What would be some non-abused engine loads to look for on the average 80k lb highway truck? I know how I drive mine. I've averaged well into the 8's in the last 450k, but I'm thinking finding a truck with an engine load at or near my lower percentage will be nearly impossible.
There's the average load (I'm assuming the entire engine load across all rpm and speed) and the average drive load (which I'm assuming is the load only calculated when vehicle is in motion). I've been asking for the ecm trip reports with the abuse and aftertreatment history. Been using the engine loads and average mpg to determine whether it's a truck I want to investigate further. Also using the full load operation time as a factor. I just want to make sure I'm not being too damn picky---I know 98% of them won't be feather-throttled like my current truck.
I've searched, but haven't seen much info about this. Whats a good place to stay below?
For the lifetime ECM load average, and not the trip average ...
Most highway trucks are in the 28% - 32% ~ish or so range. Well cared ror trucks usually are in the lower end of that.. and people who drive speed limits and waste fuel like a fool, using cruise all the time, etc.. are in the upper end of it.
Once you start seeing above 42% ~ish, then it is something either driven really hard by someone who don't give a damn about their truck.. or is a heavy haul truck (135k_lb and higher loads).
Canadian road-trains are usually in the 43% - 48%+ range ... sometimes as high as 53%~ish, and like mentioned on highway trucks.. the higher the number,... the more careless someone has been with it and the more abusive.
The Aussie road train trucks are in a completely different class all together though. - For the Aussie road-train trucks (extreme upper end that is seen) trucks, it is not unusual to see pure torturing values of 90%+ numbers. I have seen a few that were sitting at 98% and had a lot of miles on the clock.
This brings up a good point ...
The irony is that many of the Aussie road-train truck engines that I have seen, that get decent programming in them, etc. will usually last longer than the typical canadian road train truck engines. It is usually about 800km (less than optimal for sure) vs. only about 500km OR LESS for the canadians. This is because aussie enignes are not as badly abused like canadian trucks. Things like torturing rear ends that are egared wrong, the engine being lugged to death below 1500RPM... and then combine that with the plague of bad delete programming up there = nothing but pre-mature failures and costly issues.
- But you ask the typical canadian road train jockey .. they are quick to argue with ya and be thick-headed, swear their garbage delete program that they paid good $$$ for, that some complete moron shoved in there ECM, is not the issue. They always blame all their problems and short-as-h#ell engine lifespans on the engine itself instead.
Thanks Rawze, these are about the averages where I've been hunting. My truck, has a lifetime average of 24%, and that's including the first 345k mi of abuse which took an engine out (before owning it). I'd imagine with 775k now, the real percentage is actually a hair lower considering it's lowered the previous abuse. I understand those aren't typical numbers from any cookie cutter trucking outfit..
Just wanted to make sure I wasn't being unrealstic in what I've been hunting. Although no amount of money can prevent the possibility of the failure, I'd like to try to tame the risk a bit with some knowledge. Probably why this hunt was much easier the first time around lol.