mackmb212

I took a few more pictures today of some of the cracks and a busted bolt.The crack in the trans is more then just what I thought, it appears there is a whole piece that broke out and they fixed it with some epoxy that I thought was just a glob of grease. On the plus side all the gears look good in the main box and auxiliary.

The main bolt that goes through the rear leaf spring pack is rotten and broke, I was really hoping not to have to take the back end of the truck apart but it looks like there is no avoiding it.

If anyone has a b81 tractor or had one I need a official dry weight. Pennsylvania requires it on the title and the out of state title I have dose not show a weight. I had a b61 tandem axle,double frame and a paper under the seat said it was 10,500 so I can't imagine the b81 being much more then 20k.

The sad thing is most of the sheet metal you see in the first picture is junk. Out of everything the passenger door and the passenger headlight bezel are the only things to get reused.

I remember seeing this one advertised for a few years. Gearharts or truck paper or somewhere. It was on a site that had some other heavy equipment as I recall. I'm glad it is getting some love. I'm still hoping to get some floor space under roof again so I can finish mine up...maybe 2015 will be the year.

yes this is the truck from gearharts.

Can't wait to see progress ok this. Is the trans. a quad? Can you tell if there's any damage?

yes it's a dubble overdrive quad box. I had 2 friends of mine check the trans out, took off top cover and everything looks good. I got to run the mine box through the first 3 gears and it seemed fine.

didn't the SE B61's have the B81 radiator?

could this be what you're talking about ? I found this on Facebook and was wondering what it was.

Those floors look good and solid for sure.

At the end before it drives off the cliff it sounds like it has a detroit in it ???

Man I'm glad I only live about 25 minutes away.

...that feeling of euphoria that comes when the planets align and the RPM and speed are right, and on the shift from 3H to 4L...the stick almost pulls itself into gear on it's own! Like BUTTER!

No love for that ol triplex anymore lol

Looks good see you there

Love reading those when they come in. How true to the build sheet is the old girl still? Any surprises?

well I noticed my trucks front end seems to sit higher then others I sas and there was a note on the one page that the customer wanted heavier springs and that they wanted a certain type of power steering witch is not on the truck now. The only disappointment was someone put 22 inch hubs on the back.

I emailed them they got back to me in a few hours.

How long did it take for you to get it from mack historical? I just ordered mine from them for my R -685T

they told me 3 to 4 weeks and it showed up in the 4th week.

So after having my truck for 2 years and almost selling it but changed my mind I finally emailed the mack museum for the paper work on my truck. I was ordered by Paul M Wagner, Inc with a order of 2 trucks b81sx 2642 and 2643, 43 being mine. I was curious if anyone new of this guy or company and if there was any pictures floating around of the 2 trucks both were ordered as dumps with 14ft bodies. Both were also red. Both trucks were to be delivered to the Boston branch of mack I'm guessing by the order foram.

A Roto broch will go through that. My old place of work we used to go right through 1inch steel plate no problem with them and they were using a mag drill like you have Paul.they look like a end mill but there made like a hole saw the only thing is you will have to layout your holes because of there being no pilot drill like a hole saw.

How about this one,momack? This one belonged to my first boss,Rick Leach. The floaters DO look cool on a B!

is that the nick name for the wide front tires ?

Because of the length laws, measuring from farthest point on the front of the tractor, the length laws were so tight they worried about the Dog making the vehicle

over length, Believe it or not!

Ron

hey thanks I figured there would be some strange reason.

Dumb dumb question but how come there wasn't a bulldog on the g model under the center of the windshield like a f or mb ???? Just curious.

My friends grandfather was a parts runner at mack he started there in 66 he remembers there being about 20 b models sitting there and he said it was after production stopped. He asked why they were there and he was told some guy refused to buy any r models so they made them last b's for him. I'm sure this story is not 100% correct but imcsure it's close.

What style brakes do you have now? You might be able to upgrade them for not much money

this is what I have. I'm thinking a 24/24 style chamber might fit

Looks like the center bolt is about rotted away. You will need to get the rear springs off or at least taken free from the other suspension parts. Once you do that you can replace the bolt or take to a spring shop or pay someone to do that work. Worst part is everything is heavy and big. The center bolt keeps the spring pack together and aligned over the axle and/or over the other suspension components depending on setup (single axel, tandem,...). The center bolt holds the springs and every thing aligned, it is a critical part of the suspension.

Luckily they are not that expensive and you can get them from a parts store or spring shop.

my problem is I'm afraid to try and take it apart. It's a 55k suspension and I think I will be opening a supersized can of worms. I would like to find a whole rear cut off from a dm800 so I can have spring brakes and go a little faster but everyone wants 5k or more.

That sounds like a real pain,my front springs look good for the most part but my back one has a issue that I'm not sure how to deal with yet.

If you get the build sheet from Mack Museum it will say if it was built that way or someone changed it thru the years. Are they 55,000 lb. rears? Most but not all B-81'S were built with 55,000'S.or larger. Joe D.

well I emailed the museum so I should find out in a few weeks, can't wait.

Well since a few friends of mine talked me into keeping my truck I still need to find some parts I do not have.

I need a front bumper and a passenger side inner fender. If anyone can help me out let me know thanks.