Red Horse

10-4 Jim, thx- I will check out Euclid/Meritor sites. I casn say it always went down the road well and clampsm have always been tight.Bob

Well I was having my rims (rear axle) painted today and we discover a crack in one of them. So the question then is how do you tell an 8.00 rim from a 8.50. The tires (tube type radials) are mounted. So I hooked a tape measure on the outside face of the wheel to the opposite side-split ring side and come up with the following dimensions: Two rims are 9-3/8ths, one is 9-7/8ths, and 0ne is 8-3/4ers. As for spacers, one is 4" and one is 3-5/8ths. I guess its possible over 56 years that this truck has long since lost its factory rims. anyone have any suggestion? I'm assuming they are 8.5's I believe the two at 9/3/8ths were matched up with the 3-5/8ths spacer and the other two were matched with the 4" spacer. That would have meant an even overall match. The fronts by the way look relatively new-when I bought the truck in 09, the front tires (11:00 x 24R Bridgestone 857's) still had blue paint markings in the tread pattern. My guess is the rims were replaced with the tires. Picture of cracked rim attached-again this is on the lock ring side of rim

I'll be there if the old girl makes the log drive from Worcester County at 50 mph!

Just to let those know who knew him, Erv Bickford passed away on Saturday at age 79 after a battle with cancer. To those of you who knew him, no explanation is needed as to what a great guy he was. To those who never met him, you are unfortunate. A very successful man who after career in mechanical engineering, bought his father's oil transport business in 79 and ran it until he sold out a few years ago. Always a kind word for people and a willingness to help others out or share a story or provide information. My favorite stories-his trips to deliver fuel to the weather station atop Mt Washington in one his Louisvilles. Rest in peace Erv. PS. attached is a picture of one of his Macks at Macungie last year as well as his KB at Brooklyn Ct. last year.

To each his own. My opinion?-this guy is a fraud-one minute he is in his Harvard speech mode, and the next, he is "jive talkin" to the bro's. What did he EVER do in his life? Why are there so many mysteries surrounding his past? Romney supposedly cut some kid's hair off and everyone pops out of the woodwork with the details. Obama? NO one remembers him from any point in his past? How can that be? This smooth talking dynamic personality and NO ONE REMEMBERS HIM? Now Gearhead, if you like Obama, and you like Hoffa, you must buy into the free lunch society. Well just look at what Europe is going through. Now the dumb French go and elect a socialist who they think will no longert hold their feet to the fire in terms of reforms but will continue the handouts. The Italians have a new leader (Monti) who is well respected in the world but he is having trouble getting them to face the facts. The Greeks? forget it-they do nothing as far as the world economy is concerned but non the less, they will drag the rest of Europe down. Oh well-lunch is over-back to the real world. Last point, if you appreciate our standard of living, and what we have in comparison to the rest of the world, think about what this socialist wants to do to business and the rights of individuals and who supports him-in my book radical liberals and big unions led by individuals who feed off the dues of members who often have no real say. Am I anti union? Absolutely not. I've dealt with them for 44 years. I just think there has to be a balance so that everyone has a choice. The NLRB was supposed to provide a balance to protect all workers rights-from abuses by employers as well as abuses by Unions. Guess what, your man has been attempting to stack the deck so it is a big union tool--Ah-keep those contributions coming. By the way, the Hollywood crowd raised 50 mil last night for their man. "Hollywood"-now there is a good bunch of people!

Well the Tech hotline at Valley had no clue. Steps I've taken: 1. Tested Trucklite lamp with appropriate hotwire. stop, tail,and turn signals worked. 2. Hooked up lamp to appropriate "trailer" side of Valley converter grounded direct to ground in battery box, then tested each light "hot wire" direct to battery positive. all three worked-agai9n this was going through the Valley "box". 3.go to rear of truck,-again " SOS" - turn signals and stop lamps won't work. Tailights do-so the ground has to be good. Any suggestions? point of info, this truck has a new Galion dump body-with turn signals mounted high up in corner posts-they work-get their feed off hot wires that go to rear crossmember. also has a trailer connection for an air brake equipped tag trailer. ?????????????

