Copperhead
Explorer
Joined 8 years ago
User Profile
User Widgets
All Activity
Re: using a 2012 ridgeline for towing
Depending on what they are doing, I never chastise anyone for towing with a 1/2 ton. On the other hand, I prefer to not tow anything with less than the 3/4 ton that I have. I prefer the stability, brakes, etc over the typical 1/2 ton. There is more to it than that. What all the OEM's have done to their 1/2 tons has made all of them undesirable to me. That is all brands.553Views0likes0CommentsRe: Tesla Semi truck unveil & test ride set for Oct 26th !
thomasmnile wrote: Thanks for the education and some 'real world' insight. Do you see E-trucks as viable/practical as urban delivery vehicles? Frito Lay has a plant/distribution facility in our area, I have seen a medium duty Frito Lay E-truck making deliveries to the supermarket we frequent. Don't know what their overall fleet looks like, but there's at least one roaming the streets here. An interesting observation as well about driver hours and mandated rest periods. Explains why the only rest area on I-4 just east of Orlando is 'standing room only' at night. And why, when Fl DOT proposed permanently closing this rest area as part of a 21 mile renovation project, the trucking industry vehemently protested and FDOT reversed their decision. Yes, urban delivery is called local P&D (pickup and delivery) that I mentioned, along with terminal to terminal relay operations. I just don't see it as viable for the long haul sector. But the same thing is observable when it comes to Natural Gas powered semi trucks. They are fine for local P&D and terminal to terminal operations, but have a long way to go to make it into the long haul part of commercial trucking. As much as T. Boone Pickens and others myopically stated that the entire trucking sector could convert to NG and will do so in 20 year (he stated that almost 20 years ago). We don't hear from that old codger anymore either. Just another hype to garner attention and appease the greeenie crowd, while at the same time making life more difficult for those already in the profession. I will admit, the NG solution even caught my attention. The fuel network has a long way to go to garner the OTR market. But it is about as close to realistic as anything has gotten thus far. One thing I have become acutely aware of is that when folks who have no real experience in logistics try to interject their ideas into the foray, they usually mess things up more than actually provide viable solutions. But, just like even a blind squirrel will find a nut occasionally, there are rare occurrences when outside ideas are credible. Usually offered by people who are not seeking the limelight such as Musk and Pickens.591Views0likes0CommentsRe: Tesla Semi truck unveil & test ride set for Oct 26th !
free radical wrote: wnjj wrote: stsmark wrote: Great point Copperhead, as I understand they have 2 that are going to be real world test mules with a carrier to see how they fit in. Seems like a reasonable plan. Yep. https://www.greencarcongress.com/2019/08/20190815-ecascadia.html My cousin is a mechanical engineer working for that group. Traditional OEM’s will find it much easier to electrify their platforms than stubborn Elon will to produce anything reliable. This BEV “technology” isn’t exactly rocket science. Shipping quality vehicles to meet a wide variety of customer markets is much more difficult. Those Cascadia trucks have only 200 mile range, Where will you REcharge it after that? Tesla semi gets 500 -600 miles, and largest Supercharger network in the country https://electrek.co/2019/08/15/tesla-semi-electric-truck-exceeds-range-expectation-test-driver/ Production takes time Good things come to those who wait I have been for almost 40 years, and still am, involved directly in the freight transportation industry. A 500-600 mile range is not going to cut it for quite a bit of what goes on in trucking. Let's look at a typical OTR trucking scenario. The day is started. The hours of service electronic log gets started also. The driver has 14 hours in which to run 11 hours of actual driving. In the midst of that 14 hours, the driver must log off duty and not move the truck for 30 minutes sometime before the first 8 hours of the 14 lapse. Traffic conditions, road construction, weather all effect how far one can get in that 11 hours. The general rule to gauge timing is to calculate time based on an average of 55 mph. So, 11 hours gets one a total of about 600 miles in one day, on average. Conditions may be such that one may cover more or less. The old days of Smokey and the Bandit are long gone. One starts they day by getting a a load and it must be 560 miles away at a customer by 0700 the next morning. One can do the miles sure enough, but they must take a 10 hour break at the end of the day. If they stop at a place that can charge the semi truck back up, they will not be able to complete the full 10 hours to make the customer by the 0700 appointment time to deliver the load. If the make the run to an area near the customer so they can meet the appointment time, they are not at an area that they are able to charge the truck. So while they can make the delivery, they have no reserve of power to do anything else after they do so. And if one cannot meet the appointment, many customers will force a reschedule to the next day. Typical food store warehouses, Walmart, etc have delivery windows that they are firm on. The typical road driver is paid by the mile. They are not going to sit for 24 hrs just to deliver the next day. And even if they are paid by the hour, a employer is not going to pay $25 or more an hour for a driver to sit 24 hours because of some goofy electric truck. They know these things go on and will not invest in electric trucks. These electric truck, for quite a while, will only be good for local P&D work. They have a considerable way to go to make any inroads into the OTR trucking market. Only when there is reliable onboard charging and the network for fuel (hydrogen fuel being the target fuel of choice by