The best large truck engines in the US

The motors of three main domestic manufacturers are used on heavy American trucks: Detroit Diesel, Cummins, and Caterpillar. These companies produce large truck engines with high wear resistance, which allow to travel up to a million miles without capital repairs.

Detroit Diesel Series 60

Detroit Diesel Series 60 is one of the most popular high-power diesel engines in the world. This diesel has a long list of innovative features that provide unique advantages for heavy truck drivers and owners:

• the EGR system (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) reduces emissions, maintaining excellent drivability characteristics, productivity, fuel economy and long engine life;
• the technology of the high-performance variable-geometry supercharger allows the engine to be precisely tuned to provide optimum performance and fuel economy, while still meeting the requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA);

This Detroit Diesel Series 60 has an extremely long service life before overhaul and long engine life. It also has low operating costs and unpretentious servicing.

Cummins ISX

Cummins ISX is another popular group of large truck engines. ISX is pleased to use International, Kenworth, Peterbilt and even Volvo trucks. Cummins engine is the record holder for mileage before overhaul: up to two million miles! Cummins ISX is a very advanced and quite difficult engine from a technical point of view. The shaft of the rocker arms and the camshaft are spaced apart (DOHC), which causes a lesser load on them and increase the reliability of the gas distribution mechanism as a whole. Thanks to the perfection of the design, this engine differs slightly lower fuel consumption compared with other models. This is the most low-noise and balanced motor.

Caterpillar C15

Caterpillar C15 is available in three versions: 6NZ is equipped with one turbocharger, and MNB and BXS are equipped with two turbochargers. The last two differ by pump-injectors. The average mileage to overhaul is on average one and half of million miles. During this time, the truck itself will fall apart into elementary particles, and the "CAT" will keep working and just work again: it is the most reliable and accurate engine from the entire American trinity of large truck engines manufacturer.

At the same time, it’s not so sensitive to the quality of the fuel and it’s is not bad at low temperatures. And here's the interesting fact: seasoned drivers claim that Caterpillar allows you to stop a laden truck even with a completely faulty brake system. Well, the Caterpillar has practically no cons except, perhaps, a little more fuel consumption (plus 0,5-1 gallons per 60 miles) than the competitors.

Paccar MX

The MX diesel engines were designed for heavy-duty use. Due to the small size and light quality materials, the weight of the motor has decreased, and its productivity and service life have gone up. Advanced features:

• a powerful engine brake is a guarantee of optimum controllability on slopes;
• high torque at low engine speed;
• increased safety of driving because of integration of the engine brake into the main brake system;
• SMART technology - provides the most efficient fuel consumption and reduces emissions to the atmosphere.

All Paccar MX engines are characterized by high performance over a wide range of speeds. Caterpillar is one of the most reliable engines but has a smaller resource compared to Cummins and Detroit Diesel.