(engine revving)
- You ever wondered
how that Amazon package got delivered to your door?
Well chances are it came in the back of a semi trailer
pulled by a semi truck.
So today we're going on a trucker's journey
with the Peterbilt 579 Ultraloft,
one of the most sophisticated
modern day semi trucks to hit to the road.
We're gonna look at a couple things.
First the 5th wheel.
We're gonna look at the axles, the air suspension,
and all that beefy looking stuff that can withstand
thousands of pounds of weight pushing down on it.
And finally we'll dive into the heart of the beast,
a 15-liter Cummins diesel engine
that can pull 80,000 pounds
for hundreds of thousands of miles.
Semi truck big rig trucker talk,
get ready for some trucker lingo.
(hip hop beat)
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All right, we've just spend the night in our sleeper cab.
The morning has come,
it's time to get to work.
We scoot on down to the pickup site
and today's load is 45,000 pounds
of Panasonic PMV-939 TV VCR combos.
So let's ese how we hook up this trailer to our big rig.
Now I know you guys have been on the highway
and passed by a big rig without a trailer behind it
and seen that round, big, goo covered plate on the back
and thought what the heck is that thing
and how does it work
and why is it covered in goo?
All these questions pop into your head.
Well, that's called a 5th wheel
and it's the device that keeps the trailer
connected to the truck.
Now there are two parts of this 5th wheel equation.
There's a kingpin which is a two inch
or three and a half inch diameter vertical steel pin
and that drops down
from the bottom of the front of the trailer.
And then there's the 5th wheel
which is the horseshoe shaped coupling device
on the rear of the semi.
That's the goo-covered part.
And why is it so gooey?
Well that goo is grease.
Now the flat plate on the trailer
and the flat plate on the fifth wheel hitch
are in constant contact with another.
So when the truck turns those two plates,
they slide against each other like this.
And if they didn't have grease between them
it would wear down, they'd build up a bunch of friction,
the front wheels actually, your steer wheels,
they would wear incorrectly.
There's a lot of stuff that goes on
when those aren't greased up.
So underneath the 5th wheel there's a mechanism
that locks that kingpin into place,
and what it does is those jaws,
they rotate around the kingpin
and the only way that they can ever come undone
is from a pull lever outside which the trucker operates.
That prevents that kingpin from ever slipping out.
And those jaws are made of forged steel
so they are very, very strong.
And when you do back that in
it makes that click clack sound.
(smacks) Man, that is such a cool noise.
Only truckers can really appreciate that.
But now you can appreciate it,
take a listen.
(mechanical clanking)
So you got a honker of a truck that weighs 18,000 pounds,
an empty trailer that weighs about 17,000 pounds,
and packed into that trailer
is 45,000 pounds of VCRs and TVs
for a combined weight
of 80,000 pounds rolling down the road.
So how can a semi truck handle all that weight?
Well, it needs big, strong, heavy axles
and heavy duty suspension.
Now there are rules out there that truckers have to follow
that restrict the amount of weight allowed over the axles
of the tractor and also the trailer,
which is why there's weight stations
on the side of the highways.
They got to check to make sure
you're not going over weight on any of your axles
or total combined weight.
Now in the case of the Peterbilt 579 Ultraloft,
is has tandem drive axles,
so it can hold a maximum of 34,000 pounds
on those rear axles.
34,000 pounds,
that is an extremely hard number to visualize.
I have a F-150 and it weighs about 5,000 pounds.
So seven of my trucks
can be stacked on the back of that Peterbilt.
Okay, if that doesn't help,
just imagine 125 Nolans dancing on the back of this truck
and just being like "Yeah, uh."
(laughing) I love you, Nolan.
Now the 579's rear axles have a 40,000 pound GAWR
and that stands for gross axle weight rating
and it's the maximum distributed weight
that may be supported by an axle.
Now a Ford F-250 has a GAWR in the 6,000 pound range
to give some perspective here.
So these semi trucks are super, super heavy duty.
Now that weight includes the vehicle,
the driver and passengers,
the cargo, all the fluids, all that stuff,
and yes, the semi trailer load.
So those axles are more than strong enough to handle
all that tongue weight.
But what about the suspension?
(engine idling)
There are two types of suspension setups
you see in a semi truck.
There's the more traditional leaf spring setup
and the more sophisticated air suspension.
Now I'm sure you know about leaf springs.