these electric truck makers) is almost as broad as the diesel fuel market is now will electric really come into its own. Very unlikely to happen in what is left of my lifetime. What goes on in Europe is not what goes on in the U.S., and Elon Musk has not a clue of what goes on in the dynamic of day to day trucking environment and logistics. But then, I would never expect him to be up to speed on that as it is not his area of expertise. And the only fleets that are going to take an active interest in using such a product is local P&D outfits like Fedex, UPS, and terminal to terminal fleet operations. And then, only those who are all in on the greenie agenda and play the green card as a perception to the general public. But that local P&D stuff is but a fraction of the total of over 6 million commercial trucks operating in the U.S. But most of the food in this country is not moved by local P&D and the typical package folks. Food, especially produce and meat, is moved primarily by long haul truck. And then it is done quite a bit with team driver trucks that typically run 20+ hours a day. Produce has a time frame or it will start to go bad on the truck. Even if companies could afford 3 times the trucks they now typically keep in inventory to do a switching or pony express sort of thing to keep a load moving cross country, where are the drivers to operate them? Self driving trucks are decades from being able to operate autonomously in every dock or customer property scenario. It will always take a driver to make the final delivery even if the truck does the autonomous stuff cross country. A driver will always need to man the truck. And even then, Electronic Driver Hours of Service is in effect. Where do you propose we get the additional 1 million drivers that would be needed to fill that gap? And relaying trucks, doing a pony express sort of thing, dropping one truck to charge by grabbing a fresh charged truck to continue the run, how do you propose companies come up with the $300-400,000 per truck that would be needed for that sort of thing? Especially factoring that to accomplish this type or scenario, 3 times the number of trucks would need to be purchased by a company to cover that. You think what you buy now is expensive, this would quadruple the average consumer cost in no time for all products. Are you ready for that reality? Again, folks who clamor for these electric trucks have no real clue what is involved in freight logistics in the U.S. and Canada. They have a very limited application. They are a reality but only on a limited scale.593Views0likes0CommentsRe: Ford 7.3L gas power numbers
FishOnOne wrote: Yep... I'll place my bet on the big cube engine. No bet. I do not place my trust in anything made by an automotive OEM nowadays. Learned quite quickly in the military that even the most elaborate vehicle or weapons system is made by the lowest bidder and can fail at the most inopportune time, so I have a certain cynicism built in to my psyche.. I really hope both Ford and GM have winners on their hands, as that would benefit all of us. But I have been around long enough to know that in today's manufacturing climate, caveat emptor.451Views0likes0CommentsRe: Ford 7.3L gas power numbers
RoyJ wrote: Here's the power curve of the L8T and L96. Power softens under 2000 rpm. What's crazy? The 7.3 has nearly double the torque of the 6 liter L96 at 1000 rpm! Please repost as I am unable to open whatever graph, chart, whatever you are talking about.460Views0likes0CommentsRe: Ford 7.3L gas power numbers
FishOnOne wrote: Copperhead wrote: FishOnOne wrote: Copperhead wrote: Disagree with what? I disagree with your statement that Fords needs to work more on the 7.3 engine. Ok. I made the comment regarding the power output per liter ratio. I think they could have done better. No... The goal was to design an engine that can handle heavy loads, while running as efficient as possible and be reliable long term while doing it. In the long term, we will see if they got it right.451Views0likes0CommentsRe: Ford 7.3L gas power numbers
Yeah, even though I am watching, I am sitting this one out for a while. I never consider a new platform until it has a couple years out i the market and any potential bugs have been worked out and such. I have owned both Fords and GM's. I am not specifically loyal to either brand. Whatever offers me the best value and most reliability at the time, along with features I need, that is where my dollars go.451Views0likes0CommentsRe: Ford 7.3L gas power numbers
FishOnOne wrote: I disagree... I would be willing to bet the new Ford 7.3 will require less rpms to pull a given load compared to GM's new 6.6 engine. The 7.3 flat torque curve is pretty impressive and should make for a very enjoyable towing experience. I do agree... that GM's new 6.6 is a big improvement over their 6.0 engine. Disagree with what? I really didn't touch upon RPM's, as if that even makes a difference. The total output numbers of the new 6.6L L8T engine are 401 HP and 464 Lb. Bumping up close to what the 7.3 is putting out. Only a 11 lb difference in torque. That is not in dispute. That they may differ on the RPM's a little on how they get there is really a non issue. The L8T is intentionally designed to reach peak numbers at a conservative RPM range. It hits peak torque at 4000 RPM and from all indications, like its predecessor the L96 6.0L, it will hit 90% of available torque in the 2100-2500 RPM range. Max HP at 5200 RPM. The 7.3 reaches max torque of 475 lb at the same 4000 RPM, and reaches peak 430 HP at 5500 RPM, 300 RPM higher than the 6.6L L8T. I think your assertion is flatlined.238Views0likes0Comments
Groups
Fifth Wheel Group
Interested in fifth wheels? You've come to the right spot.Feb 16, 202519,006 Posts Full Time RVers
Thinking about becoming a full-time RVer? Ask the experts.Dec 28, 20241,587 Posts RV Newbies
We all start out new. Share lessons learned or first-time questions!Jun 15, 20174,026 Posts Travel Trailer Group
Prefer to camp in a travel trailer? You're not alone.Feb 06, 202544,025 Posts
