines.

26 trucks total--including dumps, lowboys, flatbeds, the chip trucks, and the chunk box trucks--with just about every possible combination of engine/transmission available....makes my job interesting.

 

My old '02 Shaker had a 60 series 12.7, 13, and 3.70 rears would average out around 6.3 some times a little better. That thing was unbelieveable, ohio, and illinois speed killed my mileage. That truck LOVED Arizona, New Mexico 2 AM speeds.

I have driven a couple detriots sence and couldnt average over 4.7, they pulled OK. But nothing like every Cummins I have driven. Had a C-15 Cat twin turbo in my company Werner trucks and a log truck that wernt too bad, but either detuned or just the wrong transmission. Anything under a 13 should be banned.