kscarbel2

It’s always interesting to revisit how the future direction of truck design was imagined at certain points of time.

GM was always leaning into the future throughout the 1950s and 1960s, not only in car and truck design, but also in the home (Frigidaire).

The Bison III and Turbo Titan III were great examples.

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/31891-the-gas-turbine-general-motors-bison-iii/

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/31898-the-gas-turbine-chevrolet-turbo-titan-iii/

But sadly, no new products were in the pipeline for GMC Truck during the 1970s aside from the General. The Astro and Brigadier languished on

And Ford certainly was stepping forward with Big Red.

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/32038-fords-futuristic-gas-turbine-big-red/

This was the era when American could do anything. We led the world in innovation. We even thought that we could put a man on the moon.......and did. What has happened to the country we once knew, where foreign truckmakers now dominate our heavy truck market?

I hear you-that is what surprises me-No CUBIC INCHES!! Their life cycle must b e very short! By the way-does the VW side profile look an awful lot like a Cargo or is it my imagination? Maybe there is a Budd/Shellar Globe Co. in SA??

In Brazil, VW has an impresssive 30 percent market share. While their largest offering there is 8.9 liters, Scania is there with all engine sizes, as is DAF, Ford, Iveco, Mercedes-Benz, Navistar and Volvo. Still the average engine size is 9-11 liters.

In China, 11 liters is now the norm and 12-13 liter engines are selling. In a few years, they'll have 15-liter powerplants.

Remember, you can always get around cubic inches with gears and low (high numerically) axle ratios. The Indian market and China 10+ years ago were classic examples of that.

8.9L? 9.5L? 139,000lb GCW??? What do they do in SA or China that is different than US-Operate only when tailwinds prevail???

Remember, Brazil is running B-trains (known as Interlinks in South Africa and B-doubles in Australia).

And in China, 110,000 to 132,000 pound loads with 6x4 tractors paired with tri-axle trailers is normal. And when you get into the northern mining regions, you'll see ore hauling road trains that gross 375,000 pounds. These trucks never get out of the first three gears.

Essentially both Volvo and Mack on-highway trucks have the same chassis, SCR-equipped powertrains, AMT transmission (I-Shift/mDrive that you want) and warranties* (see below).

It is troubling that neither brand is proud enough of their new vehicle warranties to display them on their websites (Under a tab labeled “Why buy Mack/Volvo?). A customer shouldn’t have to “Google search” in order to dig up this particularly important information. Apparently they don’t feel strongly about their warranties.

Having narrowed your new truck search to Mack and Volvo, and wanting the AMT and air ride suspension**, the difference between the trucks is largely limited to the cab (Both Mack and Volvo promote Meritor drive axles on their on-highway models). So finally, it may be the differing cab design styles that influences your purchase decision.

Seeing the writing on the wall when Volvo acquired Mack, most Mack distributors aggressively pursued purchasing the Volvo franchises in their sales territories. As a result, after-sales support representation for either brand is roughly the same.

*Mack and Volvo New Vehicle Warranties

http://www.macktrucks.com/assets/mack/Service/US10OperatorManuals/PV776-21502481.pdf

https://www.volvotrucksemedia.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=10259&GroupId=542 (click on “View File”)

** The Mack-branded Twin-Y air suspension and Volvo-branded “Blade” air suspension are the same product.

Mack was allready sold to a foreign entity decades ago! Remember Renault ? Mack had died somehow since they were purchased by Renault . Where was the gov back in the. 80' ? How did they allow this? Once you are owned by somebody you have no say regarding your future . You are just an ASSET .

The gentleman asked me a question, and I merely answered him. Problem?

Mack Trucks was not a foreign entity "decades ago". Renault did not acquire Mack Trucks until 1990, after which, as a result of the "proposed" Renault-Volvo merger (that ended up collapsing because of Volvo), Volvo gained the ability to absorb Mack.

During the 1980s when Renault was only a minority stake holder in Mack, Renault supported Mack's growth as the independent U.S. truckmaker it had always been.

The ownership of Mack is an extremely valid topic. Anyone not interested in posts mentioning that subject can easily and painlessly skip over them.

Launched last fall at the Fenatran international transport exhibition in Sao Paulo, Brazil, MAN Latin America now has a 420 horsepower powerplant option for its Volkswagen Constellation heavy tractors.

19.420 4x2 56-ton GCW

25.420 6x2 56-ton GCW

26.420 6x4 63-ton GCW

Powered by an electronically-controlled 8.9-liter 420 horsepower Cummins ISL with 1,850 N.m (1,364 lb/ft) of torque, the powertrain is paired with a 16-speed ZF AS Tronic AMT (automated manual transmission).

