Dieselfumes: A Screaming Detroit Diesel in a 1967 Kenworth; A sound you will never forget!

Jim Brennan

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Surfing some of the other blogs in the blogosphere, I happened to come across Brian Lohnes excellent blog, Bangshift. He closed out Fridays edition with this gem, a 1967 Kenworth W925 with a Detroit Diesel 8V71, and the driver was rowing through an Eaton 13 Speed Transmission. Make the jump to watch both videos, as the driver rows through the gears, and uses the “Jake” brake to slow the truck down.



This is a very old school truck, with a roof top air conditioning unit, and no power steering (look how many turns of the wheel it takes!). The noise is exhilarating, but I have to say that after an hour, it would become nauseating. Shows you that Truck Drivers were made of sterner stuff back then.


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Jim Brennan

Jim Brennan

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  1. Paul_y Avatar
    Paul_y

    …as I just mentioned to a certain FuzzyPlushroom, I need to get pictures of the Kenworth my dad used to have: a late-70s tilt-cab Aerodyne K100, similar to this:http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/davi… It's the vehicle my mom learned to drive stick in. While my own firsthand memories of are vague, as he got rid of it and got off the road before I was in kindergarten, I still have a distinct fondness for old Kenworths.

    Reply
    1. coupeZ600 Avatar
      coupeZ600

      I drove a '81 K134 (a variant/option package of the K100) for many, many years. We sold it to a local paving contractor, and even though its been re-painted I can still spot it a mile away. One of the conditions of sale was that although it was technically my brothers truck, I would get first dibs if they ever wanted to sell it. On the few occasions I've gotten to talk to the driver about any word about them selling it, he said, "Heck no they're not selling it, it's the best truck they got!"

      Reply
  2. Dr_Dangerously Avatar
    Dr_Dangerously

    Sweet, this truck makes me want to enter into a nation-wide arm wrestling competition.

    Reply
  3. BPR Avatar
    BPR

    OK, can anyone explain the shift pattern?
    I see that there is a red splitter button on the shift knob. The locations of the gears in the H pattern are a bit unusual, but I see him using 5 positions. Five shifter positions times 2 splitter positions makes for 10 forward gears. How does he get to 13?
    For some serious truck shifting fun, check this out: Two shifters = can't always steer during shifts!
    [youtube w-ffkS37miQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-ffkS37miQ youtube]

    Reply
  4. BPR Avatar
    BPR

    For those interested in the answer to my shift pattern question above, I found an 8 minute video that explains it all. Imagine needing an 8 minute video to shift your car!
    Embedding isn'r working, so go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=yrtfTovNohI&f…

    Reply
    1. Paul_y Avatar
      Paul_y

      I, for one, am glad not to need flowcharts and graphs to require competent gear changes in my car.
      My dad (former Eaton-Fuller 13-speed operator) once tried to explain double-clutching to me, and it made my head hurt.

      Reply
      1. coupeZ600 Avatar
        coupeZ600

        I only learned of "double-clutching" later in my driving career, and still don't really understand how it works. As far as I ever knew, that extra pedal to the left of the brake was only a "stop-sign/stop-light/inching backwards pedal".

        Reply
  5. coupeZ600 Avatar
    coupeZ600

    I see you figured it out… We call 'em "Low-Hole Grannies" because even truck-drivers have a sense of humor and like you found out, it's a 4×3 (12-speed) with one mega-low gear. That gear is only used in extreme situations, such as when pulling out of one of those steeply ramped loading docks like behind grocery stores, and even then only when fully loaded. Most of the time those types of docks are taking stuff off your truck, so it's a very seldom used gear, but man, when you need it, it's great to know that it's there.

    Reply
    1. Target29 Avatar
      Target29

      An old timer that I learned from called that gear "bull low" because teamsters used to have to hook up a set of bulls for those situations.

      Reply
  6. BPR Avatar
    BPR

    568 cubic inches of supercharged diesel two stroke power is an awesome thing!

    Reply
  7. coupeZ600 Avatar
    coupeZ600

    @ UDMan: Thanks for the great post! I never got to drive one of these Detroits, but I've sure heard a few!
    What is amazing about the Industry is that it took them until the late-80's/ early 90's to realize that if you put in factory A/C and sound-deadening foam around the cab that the likelihood of a driver putting it into the Ditch was dramatically reduced. When I started driving A/C was unheard of (except for the after-market roof top jobs like this that were only on the Owner-Operator rigs), so you just rolled the window down and watched your left arm and the left side of your face get cooked in the AZ sun while your pasty white right arm got huge from the thousands of gear-shifts. It's funny how you can tell old school drivers by just watching how they always turn their right ear towards the person that's talking, because the other one is toast.

    Reply
  8. David Allen Avatar
    David Allen

    I am in the process of buying 1967 kw. i saved it from the scrapper. im trying to find out any info on this truck! it is a winch truck. i would like any info on how to find wireing diagrams, and a service book,everything is there except original engine. any info would help. thanks…

    Reply