When Merely Getting the Job Done Isn't Enough

The aerodynamics look quite lovely. And the cozy seats certainly make you feel comfy and warm. But you won’t really know the Cascadia until you hop in and put your foot down.

And when that happens, get ready for action. The new Detroit Diesel DD15 will shove you back in your seat with its turbo compound and up to 50 free horsepower. Its available rack and pinion steering gives you responsive feel for the road. But the thing you’ll notice most of all? The luxury car ride.

Available Rack and Pinion Steering

When Pikes Peak International Hill Climb record holder Mike Ryan showed that a Freightliner-designed rack and pinion steering system could survive the rough terrain of that race, we knew it was tough enough for our trucks. Freightliner is the only manufacturer to offer rack and pinion steering in all its heavy duty trucks, including the Cascadia.

Testing it in other Freightliner trucks earned high praise from drivers because it offers better road feel, reacts faster and adjusts for road crown. It’s not just a touchy-feely feature: it evens out tire wear, which is the second highest operating cost on the truck behind fuel.

Like It's On Rails: A 50-degree wheel cut that makes Cascadia genuinely nimble.

Every Corner Just Got Wider

The 50-degree wheel cut in the Cascadia makes every corner easier to get around. So whether backing up or picking through a crowded yard, the Cascadia has the agility to get out unscathed.

Ride on Air

The optional AirLiner^® front axle suspension — a combination of air and leaf springs — gets the ride just right. Drivers love to feel the road, but without the harsh road buzz. And fleet managers love the boxy SteerTek axle that cuts vibration, and thus reduces tire wear. Plus the lube-free front spring bushings require virtually no maintenance.

Launch Your Truck

“Torque Response” is engineering-speak for get-up from a dead stop. And the Detroit Diesel DD15™ is 75% faster than a Series 60®. Even fully loaded, you feel yourself launching up the on-ramps. The DD15 is loaded with up to 560 HP and up to 50 free horsepower from the turbocompounding. Plus it hits it maximum torque as low as 1,100 RPM, so you’re not grabbing for gears climbing the hills. Gun it over to DetroitDiesel.com for more info.

Cool Your Horses

Cascadia comes standard with a large, 1625 square inch radiator designed to cool most engine applications for both EPA 2007 and 2010 emission requirements. Or the truck can be uprated to an optional 1750 square inch radiator for engines over 500 horsepower. We put every Cascadia drivetrain combination through our Environmental Chamber dyno. They spent hundreds of grueling hours under a full load to fine-tune their performance. The result: a completely reliable cooling system that’s low profile, yet provides the cooling needed for the highest horsepower truck engines.

Dawn of the Hydraulic Clutch

Cascadia comes with a hydraulic clutch linkage. Over the past four decades, the car industry has perfected the reliability of these hydraulic systems. The lack of mechanical linkages means you lose less road time fine-tuning the system. In addition, by eliminating noisy mechanical linkages that can rattle, there’s less noise in the cab.