Peterbilt

[Readie]

I watched 'Duel' for the umpteenth time and I enjoy it.
I know the special effects speed the tanker up but, I wondered how fast could those narrow(needle) nose Peterbilts actually go?
60?
Does anyone know?
Ta
John

 

[meatloaf109]

It depends on the engine. My brother had a 425 Cat in a Kenworth W-900. It had been "turned up" by a mechanic friend of his, we got it up to 105mph.
I had a 444 Cummins in a Kenworth T-600-a, and wound it up to 95mph.

 

[Lucky13]

Love 'The Duel'.....

 

[Readie]

It depends on the engine. My brother had a 425 Cat in a Kenworth W-900. It had been "turned up" by a mechanic friend of his, we got it up to 105mph.
I had a 444 Cummins in a Kenworth T-600-a, and wound it up to 95mph.

That's quick ! Maybe they didn't speed up the film that much then..

 

[vikingBerserker]

That is a classic!

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

A Pete with a set of 3.00 gears, a 18 double over trans and a 600 horse Caterpillar will run over 140 mph.

 

[Torch]

I'd hate to see that coming in my rear view mirror....

 

[T Bolt]

Fantastic movie. I don't believe the film was speeded up at all. There were a lot of low camera angles with the camera mounted very close to the pavement. That gave it a greater impression of speed. Spielberg was a genius from the start. If you listen to the growl the truck makes as it crashes in the end you'll find it's the same sound that you hear in the end of Jaws as the dead shark sinks to the bottom.. He lifted that sound effect from an old dinosaur movie.

 

[meatloaf109]

The T-600 (Pre-production '88) was straight from the factory, and mind you, I was only hauling household goods, (63,000. tops), but I could do the "greyhound" thing past the other trucks uphill. That 444 was a great engine, except that I went through 4 sets of injectors in 3 years. They finally figured out that a .0100 shim was needed under the injectors. After that, she ran for a million miles with no problems.
Beautiful truck, Sky-blue Global Van Lines colors, attracted more kids than a mud puddle! Every family I moved had to have a tour of the cab. Got kind of bothersome after awhile...
Had to keep the darn thing clean! I had a special shelf with netting across it to keep the model kits in place, and the fold-out desk was covered in paint.

 

[Matt308]

Now that is a great story!!! Did you move my parents from Dublin, CA to Renton, WA, in 1975? If so, you are my hero. I so remember that driver. What a card!!

 

[meatloaf109]

No, that wasn't me. But it might have been one of my brothers. We all were exceptional in customer service. I was a driver in company service of Allied Van Lines from 1983 until 1987. Then I was an Owner/Operator contracted to Global Van Lines pretty much to the end of my time in household goods service. I never met anyone in the Moving business that wasn't a fine person. That was the idea...
I used to carry toy trucks and teddy bears that had the company logo on them just to give to the kids that we were moving.
Sh*t, I even had treats for the family dog!
Just one of those things, I was the best thing that could happen to a move. That was my job. They always thought that I was they're best friend, and that is what I was. For as long as the move went on. Oddly enough, I use to get invitations from some folks that I moved to have holiday dinners with them, but I never accepted.
Not that I wasn't touched by the invitation, but...Seriously, I hate people. I am all about customer service, and I can put it out, and when I'm "On" I'm seriously "On", but the rest of the time....I am a miserable b@stard.

 

[Lucky13]

The Duel truck lives in a new home in North Carolina as of November 2009....

 

[Readie]

Looks like the tank is collasping over the 5th wheel....

I've seen on 'youtube' that there is a Duel replica that is road worthy. Worth a view if you have time.
It looks complicated to drive with geat sticks galore....

 

[Njaco]

Paul, I totally 100% agree with your sentiment about being a "people" person. Must be all these years working with..."people".

Short story about truckers especially the moving kind.

I was 19 and living in Colorado (Aurora) with my friend who was in the Air Force. We were in an apartment complex and made friends with a few of the tenants. We used to play euchre all the time which is better than Bridge! Anyway, one of the guys said he was a trucker and had a job and needed an assistant to help. So I volunteered hoping to make a little cash. We got a ride to the truck depot and he goes in and comes out saying the load wasn't ready and would be at 5pm. It was now 11am and we could go to the motel across the street, get a room on the truck company and wait. Which we did. Ordered some room service, etc. 5 pm he calls the truck company. Load wasn't ready so they switched the route and we would be leaving for AZ in the morning. So we spend the night.

Next morning he makes a call and load won't be ready until noon. Now I'm getting suspicious. We go down and have something to eat. I watch as he starts making phone calls. As I listen I realize he is calling churches looking for financial help. What? I got to our room to find us locked out - we owe the bill. I was freaking out. No money and no one to help since I'm from Jersey, not here. Totally lost. I try pleading with the Manager, I went to the Trucking company - nothing. All day in the lobby. About 5pm this idiot comes and says he found someone that will buy us a meal. We go to the attached restaurant and I meet a husband and wife trucking team. Not wanting to get deeper in trouble, I only order a soda. What the idiot is doing is trying to sell them a truck tire that he doesn't have!!!! Idiot finally leaves for a second to go to the bathroom and I let this couple know the whole story. I tell them to get away as best they can.

Instead, they take me to the Manager and pay my portion of the room bill and allow me to get my things. They then pay for a room for me for the night. We were going to go to Seattle the next morning where they were going to get me a job on a dock somewhere. I was stunned this whole time. Idiot is floating around us like a gnat but we just shooed him away. By next morning it was agreed that it might be better for me to stay in Denver with my Air Force buddy and take this as a lesson learned. The only re-payment they wanted was a steak dinner the next time we would meet. Then they gave me cab fare to get to my friend's apartment.

To this day I wave at every yellow/white moving 18 wheeler in the hopes it might be them. But after 30+ years I haven't seen them. So, at times, I pay it forward.