Three Reasons Why Fixing A Commercial Truck Transmission Is Nothing Like Fixing Passenger Truck Transmissions

Trucks, in all their shapes, sizes and uses, are not made equally when it comes to transmissions and engine components. A truck engine in a standard passenger truck is easier to fix because it is easier to understand how it works and easier to identify the parts. Commercial trucks have vastly different engines, and here are three reasons why you should not attempt to fix a commercial truck transmission when you have only repaired passenger truck transmissions.

Barrel/Canister Pistons vs. Standard Pistons

Commercial trucks have humongous starter pistons that look like metal cans of oil or canned fruits and veggies. These massive pistons often overheat and burn out when not properly lubricated. Even if you can identify them, remove them from a commercial truck's transmission and replace them, you may not remember to effectively lube them and grease the crank arm that keeps the pistons moving in an alternating motion. Additionally, commercial trucks require an entirely different sort of lube and grease because they burn hotter and use diesel fuel to boost the power needed by the massive transmissions.

Gear Boxes

In a massive commercial truck, like a dump truck or crawler with tracks, the gear boxes look and act nothing like the typical gear box in a passenger truck transmission. Their immense size and the way in which the four, five or six gears are connected to the shift stick and the clutch means that you have to take down all of these components and examine them for problems and then reassemble the gear box, clutch and shift perfectly before you reinstall it all on the commercial truck. Usually, you do not have to be quite as careful or disassemble quite as much on a passenger truck, since the components are significantly smaller and fit closer together under the engine of the truck.

The Weight of the Transmission

It goes without saying that the transmission in a dump truck is far heavier than the transmission in a passenger truck, even when that passenger truck is a heavy duty vehicle. You cannot expect to lift a transmission out of a commercial vehicle with your typical transmission crane, even if that crane is an electric-powered hydraulic one. Unless you have access to an overhead crane that can lift a couple of tons and keep it from dropping on your head, you will want to avoid poking around a commercial truck transmission on your own. Visit a site like http://www.colorcountrydiesel.com for more information.


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