Navistar Highlights Updates to International Vocational Trucks

Navistar will offer wider availability and ratings for its A26 engine in its International severe service trucks this year and longer maintenance intervals for the Cummins B6.7 and L9 engines, among other new options and standard features it discussed during a session at the virtual Work Truck Week.

The International A26 engine will be available in an increased rating of up to 515 hp and 1,850-lb.-ft. in the fourth quarter of 2021 for the HV and HX series. In addition, currently the A26 is only available in the 119-inch-BBC set-back axle HX620, but the company will be making it available in the 120-inch-BBC set-forward-axle HX520 later this year.

HX and HV Series

David Hillman, senior director, vocational segmentation, offered updates on its two severe service products, the HV Series and the HX Series.

The new HX series, unveiled in November, just went into production in the past few weeks. Hillman summarized some of the enhancement of the new HX, including the new extreme-duty cab, column-mounted shifter, corrosion protection, and standard Diamond Logic multiplexing for easier body integration.

With engine sizes from International and Cummins from 13L-15L and horsepower from 370-605, typical applications include dump, concrete mixer, heavy haul tractor, and oil field operations. It’s available in both day and sleeper cab versions.

The HV Series, introduced in 2017/2018, features engine sizes from 6.7L to 13L and horsepower from 200-500 (that will go up to 515 when the higher A26 rating is available this fall.) Typical applications include snow plows, utility trucks, sewer vacuums, cranes, dumps, tank trucks, and mixers.

The Chemguard corrosion protection introduced in the new HX is now standard on the HV. In addition, the Line-X in-cab coating that is standard on the HX is available as an option for the HV.

A new option in the HV this year is steering-wheel body controls, being introduced first with snowplow controls. This option relocates the cruise control from the steering wheel to two switches on the center wing/flat panel.

MV Series

The MV series, launched in 2018 and this year named one of the Top 5 Trucks in Medium Duty by Work Truck magazine, now comes with new 2021-compliant Cummins B6.7 and L9 engines, with improved and aligned maintenance intervals.

“We have made technical improvements so the engine will perform even better, based on the way you work in the field,” said Bruce Vasbinder, director of medium-duty segment marketing.

On the B6.7, oil and filter change intervals have been extended to 30,000 miles/1,000 hours or 18 months, a 50% improvement. The fuel filter maintenance interval has been increased four-fold, to 60,000 miles/2000 hours/18 months.

The 2021 L9 engine offers improved fuel economy, up to 1.5% for the Productivity Series and up to 3.5% for the Performance Series. Oil and filter change intervals have been extended to 50,000 miles/1500 hours/18 months, fuel filter changes to 60,000 miles/1500 hours/18 months.

On both engines, the crankcase ventilation filter is now maintenance-free.

Hendrickson Steertek NXT front axles are available as a lighter-weight option to traditional I-beam axles. Alcoa DuraBlack front and rear wheel coating options are available. In late April, Line-X cab floor protection will be available for the MV.

Connected Technology

International has added to its connected solutions portfolio with the new Intelligent Fleet Care, which will use data to help fleets manage their maintenance programs and improve uptime.

Fleet Health Monitoring is a weekly report sent to fleet managers identifying trucks most likely at risk of a breakdown. It focuses on key areas that are known to cause unexpected downtime: coolant, diesel particulate filters, diesel exhaust fluid, and oil issues. One customer using it saw time between breakdowns increase 40%, explained Matt Milewski, senior manager, connected services marketing.

Advanced PM will allow fleets to customize oil drain intervals based on the telematics data showing the performance of each individual truck, in combination with the OEM operator manual recommendations, to customize PM intervals for each VIN, rather than on a mileage- or hours-based system.

Other Intelligent Fleet Care features include advanced fuel analytics insights, tire pressure monitoring system data integration, over-the-air programming and gateway integrations to third-party fleet management tools. It links to OnCommand Connection health reports and Fault Code Actoin Plans that provide guidance to address maintenance issues.