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XL Hybrids to Electrify Ford's F-250 Pickup Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT) / February 27, 2018 XL Hybrids will offer an electrified 2018 Ford F-250 pickup to commercial and municipal fleets that will be unveiled at NTEA's Work Truck Show in Indianapolis in early March, the company announced. The battery-electric hybrid F-250 will be equipped with the vehicle modifier's XLH hybrid drive system that's expected to increase fuel economy by 25% and significantly reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. Production of the hybrid F-250 conversions will begin in March. The Work Truck Show is set for March 6 to 9 in Indianapolis. XL Hybrids will also make its technology available on more F-150 pickups, by adding SuperCrew models. The company now offers F-150s with its XLP plug-in hybrid electric system that improves fuel economy by 50%, according to the company. "Ford trucks are in high demand by XL's fleet customers, so we developed our hybrid-electric upfit solutions for both the F-150 and F-250 pickup to support needs for power, payload, as well as better fuel economy,” said Clay Siegert, the company's chief operating officer. XL Hybrids installs its XLH hybrid and XLP plug-in systems in several hours and uses Ford's ship-through process. The vehicle retains its factory warranty, and receives a three-year, 75,000-mile warranty from XL on the hybrid powertrain. XLH and XLP will also include the XL Link cloud-based big data analytics system, which collects millions of operational data points and miles-per-gallon performance, carbon dioxide emissions reductions, and other key performance indicators. .

Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT) / February 27, 2018 Coming off of a record year for North American Class 6-8 market share in 2017, Daimler Trucks North America is looking forward to a busy year as it keeps on top of its supply chain to meet high customer demand and readies for some big new-technology announcements. In a video conference call for reporters, DTNA President and CEO Roger Nielsen teased upcoming announcements about predictive maintenance, electric trucks, and further advanced driver assistance systems that can lead to autonomous technologies. The Truck Sales Challenge: Staying on Top of Demand Around the world, Daimler Trucks last year sold more than 470,000 trucks last year. In North America, Daimler Trucks North America posted record Class 6-8 market share of 39.8%, or about 151,000 trucks, buses and chassis. Driving that success, Nielsen said, were: More than 46,000 orders for the new Cascadia Increasing popularity of the integrated Detroit powertrain, with 96% of all Cascadias spec’ed with Detroit engines. The DT12 automated manual transmission goes into 75% of all Cascadias and Western Star 5700 (93% in the new-generation Cascadia). Detroit Assurance 4.0, the latest version of DTNA’s active safety system suite, which uses a camera system and radar to provide adaptive cruise control, emergency braking, lane departure warning, etc. “The penetration rate far exceeds what we expected,” Nielsen noted, saying it’s spec’ed in nearly 90% of Cascadias. Western Star was at an all-time high for order intake. Aftermarket parts sales; 2017 saw another parts distribution center open in Indianapolis, and Daimler expanded with its acquisition of the Mascot driveline reman business. For 2018, DTNA expects a “significant increase in overall sales,” to levels seen in 2015, if market conditions remain sustainable. January and February order intakes so far this year are at or near record levels. “To meet that demand, we’re increasing production capacity everywhere,” Nielsen said, noting that the truck market “has definitely headed up – it’s over-caffeinated like me.” Asked what’s driving the market, he said, “we’re seeing real demands from real shippers who need vehicles. As we survey regular customers, we are not seeing truck parked along the fence – they’re able to seat drivers.” However, he said, for all but a few DTNA customers, those truck orders are for replacement trucks rather than added capacity. In addition, he said, “the market does have an upper limit,” and the challenge in meeting the demand for new trucks will be the supply chain for parts and components. Daimler has flexible capacity to make models in more than one location. “When I look at the constraints our suppliers are facing, it’s not raw materials, it’s labor – people who want to come work second and third shift.” 2018 Goals: From Uptime to Electric Trucks Nielsen outlined six goals he has for Daimler Trucks North America in 2018: “Put our customers first in every aspect of our business.” Much of this revolves around uptime, he said, whether it’s designing reliability into new products, extensive product testing, improving turnaround time and transparency in dealer repairs, or using data to help give insights and speed decision-making. In data it tracks from a representative group of customers, 55% of repairs are not completed within 24 hours. While that’s an improvement, Nielsen noted, it’s still not good enough for fleets, who’d love to have repairs made during the 10-hour break time of the driver. The next step, he said, is predictive analytics. (See more below.) “Continue the Detroit success story.” In addition to high market penetration for Detroit engines and DT12 transmission, nearly 73% of DTNA vehicles have Detroit axles on the front and 46% on the rear axle. “Now we turn our attention to the continued successful rollout of the MDEC medium-duty line of engines,” the DD5 introduced in 2016 and the DD8 being rolled out now. “We are focusing on giving choices to our medium-duty customers that they don’t necessarily have anywhere else in the industry.” Successfully manage the market cycle. As noted above, expected high truck sales will put a strain on the ability to produce the trucks ordered. Someone wanting a truck delivered in the first half of the year is already out of luck. “We are a global company with a global supply chain, and frankly the difficult part of the task now is to manage the supply chain and make sure everyone keeps pace with demand.” Upgrade and expand the parts business. A new parts distribution center is opening in Des Moines, Iowa, bringing the total to nine, and more PDCs are planned for the West Coast. “With this, over 80% of dealers are now within 350 miles – less than a day’s drive – of a PDC,” Nielsen noted, allowing for next-morning or even same-day parts delivery. DTNA continues to expand its product lines of Alliance Truck Parts, and will be opening Alliance Truck Parts retail stores throughout the country. E-commerce, he said, is part of the picture as well. Leverage the global resources and technology of Daimler, especially in the area of truck electrification. Mitsubishi Fuso last year rolled out the eCanter, and just this month Mercedes-Benz announced a “baby 8” heavy-duty electric e-Actros for Europe. Nielsen hinted that we’ll see a truck electrification announcement here in North American mid-year. Drive future technology. “We want to put future technology out there that makes sense for our customers,” Nielsen said. “They don’t want new technology for the sake of technology; they want new technology because they believe it can give them a competitive edge in the marketplace and can reduce their real cost of ownership.” Daimler is spending more than 500 million euros, some $620 million, for research and development into connectivity, electric mobility, and automated driving for trucks. To help with these goals, DTNA has a couple of new executives. Sanjiv Khurana has been appointed to the newly created position of general manager of connectivity. Andreas Juretzka is heading up a newly created electric mobility group. Both report directly to Nielsen.