Well I spoke too soon and the frustration grows. Friday around 4:50 I threw my hands up in the air and went on line-found a number of the distributor and a gal refrred me to Valley Towing Products tech service 800 line.-of course It was 4:59 by then and I got the VM. so I sent them an e-mail. this morning one of my buddies asked about the trailer plug that the Mack has and a light bulb lit. As the attached picture shows, this device I'm wiring in is for a trailer plug and allows a 3 bulb vehicle (stop, tail, turn) to function with a 2 bulb (stop/turn, tail) trailer set up. The tag trailer plug IS set up for a 2 bulb system. so I'm thinking one weay or another I'm confusing the issue. Just for yuks, I tested the trailer socket with the "box" connected. The turn signals work and the stop lights work-tail lights do not.. On the triuck, the tailights work but the TS and SL's do not!-just the opposite. WE will see what the tech hotline says on Monday AM!

Well guys, the solution is a "trailer hook up kit". You cut the plug off the pigtail and that end gets connected to your new lights. I shouldn't be posting until its done and working so I'll get some pix tomorrow.

Thx Rob. I was on Trucklites website and did a search for "backfeed isolator" and didn't get anything. I'm headed over to the shop where I bought ll my trucklite stuff so we will see.

My 56 B (12V, Alternator) has two rear turn signals and two combination tail/stop lights. It also has a new Galion dump body with turn signals high up in the rear corners. I want to clean up the lighting by eliminating the 4 lights and replacing with two oblong combo stop/turn/tail lights. I bought new Trucklites (Model 60) that have a ground wire, a tail lamp wire and a stop wire. For starters, I cut the hot wire on one of the turn signals and did a test by attaching it to the "stop" wire then turning the turn signal on. It worked. Now my question is, the existing stop/tail lamps have two wires-I assume one is the stop and one the tail light. I have guys telling me that IF I hook the stop light wire to the new stop wire on the Trucklite together with the turn signal wire, when step on the brakes, the current will also flow back to the FRONT turn signal. I'm also told I can get a "box" that will allow me to make this connection without backfeeding to the front turn signals. Anyone have a clue what that "box" is called? For what its worth, the turn signal switch is a SignalStat 900. A appreciate any responses.

Now this is cool. You guys from New England might remember the boneyard that was in Concord NH right off of 93. I remember going up there to buy a drop deck trailer. Was it Cohen's?? In any case, they had a bunch of old Colonial iron there-including a Biederman! Now THAT was rare!

the auctioneers listing in fact SAYS its a B-30!

220, F'Train--Both of yours look good. I would say mine is the correct bonnet-no rot, its solid but this old dog was a dump truck since day one and my guess is the bonnet caught its share of trees off road as it has a few dents in it. The flare at the bottom is 4.5" and the stub in the air cleaner is about a 4.25+/- Not the easiest thing to matchup.

Good thought for the stack-I think the base is flared-I'll check out-In the back of my mind I think the tube is 4.5" I took the measurements a while back and e-mailed to a chrome shop in Syracuse-guy came back at...." $485 to start"!

Like this-and I too would like to find a chrome one-at least the bonnet-at a reasonable price. Kind of hurts to pay 200 bucks for something made in china.

Just make sure you know for sure which version the spare six speed is. 107 has a useable hole gear- 1071 is a very low ratio (23.08)

That is kinda the point boys. If you followed the dash/visor plate, we wouldn't be having this conversation. As I said when I started this, young friend of mine has this beautiful R that he paid top dollar for. He has a guy driving it from time to time who thinks its a 7 speed-or even a 10 for that matter. I just want to be able to tell him..."don't let him drive it that way" if in fact he is doing damage.by the way-here is the truck-he let me use it for a few days for some "charity work" at our fairgrounds.

If my 2.68 reduction number is correct, then 2nd L (13.37) to 1st D (8.59) would be a 35.7% change. By the same token, 2nd L (13.37) to 2nd D (4.99) would be a 62.7% change-Not good! And again, we are talking 1071 here. Remember in my first post I said I used to pull 104,000 lbs with a 107? The 107 has a reduction of 14.10 in "L". Going from "L" to 1st "D" (8.59) is a 39% change. Very useable and doable. Thst same gear change in a 1071 is a 62.7 % split. Bottom line? Strictly an off road creeper gear.Bottom line- IF YOU ARE NOT DOING THE TRANS HARM BY RUNNING IN "L" IN ANYTHING BUT 1st- the 2nd L to 1st D gives you the best split. 35.7% Mr Harper says drive it by the book- its a six speed. I agree, but its like a 9 speed Road Ranger. which ever version yoiu have, are there 10 forward speeds? Yes. Is it safe to use the "mystery" gear? I don't know.

