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RE: Diesel Brothers
So old thinking...maybe okay before American Corporations (not the government) decided back starting the 80's to outsource manufacturing...then engineering/design...then whole product line design/engineering/production/etc...but not America has lost the ability to manufacture most of the basic materials/components/sub-systems/systems/etc...therefore dependent on our 'supply chain'...which is from offshore where 'we' outsourced it to...
Since 'they' are manufacturing most of our materials/components/sub-systems/systems/etc...'they' are now R&D'ing more and better than we can here in America
Don't blame our government...blame our corporate management, and they only did this both for personal greed and the stock market that kills the share price by dollars if corporations miss the 'target' by penny's
There really are no long any borders with regard to manufacturing/products/etc...
But this is not an absolute...there are 'some' manufacturing here in America and it is starting to grow in the cottage industry level
There is plenty of blame to go around but the government deserves the greatest share. From imposing costs on American manufacturing through well meaning social legislation without tariff protection from unregulated foreign competition to overly complicated taxes and regulations our government has very actively run manufacturing out of this country.
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Groover
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03/20/20 01:18pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Diesel Brothers
I have been wondering how long it would be before the EPA started enforcing the law on diesel trucks. I have long felt that at the very least any vehicle that causes a view obstruction (rolling coal) should be impounded and the tag confiscated until it is put back to the way it left the factory.
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Groover
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03/14/20 08:35am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: BEV battery technologies changing fast
GM's new battery news is exciting
Hope Tusk's giga factories can be retooled quickly...and if he has a retrofit plan.
Tesla has been investing aggressively in battery tech and is expected to make some major announcements before the end of April. And this tech will probably be in production before the end of the year, if not already. I think GM is talking 4 to 5 years out. I hope that GM succeeds but I have given up on them after watching their stock do essentially nothing since they went public again.
Tesla won't be needing to do battery retrofits any more than GM has been updating engines in 5 year old cars, which is zilch.
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Groover
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03/11/20 06:03am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: BEV battery technologies changing fast
Note the estimated recharge lifetime of only 1000 cycles.
This is not anywhere near enough - in my opinion. If one was to "top up" their EV battery once a day every day - just to feel good with regards to always leaving home with their EV battery at the 100% charge level (like we do with our smartphones) - then the EV battery would only be good for a little over 3 years (3 X 365 days = 1095 days = 1095 recharge cycles).
A charge cycle life of 3000 or more cycles would be more like it ... to go along with the estimated 800km EV range.Charge cycle is based on 100% discharge equivalent. So the 400 mile battery goes 400,000 miles before replacement. Most vehicles are long done before that mark.
Using 100% cycle is also the worst way to treat a battery. Since few people drive 400 miles every day most users will only run 70-80 percent cycle, charging at home on a regular basis using a moderate charge rate. This could easily stretch battery life past 600,000 miles.
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Groover
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03/11/20 05:56am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Pickup Trucks.com
The 2019 Ram feature is actually a sponsored add by Ram, not an article by PU.com.
They do have an article dated 2/25/2020 about the 2020 Tundra TRD Pro and it appears that they had been getting articles out a rate of about one a week before that but nothing that excited me. I would say that they are alive but just barely. In fact, checking on it was probably the first time I looked at the site this year. I used to check it at least daily.
Sadly, I think that some of the most loyal users killed it by getting too stupid and vile in the comments section. PU.com eventually had to turn off comments and the entire site seemed to lose its vitality. It also seemed to be that comments here got a little nastier shortly after that. I hope that those problem users didn't come here with their bad attitudes. This could be a case study in why we need to keep things friendly here.
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Groover
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03/10/20 06:43am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Ford F-150 towing mirror size?
I am a bit disappointed with mine. The passenger side main mirror is not convex so it has a surprisingly small field of view. The wide mirror below it is so convex that most things are too small. The mirrors themselves are huge so they catch a lot of wind and are view obstructions. I would like to try a truck with the standard mirrors for comparison but I am not going to trade trucks anyway so there is no real point in doing that.
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Groover
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03/08/20 08:48pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: timbrens
I would agree air bags do effect unloaded ride BUT ONLY if you are airing more than 0-5 psi.
I know that other people have reported different experiences but I ruined the backseat ride of two F150s by putting in 5K airbags. It wasn't nearly as noticeable in the front seat. I had to pull them out of one of the trucks before my wife would get back in it. I found 2K airbags to be much more tolerable but still up to the task.