Geely held informal talks with FCA before Daimler stock purchase Bloomberg / February 27, 2018 MILAN -- Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. held informal talks about the potential takeover of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles before the Chinese manufacturer turned its attention toward Daimler AG, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Li Shufu, the Chinese billionaire who controls Geely, approached FCA in the middle of last year as he was scouting for options to expand outside China, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the move wasn’t disclosed. Li opted not to make a formal offer as the two parties had different views on future valuations of Fiat Chrysler after the company’s five-year growth plan through 2018, they said. Representatives for Geely and Fiat Chrysler refused to comment. Automotive News reported in August that a Chinese automaker had submitted a bid for FCA, but that the bid was rejected for being too low. Automotive News did not reveal the identity of the Chinese automaker at the time. After the story ran, other Chinese automakers, including Great Wall, also expressed interest in some or all of FCA’s assets. Fiat Chrysler said in August it was “not approached” by Great Wall and that the carmaker is "fully committed” to a five-year plan through 2018. Since the Automotive News story ran on Aug. 14, 2017, FCA’s U.S. stock price more than doubled, before retreating slightly this month. FCA shares were trading midday at $21.69, down 7 cents. Fiat Chrysler has a market value of about $33 billion. Daimler stock buy Having moved on from FCA, Li announced the purchase of a 7.3 billion euro ($9 billion) stake in Daimler AG last week. With that deal, Geely has become the German company’s largest shareholder, while the investment is the biggest by a Chinese company in an international automaker. Geely already owns Volvo Car AB and last year agreed to buy an almost $4 billion stake in truckmaker Volvo AB. As Geely and other Chinese automakers seek to expand in Europe and the U.S., FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne has been a vocal proponent of consolidation, arguing that the industry wastes money by developing multiple versions of the same technology. However, since General Motors Co. rebuffed his idea for a merger in 2015, the CEO has switched focus to cutting debt and has said the carmaker no longer needs a partner. FCA is making progress toward a target to almost double profit by the end of this year from 2016, while the stock has also gained on speculation the company was seeking a combination with and was courted by Chinese competitors. The size of China’s car market has already surpassed the U.S. It’s one area where local companies like Geely and Great Wall Motor are encouraged by the government to go overseas to secure key technologies and access to resources.

I suggest you contact your Mack brand district service representative thru your local Mack brand distributor’s service manager. It’s his job to support you.