Rick, I'm with you but look at other responses. And the guy I referred to in my original post is not a "rookie" but an experienced owner. Do ypu agrtee with my "theory" in original post as to how ypou can calculate the ratios IF you are in LL with the stick in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th? Rob- You are making me feel bad. I used to occasionally drive an R tractor with a TRXL 107 (air shift) pulling 104,000 lbs (MA permits) and that transmission is truly useable as a 6 speed. But the 1071 with a 23.08 ratio in LL and an 8.59 in 1D??? I guess I'm just slow. LL is so low by the time you can complete the shift you -should I say "I" -have lost all momentum- and it won't go-and this is in a 10 wheeler at about 71,000 lbs.

LM, You are talking about a TRXL 107 right? Note-this is a 1071. There is no way you can get from LL (1st) to 1st direct without the truck coming to a stop. In a 107, LL is 14.10. In a 1071, its 23.08- at least I should say I cant!

With a bushel basket of money and a lot of time, anything is possible. Instead of bastardizing a Mack, if I had a good 3406 and a good 13 speed RR, I would find another Ford with a bad engine and swap it out- or any chassis that readily accepts the 3406. My biggest concern would be its not going to fit without a lot of mods and in any case, throw the radiator shell away because there is no way that stock radiator will cool that 3406.

I have a friend who has a very clean 88 R tandem dump (I think its a 688SX), big rears, and the 1071. He has a guy who drives it from time to time and the guy does not think its a six speed but rather uses the low hole air shift with the stick in other than first. As a matter of fact, he says he takes off with the splitter in "L" and the stick in 2nd. He then says he goes back to 1st "D", then second "D" etc. Any opinions? This harmful? As the chart for the 1071 says 1st LL is a 23.08 ratio and 1st "D" is a 8.59. When the splitter is in "D" is it a 1 to 1? And constantly driving the respective 5 speeds in the box? I made that assumption and dividing the 1st "D" ratio (8.59) into the LL ratio of 23.08, I come up with a reduction of 2.68. If that is so, then by starting in 2nd with the splitter in "LL" with a 2nd ratio of 4.59 I come up with a ratio of 13.37 (4.59x2.68). Am I correct? And again, and more importantly, is he doing this trans harm by running with the splitter in LL in anything but 1st.? Appreciate any education anyone can give me. And for the record, the spec sheet for the 1071 shows trhe followqing ratios: LL 23.08, 1st 8.59, 2nd 4.99, 3rd 2.84, 4th 1.66, 5th 1.00. Using my "theory" and if you used LL beyond 1st, you would have the following ratios: LL 23.08 1st D 8.59, 1st LL 23.02, 2nd D 4.99, 2nd LL 13.37, 3rd D 2.84, 3rd LL 7.61, 4th D 1.66, 4th LL 4.44, 5D 1.00

10-4 Rob- Thx guys

Guys, My B is 12 volt. I put a new Galion dump body on it and I want to replace my old frame mounted stop/tail lights (2) and turn signals with two new integral stop/tail/turn signals. Can I use LED's. Some people are telling me my flasher won't handle the LED's

rob- I'm afraid your skills (and energy) are way beyond this old boy! I'm really rethinking this issue now. If I compare gear ratios (ignoring the low hole) I find the following. What I did was pick the TRD720 ratios that came closest to the TRXL 1071 ratios Gear TRXL 1071 % change TRD 720 % change 1st 8.59 7.25 1L 2nd 4.99 42 4.16 2L 43 3rd 2.84 43 2.34 3L 44 4th 1.66 41 1.33 4L 43 5th 1.00 40 1.00 4H 25 .78 5H 22 Again, huge difference in rears as the 1071 would need a gear change to a 4.670 and the current ratio is 6.67 I'll try driving it this way with a load in a few days.