Heavy Iron: Kenworth 963 Oil Field Trucks Come To Life – These Are The Kings Of The Desert!


Heavy Iron: Kenworth 963 Oil Field Trucks Come To Life – These Are The Kings Of The Desert!

(Photos credit: Kenworth Trucks) – When it comes to big, awesome trucks there are few bigger and more awesome than the mighty Kenworth 963 oil field truck. These massive off-highway trucks spend their time working in the desert or other inhospitable places where oil rigs are present. Their primary job in the field is to help move heavy equipment and drilling rigs. The truck you’ll see coming together below is a cab and chassis. It is most likely heading to an upfitter so that a huge oil field body can be mounted to it with winches, potentially a lifting arm, and other appendages so that it can complete its designated work.

If you are wondering about the massive tires that look they’ve come off of an airplane, they are flotation tires that are designed to work best on loose sand to keep the truck from sinking into an ancient Pharaoh’s basement or something to that effect. As you’ll see in the photos, these are 6×6 trucks with the front axle also being powered along with the rear two. Seeing the photos of this truck on a lowboy trailer and completely dwarfing the KW rig that is hooked to the trailer.

Kenworth recently published some fun facts about the 963. Here’s what they said:

Truck use: oil fields for heavy oil rig moves
Weight of one tire and wheel: 2,000lb
Gross combination weight for this chassis: 500,000lb
Height from ground to top of cab: 12 feet 5 inches laden condition
Front and rear overall width over tires: 12 feet with 29.5R25 tires
Engine: Cummins ISX Euro 3 600 HP @ 2000 RPM
Transmission: Allison M6620A automatic transmission 6 forward speeds and two reverse speeds
Transfer case: Fabco/Cushman 504-1 2 speed with PTO
Front axle: Axle Tech 40,000lb capacity
Rear axle: Axle Tech 150,000lb capacity on Kenworth KWRB 75” axle spacing solid beam suspension 15.03:1 ratio
Tires: Firestone Sand Champion 29.5R25 28 ply rating tubeless with beadlocks
Fuel tanks: (2) 275 gallon rectangular steel tanks [550 gallons total fuel]

Note a couple of things there. The gross combo weight on this thing, meaning the truck with a trailer or payload is 500,000lbs. Yeah, half a frigging million pounds! Also note that the rear axles have a 150,000lb capacity each and the gear ratio is 15.03:1 — Even in 6th gear we bet this truck isn’t going to hit 40mph!

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE PHOTOS OF THIS AWESOME KENWORTH 963 BEING BUILT AND LOADED ON A TRAILER!

 


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3 thoughts on “Heavy Iron: Kenworth 963 Oil Field Trucks Come To Life – These Are The Kings Of The Desert!

  1. Chevy Hatin' Mad Geordie

    Here’s a thought:

    Get all those Chevy powered or Chevy based monstrosities you’ve ever featured and line them all up on a disused airfield. Then have these two beauties drive all over them until they are mashed into the ground..

  2. Ahmed Khan

    Dear Sir.

    We are looking to buy used Kenworth oilfield trucks. Please guide us or
    quote us your best price.
    Models 550 –963/953 model of year 2000 to 2008
    Your prompt reply will be appreciated.

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