Reuters / February 26, 2018 STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Truckmaker AB Volvo is to drop the CEO of Geely-owned Volvo Cars from its board, in a first sign of fallout from the Chinese carmaker’s swoop on Germany’s Daimler. Volvo Cars is a subsidiary of Zheijang Geely Holding Group Co whose main owner is Li Shufu, Geely’s founder, who revealed last week that he has built up an almost 10 percent stake in rival Daimler, which along with AB Volvo is one of the world’s biggest truckmakers. Volvo Cars Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson has been a board member of AB Volvo since 2016. He was the CEO of German truckmaker MAN until 2009, and became CEO of Volvo Cars in 2012, two years after Geely bought the company. “The reason that Hakan Samuelsson is not proposed for re-election is the announcement that Geely Group has become the largest shareholder of the German vehicle manufacturer Daimler, one of the Volvo Group’s major competitors,” the AB Volvo election committee said in a statement on Monday. Geely’s move on Daimler shows how car companies are keen to develop or access technology to face a challenge from new competitors such as Tesla and Google. But the Chinese company also struck a deal in December to buy activist investor Cevian Capital’s stake in truckmaker AB Volvo, comprising 8.2 percent of shares and 15.6 percent of voting rights in the truckmaker. Cevian completed the stake sale in January, but the deal was structured so that Nomura International Plc and Barclays Capital Securities Limited would first buy the shares, and then sell them to Geely. A Geely spokesman told Reuters that Geely’s acquisition of the AB Volvo stake was still pending Chinese government approval. Bengt Kjell, head of Volvo’s election committee and a board member at AB Volvo’s largest owner by votes, Industrivarden, told Reuters he had only know about Geely’s Daimler purchase since Friday. “We have of course also seen earlier speculations, but the confirmation came late on Friday, and we can only act on facts,” Kjell said. He said any cooperation between the companies needed to come from a “management-operational perspective, and not from an owner with 10 percent being able to dictate, move around cooperations, or point from the above.” “We have to take into account the interest of all shareholders, and not just the interest of a single large owner” Kjell said.

Transport Engineer / February 23, 2018 Preston-based H Parkinson Haulage has taken delivery of seven Stralis NP 4x2 tractors – its first IVECO vehicles and also its first natural gas-powered units. After trialling demonstrators from two manufacturers, the haulier decided to go with IVECO, citing quiet operation, driver feedback and powerful engine – and the potential “massive” CO2 saving. Supplied by Walton Summit Truck Centre, the operator’s latest additions to its 95-strong fleet are four ex-demonstrators and three new vehicles. “These vehicles will be doing nearly a quarter of a million miles a year each – so it was vital for us and our customers to reduce the environmental impact,” says Steve Sugden, general manager of H Parkinson Haulage. “Currently, for a CNG vehicle, no one has a better offering than IVECO, and with the seven Stralis NPs, coupled with our longer semi-trailers (LSTs), we’ve worked out we can reduce our CO2 emissions by a massive 1,750 tonnes every year.” He adds: “When you couple an LST with a Stralis NP tractor unit, it’s going to be about as environmentally friendly as you can get. This is the future of green logistics.” Powered by compressed biomethane, H Parkinson’s Stralis NP AS440S40T/P vehicles have Hi-Way cabs and are powered by Cursor 9 Euro VI natural gas engines, delivering the same output of 395bhp and 1,700Nm torque as their diesel equivalents. A 454bhp natural gas engine is also available. The trucks will be run to end of life on intensive multi-shift operations. Sugden adds: “If these vehicles perform well, and with IVECO being the most advanced manufacturer in the alternative fuel sector, then we will consider adding more Stralis NPs to our fleet in the future.” .

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FCA will drop diesel vehicles by 2022 Reuters / February 26, 2018 MILAN -- Fiat Chrysler Automobiles plans to eliminate diesel engines from all its passenger vehicles by 2022, amid a collapse in demand and spiraling costs for the powertrain, the Financial Times reported. Under a four-year plan to be unveiled on June 1, the automaker will announce it intends to phase out the fuel type from the cars across its brands, the FT said, citing people familiar with the company strategy. Fiat Chrysler declined to comment on the report. FCA becomes the latest automaker to opt out of diesel after Toyota said it would likely not unveil another model with a diesel engine. Diesel's dominance in Europe has fallen since Volkswagen Group's emissions scandal, which led to rising political opposition to the fuel and plans by several European cities to ban some diesel models from its streets.

