jward

If that CH in the picture is your's i'd keep it. I don't know what motor you have now, but i'd spend the money to go thru it and the rest of the truck before i spent the money on an ASET, coolant issues fixed or not. I had an AC in my granite and didnt have much trouble, other than it being gutless, but ive heard horror stories about the visions, from what I was told, part of the problem, besides mechanical failure, was the way it was wedged in there, airflow issues in other words, you can't change physics if you weren't delt a good hand to begin with from the Mack Engineers.

An older friend of my inlaws took a friends 63 B to a local show this weekend. I had forgot about it because ive been working alot, which in this day and age is a blessing. I was off yesterday, and he took the time to call me during the show to prod me to get there, so wheen my daughter got up from her nap, the wife and I took her and went. I hadnt seen this truck, but he had been telling me about it since he knew I loved them. Well long story short i got there, looked around awhile, and proceeded to bs with him and some of the guys he introduced me to. When he asked me to drive it, I couldnt believe it. I hesitated at first,scared that someone would hit it knowing my luck, but gave in, meanwhile my wife had a smirk on her face. That was the best thing Ive ever driven, I couldnt believe it. Better than my dad's chevelle, any deere or binder, R or CL or DM. It was a feeling i cant even describe. All I can say is I gotta find one of my own, as that ones $27000 price tag is to steep for a 30 year old family man. Its not a great story compared to some of your's, but I'm definitely the same in some ways as the rest of you guys.Long live the old dogs!!

I've been wondering the difference between the different R-models, like 685,688,690,s,st,etc. I know on the newer ones like ch's and cl's, but would love to know all of the designations on the older ones. Thanks alot.

I appreciate the responses. We have a good machine shop north of here that alot of my buddies buy Cat and Cummins parts from. The reason I want to go with a Mack tranny is because of the good low and .71 overdrive. I've always hated that 8LL. The gaps on the high side suck. You're either runnin the balls off of it or lugging the p@#s out of it. A 2130 would suit my 4.42's real good, if I can find a good one.

Do you guys recommend using Mack reman heads or transmissions, or do you guys have better suggestions on a place for these parts. The reason I ask is because i've had problems with certain Mack reman stuff, namely injectors, and don't want to have to replace them twice, as these are alot more work. Also has anyone swapped a fuller for a Mack transmission? Is there more than just driveshaft adjustments to make? Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated because i'm on borrowed time.

I have been hearing some good stuff about the new engines. The other night I was at the dealer getting parts and saw a brand new one in there with the valve cover off to find the rocker shaft busted. I got a sick feeling in my stomach after all the valvetrain trouble i've had. I looked at the service manager and shook my head and said you've got to be s*#tting me. He just rolled his eyes and laughed. I'm gnna give them some time. I've been wanting to drive one but don't want a salesman calling me all the time.

Last winter had it in. The center ex. man was cracked. They replaced the turbo,even though it hadn't gone. My shop is up now, so i'll be doin more stuff now that I don't have to work in the snow. The thing is I ran it all summer, and didn't add any oil. The cold weather might have something to do with it. When this job is over I'll have som downtime to tear the tubes and manifolds of to start checking. Thanks

My e-tech 460 is using a little oil now. It puffs some when you start it, and a little when you Jake it. I was thinkin at the least valve seals, maybe the guides are bad and a valve isn't seating. All the trouble i've had with the truck has been with the heads. At 40000, a guide pin broke, three weeks after that an exhaust rocker backed off. While they were in there that time they found a burr in the casting where the pushrod came up through and was rubbing. After that i,ve had to run the valves every winter, which I know isn't normal. I don't have anything abnormal coming out of the breather, but do you guys think I should have a blowby test done anyway. Any advice would be great,as I respect all your opinions. I want to fix it before the busy season starts. Thanks NOTE: oil psi at 1600 is 60, which I think is still pretty good,But realize is not always an indicator

Started out the year with a new dispatcher that used to be the top broker at the plant. Its amazing how fast they become company men and forget about the financial diffacultys of truckin. Looked the other day while getting tax stuff ready, and am $8,000 down from last year, and that's before I added up tax reciepts. Seemed to me as if I worked just as hard as usual, but this northeast Ohio economy has definitely taken a beating. Seems to be alot of work up towards Cleveland, but there is also 1,000,000 more trucks competing for the work.

They just don't recognize the other axle, you are lucky. I have a six axle in Ohio, and i'm only legal at 69500, which is only 20.6 tons. My tri-axle, which is what you guys run in PA, is only legal at 59500,or 15.5 tons. Our weight laws suck. I respect the lawmen, but I don't respect the laws. If I went by their standards. I'd go broke.

Man almighty is that a sharp CH. Most 454 owners i've talked to love them. Seldom do I here of any e-7 that doesn't get above 6 mpg.

yea, until you put it on you're wheel studs like my buddy did one time. lol !!!

I have a fuller 8LL and a maxitorque 10 spd, and quite frankly like the maxitourque better. I cut my teeth on the old 5 speed and miss it alot. Once you get used to the rpm matching, you shouldn't have any problems. It doesn't sound like you are gonna be pulling 80,000 lbs with it anyway. You'll probably get a kick out of "Floatin em". At least you won't have grandpa smacking your hand everytime you scratch a gear.

yea I was thinkin about buying an MP-8, but if i'm gonna have to be down all the time working out bugs like on my e-tech the hell with it. Mine has been runnin good for 7 years and still is. They were supposed to have these problems worked out by now. I can't afford that downtime anymore.

I grease at least the frontend every weekend, sometimes the whole truck depending on how much i've seen of my daughter during the week. Everything else I do the same as those other guys, except for the transmission, which has synthetic oil. I change the air filter a feww times a year regardless of the restriction meter. Make sure you jack the frontend up when greasing the kingpins, and block the tires and release the brakes when greasing the back brakes so that there is no pressure to keep grease from totally lubricating the s-cam bushings. I use Mystic JT-8 oil and Shaefers Moly Supreme grease. I don't know if they are the best out there, but with 12000 hrs and 267,000 miles, I don't use a drop of oil between changes and haven't replace a u-joint, kigngpin or springpin yet. OIL ANALYSIS IS ESSENTIAL!!! Learn it, Read it Live by it.