I have a dilemma.
I purchased an RD688s with the belief that it has 53,000# rears. This number seemed odd to me and yes, shame on me for not making damn sure before pulling the trigger. I did call a local dealer and without any hints, he stated 53Ks, among other things such as the engine, rear axle ratio (4.42) and front axle rating (20K) which I can confirm accurate. This info was from the vin (Mo57706). After getting the truck home from some 600 miles I can find no evidence of 53K rears. I do have the build sheet on the truck which does have some discrepancies, it shows Mack 38000 - SB38 with a PID code of 268-1003. The truck was purchased new through McNeilus as a mixer and two lift axles were installed at the time.
Now things get fuzzy. The dealer stated he could not determine the axle rating because of the Hendrickson Walking Beam suspension. Hendrickson lists the HN462 as 46,000# springs which is what the build sheet shows. So it seems the truck has 38k pound rears over 46k# springs. Here is the big question........are the Mack SB38s the same axles (axle housings....wall thickness, etc) as the Mack 44,000 pound rears? Is it the same axle with the springs determining the capacity or are the axle housings different on the heavier axles? I can live with 38s if they are the same as the 44s (design and strength) with the Hendrickson suspension but I am going to have a tough time with 38k axles if they are pretty light duty. I would think, as a mixer, this truck saw some pretty heavy loads off road every day and I am certain the axles are original as I have every service record from day one.
Sorry for the long winded post