Yes, pictured in that link above.

Here's a copy of the Safety Campaign, SC176, in which we updated all first generation suspensions to the revised design I spoke of. We didn't sell many of the early version, but the latter version was popular. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/1986/RC-86V009-NN.PDF

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-Mack-Engine-Overhaul-Manual-Six-Cylinder-Diesel-Engine-E6-672-4VH/292306849305?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41375%26meid%3D0da7cf48eea441fcabe267bb6438b489%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D7%26sd%3D191071541529&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

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The ST34 from 1985 rode better than the camelback, was just as heavy duty and had a stellar track record in over-the-road haulage.

That was the early version, 1978 thru 1984. We introduced a new mounting arrangement in 1985 (components mentioned above) that corrected the issue you mention.

4QK3368AM spring (34,000lb) 4QK3369AM spring (38,000lb) 3AX1993 bolts and 21AX847 locknuts with 8QD261 alignment adjustment collars.

Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT) / February 23, 2018 Kenworth Hawaii has opened a 14,500 square foot dealership in Kailua-Kona, allowing customers in the Aloha State to purchase Kenworth trucks without going through stateside dealers. "By opening a Kenworth dealership group based here on the Islands, we’ve become more responsive to customers,” said Kevin Balog, dealer principal for Kenworth Hawaii. “We can offer a whole new level of service.” The dealership will offer two service bays, a 2,000 square-foot parts display area, and 4,000 square-foot parts warehouse. The dealership is easily accessible to major routes connecting Kailua-Kona with the rest of the Big Island of Hawaii. It has a large parking lot and is just one block from the largest freight company on the Big Island. Kenworth is also remodeling and opening another dealership location in Hilo, which is also on the Big Island. It will offer two service bays, a 3,600 square-foot parts warehouse, 1,000 square-foot parts display area, and a drivers’ lounge. “The addition of Kenworth Hawaii’s Hilo and Kona locations will greatly enhance the Kenworth dealer network,” said Kevin Baney, Kenworth assistant general manager for sales and marketing. “We look forward to working with Kevin Balog to help provide industry-leading Kenworth trucks, technologies, parts and service to the trucking market in Hawaii.” .

Not a clear picture, but could be a ST34 or ST38 Mack parabolic taper-leaf.

Given it's a new 2017 truck, this is a warranty matter for a Mack brand dealer to resolve. If no Mack brand dealer can address it to your satisfaction, I suggest you contact Mack brand customer satisfaction at +1 (866) 298-6586. Get the customer after-sales support from the manufacturer that you paid for in purchasing a new truck.

Communist Party-backed Geely buys $9 billion stake in Daimler Reuters, Bloomberg & Automotive News / February 23, 2018 Li Shufu, the chairman and main owner of Chinese carmaker Geely, has amassed a stake of 9.69 percent in Daimler AG, the German company said in a regulatory filing Friday. The stake, worth nearly $9 billion at the current market price for Daimler shares, makes Li the biggest single shareholder in the maker of Mercedes Benz cars, trucks and vans. Sources told Reuters this month that Geely was buying Daimler shares as it seeks an alliance in electric vehicle technology -- a response to Chinese requirements for more clean cars to be put on the road to cut pollution. A Daimler spokesman called the stake purchase a private investment by Li. "We are delighted, with Li Shufu, to have won over another long-term investor who is convinced of Daimler's innovative prowess, strategy and future potential," the spokesman said in response to a request for comment. "Daimler knows and respects Li Shufu as a Chinese entrepreneur of particular competence and forward thinking." Geely has been building up a stake of just under 10 percent through purchases of Daimler’s shares in the stock market in recent weeks. Zhejiang Geely owns Volvo and last year acquired a 49.9 percent stake in Malaysian automaker Proton. In addition, last December Geely spent $3.9 billion to become the biggest shareholder of Volvo AB, which is the world's second-largest truck maker. Last year Geely also won control of British sports car maker Lotus while in 2013 it purchased Manganese Bronze Holdings, rescuing the maker of London's iconic black cabs after it entered administration. Geely also plans to introduce to Europe its new brand Lynk & CO, which started sales in its home country last year. Following the potential deal, Zhejiang Geely would surpass Kuwait Investment Authority, as Daimler's top shareholder. Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund owned about 6.8 percent of Daimler's shares as Sept. 30, according to Thomson Reuters data.