The Euro-5 spec engines utilize SCR (selective catalytic reduction) technology to meet Euro-5 emissions.

The new range of tractors is GCW-rated up to 63 metric tons (138,891 lb).

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2rGxXLtFt0

19.420 4x2: http://www.man-la.com/images/stories/produtos/caminhao/ficha_tecnica/pdf/16605/Constellation%2019420%20Tractor%20V%20Tronic%20low.pdf

25.420 6x2: http://www.man-la.com/images/stories/produtos/caminhao/ficha_tecnica/pdf/16607/Constellation%2025420%20Tractor%20V%20Tronic%20low.pdf

26.420 6x4: http://www.man-la.com/images/stories/produtos/caminhao/ficha_tecnica/pdf/16609/Constellation%2026420%20Tractor%20V%20Tronic%20low.pdf

http://www.man-la.com/images/stories/library/16335/_MG_5939.jpg

http://hdmagazine.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/MG_5313.jpg

What’s interesting is that the Constellation’s 8.9-liter Cummins ISL is rated at 420hp, which runs into the 10.8-liter ISM’s territory. In Europe, the ISL at Euro-5 is rated from 280 to 400 horsepower (260-380 EPA2010), and the Euro-5 ISM from 350 to 445 horsepower (310-425 EPA2007).

For Brazil, Cummins was willing to bump up the 8.9-liter ISL to 420hp, where overloading is rare. But for China where Cummins was also asked to supply a near 420 horsepower ISL, and where overloading is still widespread, Cummins felt a 400-plus horsepower ISL needed a displacement increase. This resulted in a new 9.5-liter ISL rated from 292 up to 425 horsepower.

Reference:

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/32528-cummins-introduces-new-95-liter-isl-series-engine/

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/30250-volkswagen-light-medium-and-heavy-trucks/

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The CHN had the new cooling because of the problems in 04. The Volvo frame rails were used because it was cheaper than having a different design engineered for mack brand. Kscarbel.....do you know if mack even has their own engineering anymore?

No, Volvo's Mack unit does not have their own engineering. The engineers are all under Volvo Group. The only Mack-focused people are, realistically, the Volvo sales marketing people assigned to the Mack brand.

The main reason the CHN landed onto the Volvo VN frame was because Volvo wanted to build Mack and Volvo on-highway models together on the same Volvo chassis at the former White plant in New River Valley, Virginia. Remember, Volvo wants all their brands to use Volvo global components. Volvo Group shut down Mack Trucks' Winnsboro, South Carolina on-highway truck plant in 2001 and moved that production to New River Valley. Then Volvo's "step two" was to place those Mack on-highway models onto Volvo VN chassis, to save money and standardize on the Volvo platform.

Why the United States government would allow Mack Trucks to be sold to a foreign entity is beyond explanation. Our government would not allow that to happen with Ford or GM (Chrysler is another story). Our country's economy depends on a solid foundation of essential pillar industries which includes commercial truck manufacture. And Mack Trucks, without argument, was the finest of all American truckmakers.

I talked to the guys at WattsMack and they really tried to help. Unfortunately the parts are either NLA or obsolete. Still looking for any leads so I'm still looking for help! Any idea where I can find these parts?

Parts are readily available for this widely used engine series (Renault model MIDR 06.20.45) from Renault Truck in Europe. The Renault G340 TI Maxter*, for example, was equipped with this engine rated at 338 horsepower.

Given that Volvo Group owns both Renault Truck and the Mack brand, that makes this all the more interesting. Your truck, produced in 1998, is not yet 20 years old.

I suggest you call Mack customer service (866-298-6586) at Volvo's U.S. corporate headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina. Provide them with your model and serial number. Explain that you contacted a Mack dealer and were told the parts are NLA. Tell them your truck is a 1998 and that you have a "truck down" situation.

I know how the former Mack Trucks would respond. Let's see what Volvo does.

Incidentally, Renault Trucks Defense has supplied a 450 horsepower variant of this engine for military vehicle applications.

* The G340 TI Maxter

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70373000@N04/10884636643

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77228500@N06/6985200866

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77228500@N06/6985200542

http://ads-img.cdn.mbdsrv.com/pa/536-402/192445/3837125/2013090617227_1.jpg

Another missed opportunity. The Army's Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles, originally built by BAE Systems and currently being built by Oshkosh, are based on the Austrian Steyr design. How hard would it have been for Mack Defense to offer a license-built version of the Renault or Volvo military trucks?

