Catepillar and Chevrolet

[tag01]

I am probably gonna open a can of worms here but about 10 years ago I was working for a company that had a test project on Cat crawlers in Illinois. At that test site there were a couple cat company chevy pickups running around the place with cat diesels in them. I am thinking WOW the best of 2 products it only a matter of time before ford and dodge go broke. Then 6 months later when I was at Cat again the chevy/cat pickups had dissappered and no body would talk. Does anybody out there know more about this almost marriage made in heaven? By the way I am a cummins fan.

 

[farmall 55a case]

Im a gm fan but I heard that they couldn't keep the front end together on them to much weight! Don't know if its true tho! Who knows! ?

 

[Toyboy]

Cat will use different manufactures products (trucks/tractors) when testing new designs. Just for example, before Cat came out with the Belted Ag Tractors, I was at one of their plants and they had Ford tractors modified with the rubber track system. When I asked about the marriage, they said that Ford was just the test platform for prove design. Cat would be bringing out a new Cat machine when prove design released it. The Cat Challenger 65 was released a couple years later.

Who knows what the Cat/Chevy truck prove design test was for? You'll just have to wait a few years and see if anything develops from that.

 

[Swiftriver]

Im a gm fan but I heard that they couldn't keep the front end together on them to much weight! Don't know if its true tho! Who knows! ?

I could believe that. They can't keep the frontends together with a 6.0 gas. I lost track of how many ball joints and tie rod ends I have replaced over the years although my 08 Duramax just turned 80,000 and I haven't touched it. Maybe they finally have it figured out?

 

[Zebrafive]

I saw a Dodge dually with a Cat diesel in it. Story was the contract for diesel engines was up for renewal and Cat installed a diesel for Dodge to test as part of the bid process. Cummins got the bid and I was told truck could not be legally titled or sold.

 

[wthompson]

CAT has enough resources and knowhow they can put there engine in anything they want. just buy the truck tractor or whatever and do it. Who only knows what goes on at these proving grounds.

 

[rsewill]

I was getting my truck overhauled at Cummins in Roseville, MN, in the mid-'70's and saw a small Cummins squeezed into a Ford sedan. It was driven by a Cummins salesman.

 

[pjbci]

I think they dissappeared because thats about the same time that cat got out of the "on highway" engine market in the U.S. Cat is back to making truck engines for U.S market now but they stepped out for 5 or 6 years because of regulations.

 

[shownuff]

so much for having 'technology"

 

[Toyboy]

They stepped out because they introduced their own line of HD and OTR trucks and a new engine series. Cat had refined the 3400 series as far as it would go that had been in production many,many years. Cat designed a totally new engine to go with the newly released trucks.

 

[pjbci]

They stepped out because they introduced their own line of HD and OTR trucks and a new engine series. Cat had refined the 3400 series as far as it would go that had been in production many,many years. Cat designed a totally new engine to go with the newly released trucks.

Im was talking about big trucks. They upset a lot of us truck drivers when we had to buy peterbilts equipped with cummins engines.

 

[foreman Etexas]

I saw a 80's model dually at a car show with a cat in it,was cool to see all the yellow under the hood. Are big gas compressor are Cats,except one its a Waukesha...

 

[Martian]

I am probably gonna open a can of worms here but about 10 years ago I was working for a company that had a test project on Cat crawlers in Illinois. At that test site there were a couple cat company chevy pickups running around the place with cat diesels in them. I am thinking WOW the best of 2 products it only a matter of time before ford and dodge go broke. Then 6 months later when I was at Cat again the chevy/cat pickups had dissappered and no body would talk. Does anybody out there know more about this almost marriage made in heaven? By the way I am a cummins fan.

Nothing I know of. I know back when they had the medium duty line you could get a Cat engine in the 6500 and up, but nothing below. I know of no plans of them in the future either. I can say I am very excited for the new GMC/Chevy pickups though!

 

[Johnp33]

Cat got out of the class eight market because they did not make a product that was any good. They would not pay the warranty time it took to fix a problem.
I worked on Cats all my life and when you called cat about a warranty repair they acted as if the engine was sitting in an engine stand, not stuffed into a truck chassis. They would give you a list of tests to do that took 10 hours and want to pay 5, they wanted you to do the same test 3 times as if it would heal itself. That is why Freightliner dropped them. Parts were hard to get, and every part on a Cat is different except the turbo drain "O" rings.
Their electronics are a joke, if you ever get a chance take an auto shift for a drive, an 18 speed, do it with a Cat and then a DD15. or a S60.
Many owner operators love Cat, they love big hoods, big air cleaners hanging on the cab, Texas bumpers, then the complain about fuel mileage.
Cat makes all kinds on different size engines, some are great.
As far as GM front ends I retired and have done more front end work on Fords than anything else, and as far as ball joints I do more on Dodge than anything else.