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Groover
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03/05/20 11:32am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Tesla Semi truck unveil & test ride set for Oct 26th !
I would have preferred the looks and would have shifted to order this full-electric F150 from Cybertruck but this is way late.
Full electric F150 render
I have heard that Ford only has enough batteries lined up to make 50,000 of the Mach E the first year. It will be interesting to see how they do at getting batteries for anything else.
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Groover
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03/05/20 11:27am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: timbrens
OP here..
I decided to keep the original set of bags and manually fill them before a tow..
I could not justify the cost to upgrade to a compressor system, or Timbrens at this time..
Thanks for all the suggestions .
I expect that you could air up and down a lot of times for the effort required to remove the bags and install something else.
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Groover
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03/05/20 07:09am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: GM said : Hummer EV 1000HP & 11,500 lb. ft. tq. !
With completely different gear ratios between ICE engines and electric motors torque has become an irrelevant number. What we need to know is what the motive effort is at the ground under specific circumstances. Even on ICE engines we need to be clear whether torque multiplication from the torque converter would be factored into that.
This is not a new concept, farm tractors and train engines have been rated that way for over 100 years.
"Electric motors have maximum torque coming off zero rpm. That is why the Tesla is fast in the 1/4 mile."
Tesla acceleration is also due to AWD with very effective torque management that is very difficult to replicate with an ICE engine.
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Groover
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03/05/20 07:04am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Valve stem extensions for DRW
I took off the extensions off of my motorhome after they let all of the air out of the inner tires once and replaced them with a TPMS system and a double ended air chuck. No more flats and a lot more peace of mind. Much easier to use.
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Groover
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03/04/20 09:44am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 2020 IKE raw and unedited
If that was your main concern then I would have opted for the 360hp/800lb-ft version of that engine for your motor home instead of the 300hp/660lb-ft version. Although the only difference between the two is tuning so you can get it increased without hurting reliability.
First, its the turbo lag, not the power that I complain about. Second, I bought it for the floor plan and there is only one drive train available with that floor plan. The same unit with dual turbos and an 8 speed transmission would take care of most of my complaints.
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Groover
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02/28/20 09:22am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Motorcraft 10W30, 5W40, Rotella or Mobil 1 for 6.7
I always go by the book. I am not a huge fan of most dealer advice and suspect that the party covering the warrentee is more important to please. On that subject, I have never seen a factory recommendation for high mileage oil at an extra dollar or two per quart.
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Groover
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02/28/20 07:19am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 2020 IKE raw and unedited
I'm surprised they're pushing that much more boost just to gain a few more ponies.
The added boost and air flow is likely not just for the extra ponies, but rather keeping temps in check with the extra ponies in all situations even sustained loads. Cummins tunes their engines for sustained loads, not just short burst power. If that means they are not the horsepower king then so be it. At least that was the mindset when I was there, but I doubt much has changed in that department since then. This is why all the review sites always state that the Cummins seems to be less effected by loads than the other two. Because the engine is set up and tuned for sustained power under load, not stop light pulls.
This can be tuned out with an aftermarket tuner though and ironically the max tuned power output of all three on stock parts are roughly the same at around 525 rwhp.
I have always felt that anything not sold as a sports vehicle and especially trucks should be able to survive continuous full throttle applications without damage. However, when pulling out into traffic with a heavy load I find sluggish performance gives me much more anxiety than losing a mph or two going up a hill. There is some merit to off the line performance. That is why I preferred the EcoBoost to the Powerstroke for my trailer towing needs. And it is what I hate about the Cummins in my motorhome. Watching vehicles coming at me at 60mph while the engine is thinking about going can be stressful.
Incidentally, while the 2013 Cummins in the motorhome is only rated for 300hp and 660 lb-ft of torque I know that have have seen 32psi on the boost gauge when on the floor at 2600rpm.
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Groover
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02/28/20 07:13am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 2020 IKE raw and unedited
That is nice to know. I brought this up because my 2013 Freightliner warns against using the exhaust brake on slippery roads. I still feel that occasional manual application of the brakes on steep hills is not a terrible thing.
