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Jul 21st, 2025 | | | | Joined: Oct 2013 Posts: 219 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Oct 2013 Posts: 219 | Pretty simple question I guess...
283s were used in series 3-10 trucks (though 348 was also an option)
So how did a 283 pull a Spartan 70 or Viking 60 hauling a trailer or an otherwise heavy load? Hard to fathom when your looking at a modern CAT powered tractor next to a 283 powered tractor. | | | | | Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 4,903 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 4,903 | I drove back in those days. It was simple. You kept it in a gear where you were turning about 4,000 RPM. We depended on RPM instead of torque back in those days. But we got the job done. This is why I think it is so stupid when I hear buys worrying about their engines coming apart at over 2500 RPM. I would have fired a driver for lugging an engine at 2500 RPM. | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 28,675 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 28,675 | Horsepower = Torque X RPM divided by 5252
The basic idea was to pick a gear that let the engine develop its maximum horsepower and keep the engine turning in that RPM range more or less constantly. Then the only consideration would be whether the gear we selected would get us there on schedule without too many speeding tickets.
Bigger, higher-torque engines just allowed lower RPM and/or fewer shifts. The little 283 with a 3" stroke and virtually no low-end torque needed a LOT of gears!
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
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| | | | | Joined: Mar 2004 Posts: 6,189 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2004 Posts: 6,189 | My 1956 8400 has a 21,000 GVW rating and it started out in life with a 265 V8. It made a wopping 155 hp @ 4200 rpm...they did a lot with a little back then! Mike B  | | | | | Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,597 Riding in the Passing Lane | | Riding in the Passing Lane Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,597 | How about the old 235 babbit rod Stovebolt sixes. before the v-8 came out. You were lucky to get 20K miles out of one.
They say money can't buy happiness. It can buy old Chevy trucks though. Same thing. 1972 Chevy c10 Cheyenne SuperIn the Gallery Forum | | | | | Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,262 Bubba - Curmudgeon | | Bubba - Curmudgeon Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,262 |
before the v-8 AND before the high-pressure 235s
But, this post was about the 283?
| | | | | Joined: Oct 2013 Posts: 219 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Oct 2013 Posts: 219 | Thanks gents, great info! Crenwelge it is pretty cool that you drove a rig like that. It is really amazing how that little engine got things done. Even more so with the 235s. | | | | | Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,597 Riding in the Passing Lane | | Riding in the Passing Lane Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,597 | before the v-8 AND before the high-pressure 235s
But, this post was about the 283? I thought it was a little added trivia.
They say money can't buy happiness. It can buy old Chevy trucks though. Same thing. 1972 Chevy c10 Cheyenne SuperIn the Gallery Forum | | | | | Joined: Nov 2014 Posts: 37 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Nov 2014 Posts: 37 | Until the last 30 years even most trucks couldnt run with the traffic.You didnt worry so much about time and speed as you did just geting there.I have drove alot of trucks were on hills you would down shift until you were in second gear thinking what if i have to go to first and what if first wont do it but luckly i never had to go to first on the highway. | | | | | Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,262 Bubba - Curmudgeon | | Bubba - Curmudgeon Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,262 |
I ran with the state main-road traffic in the early seventies (1954 3106 with 235 and 3.90 rear-end).
My 1948 with 216 and 4.11 rear-end 3105 never got the chance to drive on an interstate (late 60s) and I doubt if I ever took it over 55mph.
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