What's torque???

Derkperk · Oct 25, 2013

I got into a small pissing match over a couple brews last night with a guy who claims to be a diesel mechanic, he works on larger equip and otr trucks. It started with him giving me shiz over my "6.uh oh". Now I'm not one to brag about my truck because I've never been to the track, but a buddy started jacking him up about how fast it was and that I was making 1000ft/lbs. That's when he said there is no way I was anywhere near that. I asked him why he thought that, not knowing what was done to the truck, and told me that it takes more than just fuel to make torque.
So, I'm wondering what does it take? There is a lot of talk about 5 6 700 horse but what kind of torque numbers are being seen? Enlighten me fellow powerstrokers. :grouphug: LOL

Cold Roller · Oct 25, 2013

You should be the one providing the explanation!

Torque is the tendency of a force to move around a point. Torque is a twisting force usually measured as work in lb-ft or nm.

HP is a measure of work/time.
Horsepower = (Torque x RPM)/5252

On a dyno, torque is the force measured as work completed to spin the mass, and HP is calculated from it as the time and RPM are factored in.

HP was a common term derived in 1702 to relate work/time of a steam engine to what everyone could understand - what horses could do.

it was found that one horse could produce a peak power over a few seconds as high as 15 hp (call it the peak HP or torque adjusted work). However, it was observed that for sustained activity, a work rate of about 1 hp per horse was typical

So, peak torque is somewhat BS when posted, unless it is sustained for a period of time. If a truck hits 1000 lb-ft but settles at 800 and decreases gradually over the RPM range to to 600 lb-ft, the usable TQ is not 1000, but that would be the post on the forum! The other side to your argument was probably bestowing the virtue of a heavy mass as the king of torque, not a truck producing a spike as I described. The flatter the dyno chart for torque, the better the quality of the power.

bigrpowr · Oct 25, 2013

bore and stroke.

OBS F350 · Oct 25, 2013

Depending on weather and dyno your truck would come close if not make 1,000 ft/lbs. It seems 6.0s usually have lower peak tq numbers then 6.4s and 7.3s but you're probably in the 1,000 ball park.

Chvyrkr · Oct 25, 2013

Charles in 3, 2....

lincolnlocker · Oct 25, 2013

Chvyrkr said:
Charles in 3, 2....

Lol... where has he been ? Havnt seen any posts by him in a while.

live life full throttle...
load it like a box car, drive it like a stock car

Chvyrkr · Oct 25, 2013

I think he has a new baby keeping him in the real world.

lincolnlocker · Oct 26, 2013

Oh cool!

live life full throttle...
load it like a box car, drive it like a stock car

Yellow1000 · Oct 26, 2013

Just guessing this diesel mechanic guy is not thinkin that your truck will make torque like a OTR tractor would. But If each one makes 1000 ft.lbs then for the sake of a few beer argument what's the difference , that number is that number right? Although they probably make that number through the entire rpm range. Which is where it ties into for how long and at what rpm right? Now a serious question , is bore and stroke why the 6.0s are usually a little lower on torque than the others ?

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suprdzlduty · Oct 26, 2013

Torque...true torque is measured when you get up in the morning...when you bend it down to pee and it raises you up on your tip toes...that's torque...

...sorry for the derail...it ain't hard to get a diesel to produce a 1000ftlb of torque....you should be in that range.

TheReelMuhcoy · Oct 26, 2013

A very general rule of thumb (there is a mathematical equation behind it that Cold Roller explained earlier) torque is GENERALLY twice your HP #. Guys, don't lay into me that its not true, because I know it is not. I am simply saying a general rule of thumb our engines produce a 1:2 ratio of HP to Torque. My first and latest dyno run was 366HP/607Ft/lbs

Joshbaker · Oct 26, 2013

Yes the reason our engine doesnt get as high of torque is because of bore and stroke.

Derkperk · Oct 26, 2013

Thanks for all the input guys. I need to find a dyno to get a sheet and "prove" it.

speedracer1000 · Oct 26, 2013

horsepower is how fast you hit the wall... torque is how far u take the wall with you

Derkperk · Oct 26, 2013

speedracer1000 said:
horsepower is how fast you hit the wall... torque is how far u take the wall with you

I like it.

Or the guys who have spun the rollers, what kinda numbers are you seeing? (Torque obviously)

onebadcoastie · Oct 27, 2013

Dynos have a number of variables. Make sure you find yourself on a loaded dyno and it's never a bad idea to back up the dyno numbers with a track run or two.