High Performance Diesels
You will not make it in today’s trucking industry with a stock, low performance, low fuel mileage truck.
By BRUCE C. MALLINSON
Independent Contractor
6/4/2008
Do you know it all or do you think you know it all? Or were you blessed with an open mind, willing to listen to what other people have to say? Do you agree with the following statements? Show me a man with 97 percent knowledge and 3 percent drive and I’ll show you a loser. Show me a man with 3 percent knowledge and 97 percent drive and I’ll show you a winner!
It’s all in the drive, the fire in the soul and the tiger in the eye. If you’re an owner-operator or want to become an owner-operator and you don’t have the drive and determination to make changes to your truck to make it a better, more fuel efficient machine then you should find a new profession or drive a company truck. You will not make it in today’s trucking industry with a stock, low performance, low fuel mileage truck. Free running high horsepower is fuel mileage.
I want to tell you a story about a young man that has fire in his eye and determination in his soul. When it comes to drive, this young man has it. I met him when he was six years old. He is the son of a great owner-operator named Jerry Hairhoger, a hard working man who was a perfectionist when it came to his truck, never being satisfied with a stock truck and stock performance.
For 31 years, I have been dealing with Jerry and I’ll tell you that his very presence will put a smile on your face. He is now retired from trucking, but not from the truck. You can see Jerry with his blue 1973 Kenworth that he purchased new, at all of the local truck pulls in Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio and Western New York. It’s the KW with the heart shaped window in the bunk and most of the time Jerry has the longest pull.
Now back to his son Jerry Ray Hairhoger. He is an owner-operator that is always willing to help other owner-operators. In fact when he was running a flat bed from Pittsburgh to Chicago with his extended hood, A Model Kenworth, he would get about 30 phones calls a day from other owner-operators asking questions about their trucks. This young man started his working career as a welder at East Trailers in Randolph, Ohio. It wasn’t what he wanted to do. He wanted to be just like his father, an owner-operator driving an A model KW.
When Jerry Ray was four years old, his mother would take him down to the Pennsylvania Turnpike and his dad would wave with both hands to his little guy while driving by in his Emeryville. Then when Jerry Ray was 11 years old, dad would allow him to steer the truck while driving across the Ohio Turnpike. He started driving dad’s truck at the young age of 12.
After graduating form high school, Jerry Ray wanted to become an owner-operator, just like dad. However his father felt that welding would be a better career for him and so a job was in order at City Weld Trailers in Randolph, Ohio. Jerry Ray was unhappy, always looking for excuses not to go to work. Being raised by an owner-operator father with a love for trucking, do you think this young man could be a happy welder? Heavens no! He wanted a truck, a KW just like dad’s 1973 A model. When he was 24 years old in 1996, his father gave in and off to West Point Salvage Yard they went. They purchased a 1977 A Model KW, short hood, small bunk, KT Cummins 450 horsepower truck for $12,500. A few weeks later they disassembled the engine, came to Pittsburgh Power, and invested $13,000 in high performance KTA Cummins parts, enough for 900 horsepower.
This young man was not a truck driver, but an unhappy welder, and he and his father just spent $25,500 on a junkyard truck. Oh, but she did not stay a junk yard truck very long! They completely rebuilt the engine, stretched the frame, moved the cab back, and installed an extended hood and a double bunk. This young man went form an un-happy welder to very excited young owner-operator with 900 horsepower and 3,000 foot pounds of torque under his right foot. Now his truck was just like dad’s truck, even painted blue, but with more power.
Dad was still running a Big Cam Cummins at 700 horsepower. His father and I were criticized for giving a Rookie so much power. Everyone that knew about the project said the engine would never live for a year. Well guess what, four years into driving this beast with no engine failures, Jerry Ray added twin-turbos, a high lift camshaft, hydraulic variable timing and increased the horsepower to 1,200 and still no engine failures or driveline issues. Now here it is 12 years later and our Pittsburgh Power Distributor from New Zealand purchased the 1977 KW to have her for a toy truck. She will be on her way to New Zealand where she will never have to pull a load again. By the way, this truck was not for sale, but then…money talks!
Do you think 1,200 horsepower and 1,150 cubic inches of engine would be hard on fuel with a young man behind the wheel? Not so. This truck averaged 5.5 miles per gallon and the engine is a 1977 mechanical Cummins.
Now Jerry Ray needs another truck. He found a 1997 W900-L Kenworth with a 470 horsepower DD3 Detroit. Wow, what a let down, from 1,200 horsepower to 470. Think about this, he went from a 19 liter engine to a 12.7 liter engine. The first time he bobtailed this truck he was shocked. He called me and asked how in the world any one could haul loads with such a low powered truck. Jerry Ray came by the shop and installed one of our loaner Detroit ECM’s set for 525 horse power and 2,200 rpm and even though it’s a far cry from the KTA Twin-Turbo Cummins, he was able to live with it for two weeks until we got his ECM finished and set for 575 horse power and 2,400 rpm.
Jerry Ray had a local haul and was doing well with the 575 horse power Detroit. I’m sad to say that his local haul was drastically under bid by a large trucking company so the W900-L is now parked. We’re glad to have Jerry Ray working with us at Pittsburgh Power doing special projects such as un-bridging Cats, helping owner-operators with power and fuel mileage problems, designing engines for truck pulling, special turbochargers, and large injectors for Caterpillar, Detroit and Cummins. His newest project is to build special rebuild kits for DD3 and DD4 Detroits and the pistons will be ceramic and Teflon coated.
We now have 13 employees at Pittsburgh Power Diesel Injection of Pittsburgh and six of the employees spend most of their day on the phone with owner-operators. If you have to leave a message, please be patient with us, we will get back to you. E-mail Jerry Ray, at