They are used in a lot of pickups
and they're made out of steel
and they're bent in that semi elliptical shape
because that allows them to flex
when there's pressure on top of them or a load.
Now the other is air suspension
which comes with the Peterbilt 579.
And they used air suspension for a few good reasons.
They provide a smoother ride
with and without the trailer attached.
They weigh less which means you can haul more
which is good, that means more money.
And they have better load handling capabilities
compares to its leaf spring brethren.
Also the bag acts as your spring.
I mean they're literally called air springs
which means you can effectively change your spring rate
by changing the pressure in the bag.
Also, it helps making loading
and unloading a semi trailer easier.
I'm gonna get to that in a bit so stick around.
Now air suspension systems uses a variety of valves
with air lines and airbags
that replace all the steel in the leaf spring setup.
And these bags are heavy, heavy duty.
They're made from a woven and rubber-like material
that's capable of handling thousands of pounds of weight
pushing down on top of it.
And it does that under relatively low pressures,
anywhere from 15 PSI to 100 PSI.
And that air is being supplied by a compressor
with external air takes like this one.
Hold on, I'm gonna go get one.
I'm gonna go get one.
It's like this. (clattering)
It's like this, aw (bleep),
I pulled it out of the wall.
(bleep), I bend my god dang, god dang it.
Anyways, it's like this, okay.
You got one of these honkers in your truck.
But these tanks,
they're bigger tanks than this.
You have an air compressor with a couple of,
couple of auxiliary tanks.
You guys get it, this thing's (bleep) heavy.
Now air ride suspensions use a special air valve
called a height control valve
that controls the amount of air pressure in the airbag.
Now when a trailer is hooked up
and more and more cargo is added
the height control valve sees movement
between the axle and the chassis.
And as there's more weight being pushed down on the axle
it begins to squat, right.
And once that axle height reaches a certain threshold,
the valve sends more air to the air spring (mimics valve),
it pumps it back up,
bringing the axle back up to the appropriate height.
And that height is called the ride height.
And when you're unhooking trailers
you can use a dump valve to depressurize the bag,
dropping the truck
so you can pull away from the trailer easier.
Makes truckers' lives a little bit simpler.
And they need it 'cause they work really hard.
Thank you guys.
Now Peterbilt makes a ton of different air suspension.
There's the Air Trac,
there's the Flex Air,
there's the Air Leaf,
there the Low Air Leaf,
and there's the Low Low Air Leaf
because that guy who named it was running out of names.
And now the reason there's so many options is because, well,
not all truckers haul the same stuff.
But the overall principle on how they work
is still the same.
Now if you're wondering
what if one of those bags fail?
Well, inside the bag is a solid piece of rubber
or other type of plastic piece
and it's engineered to prevent the load
coming down and damaging the truck in the case of a puncture
or sudden loss in pressure in the air spring.
So we're loaded up,
we're ready to make our way from Houston to LA.
You get on the CB radio,
you tell your buddy Kentucky Cobra "We're on our way pal."
You push the air release button
and your trailer brakes release.
And then you throw the key into the ignition,
you give it a good crank,
and you turn on 605 horsepower
and 2050 foot pounds of torque
out of this monster diesel engine.
(jazzy hip hop beat)
Now semi trucks can get specced out
with all sorts of options.
From the cab size to the engine size.
And since I'm the one getting to talk about the engines,
we're gonna look at the X15 Cummins motor.
Now it is a 15 liter, six cylinder engine.
Yes, six cylinders.
The size of the pistons are close
to five and a half inches in diameter.
Now to put that in perspective,
this right here is a piston from a 250 CC,
my RM 250 dirt bike.
And it is about two inches in diameter.
Now the Cummins X15 diesel engine,
like I said,
it has a piston diameter that is five and a half inches.
This is a pad you use to wax stuff on.
Wax on, wax off.
So that is the difference in the size of those pistons.
That's wild.
And the engine alone weighs 3,000 pounds.
It's built using really heavy,
really strong parts that are built to last.
I mean heck,
it doesn't even need a fluid change
for half a million miles.
Now when I was a kid I always wanted to know
why those big trucks use the green gas handles.
Well, first, young and dumb Jerry,
it's not gas, it's diesel.
But more importantly
why do semi trucks use diesel engines?
Well, it's because semi trucks need engines
that have tons of torque.
Now torque is the twisting force
that causes an object to rotate,
you probably know that.
