Interesting '40s truck concept.

[ebinmaine 67,671]

https://www.thedrive.com/news/42635/this-twin-engine-six-wheel-steer-truck-was-supposed-to-replace-semis-after-wwii

 

 

[ri702bill 8,350]

You have to wonder if there were cooling system issues with having 2 engines.

The 235 inline six was the base engine for Chevy from the forties, maybe late thirties, up until 1961. Yanked a few out of mid fifties Chevys to do a small block V8 swap.That 235 was so bulletproof that both Toyota copied it for their FC40 Landcruiser and Volvo for their 50's and 60's sedans.

[Pullstart 62,917]

Two engines, 83.5 hp, 40,000 lbs payload.  G R U N T 

[ebinmaine 67,671]

17 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

Two engines, 83.5 hp, 40,000 lbs payload.  G R U N T 

One of the biggest things I find interesting about this 40s vintage concept is that back then it was considered to be a mindboggling monstrous behemoth.  

 

One of the trucks that was built back then was 45 ft long and a payload of 40,000 lb.

Several of the trucks that we have in our own current fleet are 41 to 43 ft in length with a payload nearly as high.

We have single front steer with steerable airdrop axles in the back. Twin steer trucks are quite rare and Northeast.

These are considered daily drivers nowadays......

[Handy Don 12,237]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

steerable airdrop axles in the back

Local concrete delivery service runs these on their mixer trucks. I got a good look a couple of years ago and was very impressed at the fundamental simplicity combined with very clever engineering to get the elastomers in the "steering" linkage to give adequate range while keeping good alignment. Driver had no idea how much weight they were designed to carry--"a lot" was his answer!

[ebinmaine 67,671]

51 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

Local concrete delivery service runs these on their mixer trucks. I got a good look a couple of years ago and was very impressed at the fundamental simplicity combined with very clever engineering to get the elastomers in the "steering" linkage to give adequate range while keeping good alignment. Driver had no idea how much weight they were designed to carry--"a lot" was his answer!

 

The standard we see here in Maine is likely different from other places across the country because we tend to run strictly with the Federal requirements. There are states that run a little heavier.

 

The drop axles that I'm familiar with whether they're steerable or not are usually rated at 20,000 lb.

The amount that they actually can carry is variable based on the truck and registration and tire size.

 

Without getting into special permitting for overweight usage we can run up to 64,900 lb per single unit vehicle like I drive. Each axle can have up to 20,000 pounds unless a variance is recorded.

An example of that variance would be the fact that our crane truck front tires are what we call super singles or floaters and we can put up to 22,000 lb per axle on the front only.