This week we’re on the road again, as Peterbilt invited us out to experience the all-new PACCAR TX-18 and TX-18 Pro automated transmissions at the Eaton Proving Grounds up in Marshall, Michigan. And they did this by letting me get behind the wheel of one of their heavy-duty trucks carrying a 140,000-pound load, to take it for a spin around their test track, which includes a 500-ft. hill at an 8% grade, and a 300-ft. hill at a 15% grade.
Peterbilt had three trucks waiting for me - a 389 spec’d with the TX-12 carrying 80,000 lbs., a sleeper cab with the TX-18 carrying 80,000 lbs., and finally a day cab with the TX-18 Pro carrying 140,000 lbs. Each truck had the same MX-13, 510 HP engine.
Both variants are rated for 1,850 lb. ft of torque and up to 140,000 pounds GCWR, but the Pro model also features six reverse gears, an extreme duty clutch and is specifically calibrated to be able to handle off-highway performance. So, Peterbilt says the really heavy vocational applications, logging, or trucks running in an oil field, mining, things like that, the TX-18 Pro is probably going to be the direction you end up going. Just keep in mind that it’s going to depend on your fleet, and fleets should definitely talk to a dealer about the specifics if they’re interested in spec’ing this component.
The company says the TX-18 has a 47% reduction in parasitic losses and is 225 lbs. lighter than the previous vocational AMT iteration. And, although Peterbilt admits it’s hard to estimate fuel economy on trucks because there are so many applications, they estimate there’s about a 2% improvement over the previous AMT nonetheless. Going back to that parasitic loss improvement, Peterbilt says that because of the efficiency improvements in the build of the TX-18, you don’t need a transmission cooler below 110,000 lbs. Good news for the drivers, Peterbilt designed the TX-18 with 18 gears which means very small gear steps.
Fleet Equipment: www.fleetequipmentmag.com/
Wix: www.wixfilters.com/