And in the case of the auto world
it's directly related
to the ability of an engine to pull a load.
And pulling power is the name of the game
when it comes to trucking.
So you want peak torque at low RPM
and that's exactly what diesel engines give you.
Now why is that?
Well these semi truck engines use big bores and long strokes
and a ton of compression.
The X15 Cummins has an 18.9 to one compression ratio,
which means it jams a lot of air into the cylinder
especially compared to gas engines.
And the more pressure you can build up
in the strokes and the cylinders,
the more torque the engine will produce.
(engine revving) (cheering)
And it just so happens
that diesel is also the perfect fuel for high compression.
Now unlike a gas engine that needs a spark plug
to light the air fuel mixture,
diesel engines compress that air
to such a high pressure and temperature
that the diesel ignites without the need for a spark.
Now remember when you compress a gas
you take it from a state like here in the air
and you bottle it up into a smaller area,
you're compressing that air,
it creates heat.
That's why if you ever used an air compressor
and after it runs for a while
you feel the sides of the tank, it's hot.
Well that's because the air
is getting forced into a smaller space, a smaller volume,
and part of the process, it gives off heat.
Now the temperature of the air being compressed
is greater than the auto ignition temperature of diesel.
Meaning that when the injectors
squirt diesel into the cylinder
it spontaneously reacts with the oxygen in the air
and a combustion takes place.
Kaboom, not an explosion.
I said that before, I apologize.
Combustion, there's a difference.
Explosion, you can't control.
Combustion, you can.
Diesel engines are also more efficient
because diesel fuel burns more efficiently.
A gas engine is roughly 20% efficient,
meaning 20% of the thermal energy content of gasoline
is converted into mechanical work.
If we take a car with a 20 gallon fuel tank with gas in it,
four gallons are actually used to move the car.
That remaining 16 gallons
is lost to friction, noise, and heat.
Now diesel engines on the other hand,
they can get up to 40% efficiency range.
And that's because diesel burns steadily and faster.
So if we have a gallon of diesel and a gallon of gas,
you have more usable energy in diesel.
That means diesel trucks, like the Peterbilt 579,
can go about 20 to 30% further on a gallon of fuel
compared to its gas bro bro.
Which means the duel 120 gallon tanks on this thing,
240 gallons total,
can get you about 1,400 miles on a fill up
when you're averaging six miles per gallon.
Six miles per gallon doesn't sound great,
but that's actually pretty good considering
the amount of weight these trucks are carrying around.
So these engines fitted into semis,
they have a very narrow power band,
meaning they have a narrow range of RPMs to work with.
And the X15 is even governed at 2,000 RPM.
So as a trucker you need to shift the gears frequently
to keep the engine running
at the RPM that gives you the most torque.
And to stay in that narrow power band
you need a lot of gears that steps you up to highway speeds.
That's why in the olden days
semis with manual transmissions used as many as 18 gears.
Now you've been behind a truck before at a stop light,
and when they go to take off they're lurching forward
and bouncing all around.
And it's because the person driving that truck
is feverishly shifting through the gears.
That truck's transmission is probably in sixth gear
by the time your car is starting to shift into second.
Now with some current day future tech,
those manual transmissions have been replaced
with automatic ones.
A 579 uses an automatic 12 speed transmission.
And it does a few things different
from a normal automatic transmission in a car.
For example, it will use data
coming from the load sensors in the rear of the truck
to determine how much weight is on your fifth wheel.
It will then, based on that data,
determine which gear to start off in.
So say you have a light load, right,
you're not carrying very much.
It might start off as high as fifth gear.
And these transmissions talk to the engine.
They look at the fuel map,
they look at the engine load.
Even the sensors that determine the angle of the road.
They are all used to optimize which gear to shift into.
And that helps the engine perform better
as well as be more efficient.
And just like the engine,
these transmissions are beefy.
It weighs close to 700 pounds
and it's capable of pulling loads up to 110,00 pounds.
Aye, Kentucky Cobra, it's Florida Man.
I'm parked out front,
bundled out with 45 big ones above horse.
Boy oh boy, am I a'swinging.
Don't make me fingerprint this one on my own, bud.
(heavy metal music) (guitar riff)
- If there's anything youtubers like me want to be in life
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(heavy metal music)
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(heavy metal music)
Also there's a lot of "Wheelhouse" Easter eggs
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And live out all of your headbanger fantasies.
(heavy metal music)