Originally, BAE wasn't in the picture. Houston-based Stewart & Stevenson (better known for producing specialized equipment for the oil and gas industries) won a US government contract to supply FMTVs (family of medium tactical vehicles) in 1998, an Americanized version (Cat 3116, Allison MD3070PT) of the Steyr model 12M18 from Austria.

Armor Holdings bought Stewart & Stevenson's military vehicle division in 2006, and BAE bought Armor Holdings in 2007.

And then Oshkosh won the contract away from BAE in 2011 to build FMTVs, despite never having been involved in its development.

I like Oshkosh. I don't like the FMTV.

For example, the FMTV's Steyr cab, assembled in the US (in order to qualify for the U.S. contract) by McLaughlin Body Company in Moline, Illinois from imported components, is ridiculously expensive.

that logging truck in the first pic looks so bad ass..What year would that have been?

Since this RS/RL has a white steering wheel (which I particularly liked) and early style grille, and what appears to be a steel dash and olive green interior, I would say the year is around 1970 and it has a CA114 cab.

It should have half-dogs on the doors, but the Luber-Finer blocks the view.

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http://www.truckworld.com.au/News/Test_and_Specs_of_CAT_CT630S.aspx

http://www.bigrigs.com.au/news/features-of-new-cat-sure-to-impress/2165601/

http://www.cattrucks.com.au/ct630s-a-key-to-cat-growth/

CT630S spec sheet: http://www.cattrucks.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/CT630S_Specification_Sheet.pdf

They couldn't find a rebuild kit, but they said they might be able to get individual parts. So I guess the question is "what individual parts make up an inframe rebuild kit?"

So far, I don't see a parts availability problem here. Renault (RVI) never offered complete engine rebuild (in-frame) kits. You're asking for something that never existed.

Renault did (and still does) offer piston and liner kits, and gasket kits (sets). Obtaining that plus rod and main bearings will get you started.

The qualified mechanic who will be doing your in-frame overhaul should have no problem advising you what parts to order, after they have torn the engine down and made sure you don't have any out-of-the-ordinary problems.

Unless you have a Mack mechanic with RVI engine experience, make sure they have a Mack service manual for disassembly and reassembly of this engine.

And after 16 years, send that Bosch P7100 pump out to a pump shop to be checked out.

Mack CH600 - A New Dimension in Heavy Truck Design

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We talked about the Mack/RVI EM5-290 before. http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/31258-mack-rd694p-single-axle-dump/

When you called the folks at Watts Mack and provided them with your truck's model and serial number, did they say the engine parts you need are NLA? (no longer available)

MAN Latin America, responsible for marketing Volkswagen commercial trucks in South America, has announced an 890 unit order of Constellation-based tactical trucks to Brazil’s Ministry of Defense

The order, which includes 6x2, 6x4 and 6x6 configurations, will be delivered this year.

The militarized variant of the popular Volkswagen Constellation was introduced last April at the 9th edition of LAAD Defence & Security, Defence and Security International Exhibition in Rio De Janeiro.

The 6x6 Constellation model 31.320 has a payload capacity of 10 metric tons (22,046 lb).

It can traverse water up to 1.5 meters (59.1 inches) deep, climb a 60 percent grade and negotiate 30 percent side slopes.

Its 8.3 liter Cummins ISCe engine is rated at 320 horsepower (PS) and 950 lb/ft of torque.

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I was under the impression that all Mack V-8's were of the wet liner design.

First the 864, then the 865/866 series, and finally the E-9 series.

Am I wrong?

Ron

Mack used a dry sleeve liner design while Scania chose wet sleeves.

You are right of course (too much jet lag this month). From the 864 to the E9, the Mack V8s had wet sleeves just as their Scania relatives always have (right up to the present).

I recall this event as if it was yesterday. Every member of the Mack family was filled with pride. Given a chance to contribute, this event demonstrated how close-knit the Mack family was.

For us, this was personal. Mack Trucks personified the values upon which our country was built. If one can't depend on Mack Trucks to come through for America in time of need.........then what's left? After all, America itself was built on the backs of Mack trucks. No other truckmaker can say that.

I can't describe with words how proud we were of our organization.

Zenon C.R. Hansen, who had passed on a year earlier, would have been proud too.

Mack Supplies Desert Storm - Scours Nation To Fill Order For 48 Trucks To Haul Tanks To Front

January 30, 1991 / The Morning Call

Before Allied commander Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf ran his hurry-up offense at the start of Operation Desert Storm, Mack Trucks Inc. completed a speedy delivery of 48 tank hauling trucks to the U.S. Army.

