Which Is Cummins' Largest Truck Engine And Why Can't You Put It In Your Pickup?

When most people think of Cummins' diesel engines, they usually consider the company's popular offerings for pickup trucks, buses, and heavy-duty trucks. However, what most people are not aware of is the fact that Cummins engines power a lot more things than road-going pickup trucks and buses.

To cite a few examples, Cummins has a sizable presence in the marine engines, construction machinery, and backup power systems space. It's engines also power a long list of American and international semi-trucks. It wasn't long ago that we discussed various facets of the Cummins 6.7L V8 turbodiesel engine, the most powerful pickup truck engine currently made by Cummins. The company was also in the news after it announced a new engine called the Cummins B6.7 Octane, its first gas engine.

While there is no denying that Cummins has a broad portfolio of diesel engines, there is one product in the company's portfolio that stands out from the rest. Launched more than a decade ago in 2012, we are talking about the Cummins QSK95 engine. A true behemoth, the QSK95 is — wait for it — a 95-liter, 16-cylinder diesel engine that is used on ultra-class mining trucks. The QSK95 is a dynamic platform, and the engine also has variants that can be used for marine and rail applications.

Given that the QSK95 alone weighs more than three average pickup trucks combined, this one, unfortunately, can't be part of that engine swap project for your Ram 2500.

In case we haven't made it abundantly clear yet, the Cummins QSK95 engine — its largest and most powerful ever — will never see the insides of a road-legal truck. This is simply because it is not intended to be used on your every day, road-legal trucks. Instead, the mining-focused variant of the Cummins QSK95 engine is designed for colossal mining haul trucks and ultra-class dump trucks that can carry massive loads (in excess of 300 tons) in a single trip.

Examples of such large trucks include the Caterpillar 797F (400-ton capacity), the BelAZ 75710 (450-ton capacity), and the Komatsu 980E-5 (360-ton capacity). These trucks are so massive that their operators must climb up long stairs to reach their operating cabin, usually around 20 feet above the ground. Among the trucks listed above, the Komatsu 980E-5 already uses an engine co-developed with Cummins, the Komatsu SSDA18V170.

Coming back to the Cummins QSK95 engine, the specifications of this gargantuan engine are well worth a read. To begin with, Cummins offers the mining variants of the QSK95 engine in two trims. The first version is the QSK95 4400, which makes 44,00 hp of power at 1,800 rpm and 13,020 lb-ft of peak torque at 1,775 rpm. The second trim is called the Cummins QSK95 3800. This one makes 3,800 hp of power at 1,800 rpm and generates a peak torque of 11,244 lb-ft at 1,775 rpm.

The Cummins QSK95 engine boasts a displacement of 95 liters, comes with a total of 16 cylinders, and has a dry weight of 29,055 lb (13,179 kg). It measures 144 inches in length, is 68 inches wide, and is 97 inches tall.

Thanks to its long history of collaboration with Cummins, Komatsu is one of the major customers for Cummins' mining truck engines. Komatsu's mining trucks have traditionally used Cummins-sourced engines for several years.

Existing Komatsu trucks that use Cummins-sourced engines include the 2,000 hp Komatsu 730E-10 (Cummins QSK50), the 2,500 hp Komatsu 830E-5 (Cummins QSK60), and the 3,500 hp Komatsu 980E-5 (Cummins QSK78). If not evident already, the Cummins QSK90 engine is positioned above all these aforementioned models.

After Cummins came up with the QSK95 engine, Komatsu decided to use it for its most powerful mining truck model: the Komatsu 980E-5SE. On this truck, the engine model is denoted as the SDA16V190-1, but the engine is actually the QSK95 sourced from Cummins.

With more than 4,400 hp of power at its disposal, the Cummins QSK95 is one of the most powerful engine options currently available for modern trucks. Competing engines that make nearly as much power as the QSK95 include the 4,000 hp Rolls-Royce MTU 20V4000 (used on the Liebherr T 284), and the 4,000 hp Cat C175-20 (used on the Cat 797F).