As China’s truck industry flourishes, truck culture has become increasingly popular. This unique culture, mainly represented by modified trucks, is not only a stunning sight on the road but also a platform for truck drivers, industry practitioners and enthusiasts to express their passion and showcase their individuality.
On January 24, Yuchai Group’s 2026 Global Partner Conference themed “123, GO!” was grandly held in Yulin, Guangxi. In the whole-vehicle exhibition area of this partner conference, a modified truck based on the Chenglong HK tractor attracted particular attention. Equipped with Yuchai’s high-horsepower natural gas powertrain and featuring a comprehensive exterior upgrade, the vehicle exhibits a distinct personalized style and the charm of modification culture. In this article, Chinese truck review will take you up close to this model to explore its unique features.
Among a host of domestic heavy trucks, the exterior design of the Chenglong HK is undoubtedly innovative and highly recognizable. Its front face cleverly integrates the cultural imagery of the “Chinese Dragon” with modern industrial aesthetics, with the V-shaped “shield” front grille as the core visual element. The surface of the grille creates a “dragon’s armor” visual effect through a large number of sharp cutting surfaces and layered three-dimensional lines, conveying a resolute and powerful overall vehicle temperament.
In Chenglong’s truck product lineup, the HK is named after “King”, symbolizing its flagship position and outstanding performance. The exterior of the HK model perfectly matches this powerful positioning. Of course, amidst its bold and tough style, the Chenglong HK also takes practicality into account. For example, a large-area non-slip pedal is installed below the front grille to facilitate drivers in cleaning the windshield; the left and right air guide corner protectors not only make the front face more full but also effectively guide air flow, reducing driving wind resistance and noise.
The Chenglong HK inherits and carries forward the “dragon culture” impression of the Chenglong family, and its headlights are the finishing touch: the vehicle is equipped with LED light sources with lenses, combined with internal decorative elements, resulting in a sharp overall appearance. While providing excellent lighting effects and an ultra-long service life, they also achieve the effect of “adding the finishing touch”. The fog lights are independently designed and installed below the headlights, further ensuring good lighting performance in harsh weather conditions.
In truck modification, lighting is absolutely indispensable. They not only serve the practical functions of enhancing illumination and prompting but also play an eye-catching role in improving the exterior appearance. This modified Chenglong HK has added lighting in the boarding pedal area to balance the overall visual effect of the vehicle and help lower the visual center of gravity.
A black bumper guard is designed below the bumper, surrounding the bumper and boarding pedal area, creating a more full overall vehicle appearance. The top of the guard is also equipped with lights for decoration, making the vehicle’s exterior more attractive.
At the same time, this modified Chenglong HK is also equipped with a light frame on the top of the cab, with five additional LED spotlights. These configurations make the vehicle’s exterior more full and the roof area more abundant, while also serving a practical purpose of enhancing driving safety in pitch-black environments.
As the saying goes: “Clothes make the man; saddle makes the horse.” To further highlight truck culture elements, this modified Chenglong HK adopts a special body paint scheme. Featuring dragon and flame elements and integrating multiple colors such as red, blue, white and gray, the paint scheme has a strong visual impact, while highlighting Chenglong’s brand characteristics and culture with extremely high recognition.
A complete chassis side skirt is also equipped on this Chenglong HK. Its presence makes the vehicle’s side profile more streamlined and neat, not only helping to reduce wind resistance but also creating a clean and elegant appearance.
In China’s domestic truck industry, Chenglong paired with Yuchai has always been a “winning combination”. Both are local enterprises in Guangxi, and through strong alliance and in-depth collaboration, they have formed a solid guarantee in terms of product performance, quality reliability and after-sales service. This real-shot modified Chenglong HK is equipped with one of Yuchai’s most advanced high-horsepower natural gas engines: the YCK16L660N-60, outputting 660 horsepower with a peak torque of 2800 N·m, which is one of the “peak standards” of domestic gas engines.
The YCK16L660N-60 engine is a representative of Yuchai’s heavy-duty gas power, with a displacement of up to 16 liters. The abundant displacement brings the vehicle strong low-end torque performance and high-speed response capability, adapting not only to heavy-load starting and steep slope climbing but also maintaining efficient operation in long-distance trunk transportation, especially suitable for complex working conditions such as mountainous areas and plateaus.
Matching the engine is a gearbox from Fast, model F12JZ28A. This gearbox is a 12-speed AMT with an input torque of 2800 N·m, adopting an all-aluminum housing design for good lightweight performance. With a first gear ratio of 12.26 and a top gear ratio of 0.779, combined with the high-horsepower, high-torque natural gas engine, it achieves excellent heavy-load starting and efficient cruising performance. The real-shot vehicle is further equipped with a hydraulic retarder to help control vehicle speed, thereby enhancing safety on long downhill sections, while also reducing brake system wear and lowering maintenance costs.
The front axle adopts ConMet wheel ends with visual observation windows for quick monitoring of lubricating oil status. Its oil lubrication design and pre-adjusted bearing clearance technology avoid the high-temperature oxidation problem prone to traditional grease lubrication, significantly extending maintenance intervals and improving operational availability and whole-life cycle economy.
The rear axle adopts a tandem 440 axle with leaf spring suspension and a final drive ratio of 3.364, forming a 6×4 drive configuration.
The gas cylinders adopt a rear-mounted design with a total capacity of 1500L, providing the vehicle with an impressive driving range to support long-distance operation needs, reducing mid-way refueling frequency and improving transportation efficiency.
Conclusion
As China’s truck industry thrives, truck culture is gradually moving from a niche hobby to broader social recognition. This modified truck based on the Chenglong HK is not only a “masterpiece” of the in-depth integration of Chenglong and Yuchai technologies but also marks the leap of Chinese trucks from simple production tools to carriers of spiritual and emotional values. It is not only a reliable transportation equipment with low energy consumption and high operational availability but also a mobile space to showcase professional dignity and express personal propositions, injecting the unique romance and industry pride of Chinese truckers into the steel machinery.
原创文章，作者：ctinsa，如若转载，请注明出处：https://www.ctinsa.com/truew/8176
