October 2009: The $20,000 muffler!

[Fernando]

HIGH PERFORMANCE DIESELS

HEY, check out the picture of the Kenworth $20,000 muffler! That’s right guys, this muffler is worth $20,000 to $40,000, you see this wore out reverse flow KW muffler has 936,000 miles on her and she cost the owner a minimum of ¼ mpg over a 9 year period. Now take your calculator and divide 936,000 miles by 5.5 mpg then multiply that number by $2.80 per gallon. That should get you $476,509 dollars spent on fuel getting 5.5mpg. Now divide the 936,000 by 5.75 and multiply that number by $2.80. This gets you $455,791 the total cost of fuel with the muffler. As you can see that this owner-operator lost slightly over 20 grand of hard earned money in the 9 years he has owned this W900-L KW. If he would have installed a straight through performance muffler when this truck was new he would have saved at least $200.00 per month and if he would have gained ½ mpg with the performance muffler his savings would have been $40,000 over the 9 year period and $370.00 per month. Naw you say, you can’t gain ½ mpg with a muffler, oh yes you can, many owner-operators are doing it, however ¼ mpg is what we usually save. Anyway, $231.00 could be the payments on a new Harley Davidson motorcycle, or better yet a new snowmobile and you would have enough money left over to come to the owner-operator snowmobile conference this February in Grand Lake Colorado.

Many of you know that Forrest Lucas and I are very good friends because of Lucas Fuel Conditioner. Well 2 years ago at one of the truck shows he gave me 2 bottlers of Lucas Slick Mist, a spray on wax. I thought “Forrest you’re an oil man, what in the world are you doing making spray on wax.” Well I took it home and it sat on my shelf for 2 years and one evening while washing the Harley I decided to try his new fast and easy speed wax. The Harley was still wet and I sprayed the entire Ultra Classic with his wax and the first thing I noticed was the entire garage smelled like bubble gum. I must say it was a very pleasant smell and when my lady friend came into the garage she liked it also and started to wax her car with it. When I’m finished cleaning my ride I love to rub my hand over her and feel how smooth she is, and this Lucas Slick Mist is smooooth. Shines great, smells great and sure is easy to use, so every time I wash one of my vehicles I spray it with the Slick Mist and dry it, and the vehicle looks like I just gave it a wax job. I love this stuff, so I will be at the Lucas Oil plant in Corydon, In. on the 6th of October and I will bring a case home with me. Last week I called Forrest and asked him about the Slick Mist and he said “You can use it on wet or dry vehicles, it won’t hurt the decals or tape stripes, there is NO SILICONE in this stuff, can be used on black bumpers and won’t turn white, spray it on your bathroom mirrors and they won’t fog, spray it on your windshield and it works like Rain-X, and can even use it on tile floors in your home. Remember Forrest always says “If I can’t make the very best product, I won’t make it!”

Signature Series Trucks, if you have been following what Kevin Rutherford and I are doing with our thoughts on how to build a truck for the best obtainable fuel mileage, you are aware that Chad Bjorn of Tremonton, Ut. is getting 9.03 mpg out of the 550 hp DD4 Detroit that we built. Now if Chad is tired and using cruise control the fuel mileage drops to the low 8 mpg. Yes cruise control can rob you of that much fuel mileage. We have just ordered 2 new glider kits to be built into the Signature Series and of course we are looking to get into the 9 mpg with these trucks also. Everyone doubted that we would see 9 mpg, and we did it, so now let’s work towards 10 mpg. Sounds impossible, but we never give up, so what about YOU, what are you waiting for, why aren’t you making one change a month and building your existing truck into a Signature Series truck! I know, you still think your truck can’t be a 9 mpg truck, so just wait for another 6 months, loose more money on fuel mileage and we’ll show you what our next 2 Signatures will do!
By the way, Robbie Smith out of North Carolina runs a 1988 Pete with a Big Cam 444 Cummins set at 750 hp and is now getting 7.02 out of that old mechanical engine that nobody liked, however we a Pittsburgh Power along with our owner-operators loved that engine. All you have to do is to be willing to make one change per month to your truck and you can have a great running truck that gets great fuel mileage!

Come to think of it, we are a GREEN COMPANY, because we care about you and how your truck performs and the fuel mileage you obtain. A brand new factory built truck getting 6.2 mpg will use 24,193 gallons of fuel in 150,000 miles, our Signature Series Trucks getting 8.5 mpg will use 17,647 gallons of fuel in 150,000 miles, that is a savings of $18,329 per year per truck, now I think that makes us VERY GREEN COMPANY, because we are using 6546 gallons less per year per every truck we build. Our engines burn very clean, run extremely efficient, and will crank up the hills while putting a smile on your face and money in your pocket. And I’ll bet you never though of us as a GREEN COMPANY!

Written by;
Bruce C. Mallinson
Pittsburgh Power Inc.
3600 S Noah Dr.
Saxonburg, Pa. 16056
bruce@pittsburghpower.com
724-360-4080