Unless your Freightliner has a 6.7L Cummins, then it does not have just an exhaust brake or it uses an exhaust brake in conjunction with an engine brake. It likely has an engine brake which is not the same as an exhaust brake. An exhaust brake is much smother and more gradual than an engine brake which almost fell like the wheel brakes at certain speeds. Exhaust brakes are good at keeping you at a certain speed while engine brakes are better at bringing you to a complete stop much quicker.
It doesn’t matter if it is an exhaust brake or engine brake. Using any device that can lock the wheels and lose control on slippery surfaces should be used wisely.
It is the 6.7. I am still not clear about the difference between an exhaust brake and an engine brake but it appears to shut a valve in the exhaust pipe and triggers downshifting. It is a pretty good match for holding a 23,000lb motorhome on a 6% grade at 60mph.
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Groover
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02/26/20 01:42pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Tesla Semi truck unveil & test ride set for Oct 26th !
Here is an interesting article/interview with a trucker that drives an electric truck for a living. His driving is a niche market but once a new technology finds a niche it has a way of expanding.
Trucker with experience driving electric
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Groover
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02/26/20 11:29am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 2020 IKE raw and unedited
"I believe it was a major achievement to go down the IKE w zero brake applications and this was understated."
I 100% agree! Towing heavy what is the MOST important thing a truck can do??? Drag race??? UH, me thinks controlling the LOAD.
As long as I get down the hill and still have the ability to stop without overheating my brakes I don't expect any more. If the engine braking cannot be overridden by the ABS system excessive braking can lead to a sudden, unexpected and hard to control jacknife. I agree that controlling the load is most important but I don't think that totally relying on engine braking is the best way to achieve that. I would accept the performance of any of the three for my driving. In fact, in the absence of knowing how engine braking or the ABS would react in a jacknife situation I prefer a system that I have more control of.
Jacknifing is actually one of the things tested in the J2807 and all three pass this even with the exhaust brake. Mainly because the ABS system has the ability to brake certain wheels(even the trailer) and apply different brake pressures to each wheel to control it. All while the exhaust brake continues to gently slow you down.
That is nice to know. I brought this up because my 2013 Freightliner warns against using the exhaust brake on slippery roads. I still feel that occasional manual application of the brakes on steep hills is not a terrible thing.
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Groover
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02/26/20 11:26am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 2020 IKE raw and unedited
"I believe it was a major achievement to go down the IKE w zero brake applications and this was understated."
I 100% agree! Towing heavy what is the MOST important thing a truck can do??? Drag race??? UH, me thinks controlling the LOAD.
As long as I get down the hill and still have the ability to stop without overheating my brakes I don't expect any more. If the engine braking cannot be overridden by the ABS system excessive braking can lead to a sudden, unexpected and hard to control jacknife. I agree that controlling the load is most important but I don't think that totally relying on engine braking is the best way to achieve that. I would accept the performance of any of the three for my driving. In fact, in the absence of knowing how engine braking or the ABS would react in a jacknife situation I prefer a system that I have more control of.
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Groover
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02/26/20 09:31am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Tesla Semi truck unveil & test ride set for Oct 26th !
"In defence of the Porsche I don’t think it is intended to compete against Tesla. The Porsche market is a buyer looking for a luxury high performance sports sedan. Although the Tesla model S is comparable in performance it is not really a luxury product and falls more into the premium category. The Porsche also costs A LOT more which is kind of important to a Porsche buyer. The Tesla (387 miles) has almost twice the EPA range as the Porsche (201 miles). The Porsche driver can always buy a Tesla if he goes on a road trip. Then he’ll have access to the Supercharger network."
True. There are always people that won't buy something because it popular. They don't want to be confused with others and will pay dearly for that. From what I have heard the Porsche has some advantages, all of which I could never justify for the extra money but for many people the extra cost is just pocket change.
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Groover
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02/21/20 06:28am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 2020 Cummins IKE pull
"The computer is applying the wheel brakes both truck and trailer."
How do you know if the brakes were coming on the trailer on this test? Maybe the engine was doing what it needed with the trans?
Right past the 2 minute mark they say that it is using the truck and trailer brakes and also making the lights come on both.
In my motorhome the engine brake activates the brake lights. Brakes lights alone is not good evidence that the mechanical brakes were applied. In truth, if you are holding back as much as they were the brake lights should be applied no matter what the source of the impediment is.
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Groover
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02/20/20 10:22am |
Tow Vehicles
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