The RD800 trucks, one of Mack's most powerful, are being used to transport 70-ton M-1A1 Abrams tanks to the front lines, where they await the start of a crucial ground battle.

Without the vehicles, each worth about $80,000, the tanks would be forced to travel as far as 200 miles across the rugged desert terrain of Saudi Arabia.

The order, which the Allentown company announced yesterday, is somewhat short of a $40 million Army order for 500 tank hauling trucks that a union newsletter reported on Dec. 17.

That deal "fell through" because Mack wasn't able to produce the tank haulers by the Army's delivery deadline of Jan. 10 -- five days before the United Nation's deadline for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to pull out of Kuwait, sources close to the company said.

But on Dec. 21, the Army contacted Mack and asked for 48 RD800 vehicles that Mack and its dealers had in stock.

Again, the deadline was Jan. 10.

"We found ourselves in the middle of a very real emergency," said Sam Carr, Mack's manager of international accounts. "Rather than risk missing our deadline, we decided to complete the order by pulling the RD800s from dealer inventories.

"To accomplish this, of course, we needed the cooperation of our dealers."

Carr scoured North America and founded what the Army wanted.

Worldwide Equipment Inc. of Prestonsburg, Ky., sent 19 trucks; South Kentucky Mack of Somerset, Ky., sent 18; Knoxville Mack of Knoxville, Tenn., sent eight, and M.A. Caribbean Corp. of Caguas, Puerto Rico, sent one.

The remaining two were found in Mack's inventory -- one each from Mack Used Truck and Mack Canada.

The trucks, which had been outfitted for coal hauling, were then delivered to Lehigh Consolidated Industries Inc. in Stockertown for modification.

With help from Mack's purchasing and engineering departments, LCI installed fifth wheels and trailer brake packages.

"Purchasing facilitated the paper work to get things rolling, while engineering worked around the clock to make certain all the pieces were properly matched," Carr said.

Mack then had Trailer Design and Engineering of Kansas City design and oversee the production of 16.5-ton military-specified trailers.

Production was done by Landoll Corp. of Marysville, Kan., and Kalyn Inc. of Gatesville, Tex., whose employees volunteered to work overtime through Christmas and New Year's to meet the Army's need.

Carr said that it normally takes a week to manufacture one such trailer. Landoll and Kalyn each completed an order for 24 trailers in less than three weeks.

With the tank haulers in place, Carr's logistical headache turned into a nightmare when the Army notified Mack that delivery had been changed from Bayonne, N.J., on Jan. 10 to a day earlier in Jacksonville, Fla. Mack's caravan was rerouted.

The Mack tank haulers are now eight time zones away -- and combat ready.

Mr. Nikolas Steel-Jessop, an Allentown-based consultant for Mack and former service engineer with Mack International, has joined the troops to assist in driver and maintenance training, Carr said.

"Throughout this century, Mack people and Mack trucks have served our country in times of crisis," Carr said. "It's nice to know that despite today's economic hardships, the Mack spirit is alive and well."

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Speaking of the above article, when I think of U.S. Army Mack six-cylinder, six-wheeled trucks in 1931, the truck in distress was quite probably a T2 Artillery Prime Mover.

The T2 was based on the Mack AP and equipped with a six-cylinder 150 horsepower 706 cu.in. engine. With a 4-speed transmission and low gearing, it had a top speed of 20 mph.

These trucks were purchased by the Army in 1929.

A beautiful example of the AP, the Mack T2's duties for the Army included troop and ammunition haulage, and gun towage.

Note the side-mounted winch for pulling guns into position.

The disc wheels with 40x8 pneumatic tires made for a sharp looking truck.

The Mack T2 was rated at 8 tons and had a curb weight of 22,380 pounds.

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I remember reading a story about a trucker that had a wiring problem with his LJ (I think) and needed a new harness. Mr. Hansen dispatched one of the planes to land at a local airport and deliver the much needed part. Don't know all the particulars,but it sounded like damn good P.R. to me! Know anything about that, kscarbel?

I recall an incident involving one of the many Macks that the U.S. Arrmy once operated, but this was much further back, in 1931. As in your recollection, the parts required were expedited via aircraft.

Note the parts were expedited directly from the Plainfield, New Jersey plant (http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/34219-mack-trucks-the-facilities/).

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Some global market examples of Scania 6x2, 6x2/4 and 6x2*4 configurations in on-highway and vocational.

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