International Harvester CXT monster!!!

Well, you DO have to take into consideration of who owns Allison - GM.

 

In my experience the type of people who drive such things for the wrong reasons have too little self awareness to feel like fools, regardless of their foolishness.

And if those people are in the majority (is this qualifier really necessary?), then they will vote away our savings to pay for their retirement years, or they will use bankruptcy or some other legal crutch to finance their selfishness.

Sorry, you can't win this one. Just know that goodness is its own reward, and let the others learn on their own schedules.

[remind self to refrain from preachiness next time :wink: ]

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wolfman\";p=\"80379)</div>

well they tow 3 trailers and use the Cummins electronic engine and are 4X4 and burn 60-70 gallons a shift, moving 180,000lb. gross. Total tow distance is about 3/4 mile. Container movers on the dock. 9 trucks servicing 3 cranes. And they are expanding. It's one very intensive use of an automatic tranny.

 

Sounds like some pretty awesome heavy hauling. While I would expect clutch pack and band issues with that kind of work, I'd still be grouchy about sensor and relay failures. Such items aren't subject to the stresses of the weight of the equipment being moved.

 

it's a sight to see when they're unloading a freighter. The trucks have a electronic spotter on the cab and the driver just pulls it up and the spotter stops the truck in the correct spot for the crane to set the next container on the next trailer then the next and off they go to where the top lift container handler picks the container off the trailers and stacks them. Quite the sight.

 

I've seen that kind of thing going on in the rail yard in Denver. I used to love being dispatched to pick up containers there. The place was a madhouse, but a fun to watch.

That brings me to a story on one visit there. The boss sent this one driver who later got fired for drug use to pick up a container with a class 8 truck. He ended up calling, stating that he twisted the driveline, and rendered the truck undrivable. Since I was the former OTR guy, they sent me out in a medium duty International truck (the granddaddy of the CTX in the thread), to see what I could do to get that truck out of the way.

Once I got to the railyard, I immediately saw that he blew the small driveshaft between the duals. I then instructed said idiot driver to flip the dash switch to engage the front diff, move that thing out of my way, and park it out front for the later tow. Once the light bulb came on in his head, he pulled the truck back out from under the trailer, and went clanging away to the front the railyard.

I then proceeded to stuff that little International under the trailer, which was WAY overweight for the truck, and hook up all of the air and electrical lines. Numbnuts had walked back to where I was by then, and was all worried all the way back to the yard about the load, which I carefully lugged back to the yard - much to the surprise and relief of the boss who was furious over the thought that this freight was going to be unable to be sorted for delivery on time. :mrgreen:

 

interesting how an interlock works. Load balancing in the extreme.

 

Yeah, I later figured that I should have really shown the idiot up by pulling the driveshaft, and driving the wounded truck back to the yard with the trailer on it.

 

I agree with Frank: when the electronic Allison is working properly, they're perfect. When they act up due to a wiring problem, a sensor problem, a software problem, etc, you are totally FUBAR'd. All range select is inhibited and you're stuck there.

Magazines like Trailer Life have tested the Medium Duty converted for recreational towing, and the fuel economy figures I've quoted are realistic.

IOW they compare quite well to a "light duty" one ton with a LD diesel and especially good to a Big Block gas motor.

The only manual they tested was a Mitsubishi Fuso and it got around 12 empty, 8-10 towing. Most old coots would probably not want to deal with a dual-range stick shift, so they go with something like a Corn Binder with an Allison.

 

In most tandem axles the Power Divider is the weak link. They usually fail if the unit is on snow/ice and the operator is spinning like crazy. The Power Divider isn't getting any lubrication, since the front axle is stationary, and the bearings quickly seize.

Once the bearings seize, at the very least the interaxle shaft will corkscrew. Usually the failure is dramatic. I've seen some of those failures at pulp mills when inexperienced operators don't want to look "dumb" asking for a pull from the Huff and instead try to spin on snow/ice.

 

A decade late for the market, and one for some future history book on the vintage trucks of yesteryear, something that will never be more than a footnote of automotive history.

Fuel costs are going up MORE, not less, so anyone buying one of these things for a get around town toy is sheer nuts.

The only case for a Hummer is to get an armored one, and the better choice for executive protection is likely an armored Beemer.

 

Nah, there are *way* better choices out there for "protection," up to Level IV:

Lincoln will sell you a Town Car factory equipped with up to Level III. You can also get a Crown Vic. Both have body-on-frame so can handle the increased weight.

Or you can get something like a 3/4 or 1 ton pickup and send it off to O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt. The pickup requires almost no suspension modification as it will easily handle the additional 2,500-4,500 lbs of armor weight.

As much as I don't like the Suburban, the 3/4 ton Sub is still the favorite armoured vehicle out there.

If carjacking gets any worse, don't be surprised to see O'Gara offer a Prius with anti smash-and-grab glass.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wolfman\";p=\"80379)</div>

actually DDA, Detroit Diesel Allison was spun off from GM quite a while ago, possibly 5-8 years ago and sold to Pesnkey. But then most of the old guard were probably taken with that division.