RowdyRebel

I put mufflers back on my truck...I had to buy new ones (bashed the old ones up pretty good getting them off) and I couldn't get the original turnouts off. I used some my brother had on his truck for a friggin day then took off. I went from 2 feet to 3 feet.

...must be nice having that kind of money to buy something like that, use it for a day, then box it up and store it in the garage until you get sick of looking at it or find someone else who has a use for it

I'd shorten 'em if I was you....'fore ya fergit and knock them things off.

FWIW, I was cutting across a blacktop road taking a shortcut to my next pickup the other day...running down a 20 ton weight limit road (I'm 15 tons empty ) and came upon a 12' underpass beneath a railroad. I'm 10' now on the truck, and the trailer I can see out the rear window...made it with room to spare (measured the trailer when I got home @ 10'11"...good info to have). If I still had my longer stacks, it would have been REAL tight, and I wouldn't have been able to watch them as I went under...could have been ugly.

Thad,

I move the motion to give them the AXE! anyone second ?

mike

sure, why not? I second.

wow... this should be intresting

I'm tempted to start using that e-mail address and phone number whenever I take an online survey for a spam site

...almost forgot...

since the passenger door only opened half way before the mirror bracket would hit the air cleaner, and because there was no heat shield on the exhaust, I also burned the heck out of my arm while climbing into the wrecker. Didn't look that bad yesterday, so I didn't think enough about it to snap a pic....but today

Pretty common occurance on the GM truck lug wrenches there. Think I've seen close to a dozen in the past couple years.

Throwout bearing, and clutch brake comming apart? If a buddies CH hadn't done that to him, I'd never had my A-40 cause it was in the dealership getting prepped for sale when he came along.

Maybe this bit of "misfortune" can go in your favor?

I never understood the reasoning for mounting a wrecker bed so far back on the frame. Dangerous operation in my opinion. I like steer axle weight. I would think a Mack dealer would have enough pride in their operating fleet to at least not have broken emblems on the hood, and a twisted chrome bumper for everyone to judge their appearance by yet have the corporate "Mack" decal emblazoned on the doors. A sharp and tidy looking outfit goes far with the public as they remember when needing road service.

Rob

Funny thing is, these guys do more with this old, reliable wrecker than the guys at O'Hare Towing ("wrecked" on TV) do with their fancy 60-ton rotator. I'll take an old, reliable rig in competent hands over the newest, flashiest rig around lacking a competent operator. The guy driving the wrecker was new to towing, though...been a mechanic for a few years at Mack, but only got his CDL a few months ago. He was still learning...did everything right (besides not having all of the tools he'd need...borrowed a large pair of channel locks to disconnect the drive line at the slip joint) but he knew I'd have 'em when he recognized the name of the guy he was coming to get so I guess I'll give him a pass on that one ), and he was open to any advice I offered him (I used to drive wreckers myself) as far as hooking up. He knew how to hook to the truck...but running the air was what he had the questions about. What we did, we ran the blue line from his truck to my trailer, and the red line from his truck to a quick connect on my air tank so that my truck could supply the air to keep the truck & trailer's brakes released and suspensions aired up. Of course, they use lincoln-type air fittings in that shop...which I found out when I helped work on my truck there a few months ago...so I had a lincoln-type male quick connect fitted to a female universal to match the I/M that I use on my own tools, air lines, and truck. I also have a valve fitted with two male I/M fittings so that I can air up my truck tank from any supply line on a service truck or at a shop. Made hooking to my air tank quick and painless for sure.

He did good, though...didn't even hit a curb as he made his way back to the shop

When backing in to drop the trailer, he took his time to figure out how to back up the combination...careful the whole time not to tear anything up. He'll be a good operator as long as he keeps learning and never takes anything for granted...I've seen guys get lazy and start skipping stuff that they really SHOULD be doing....like chaining the front axle to the forks!

Haha everyone has to have some of those days once in a while. Glad your laughing about it. That Mack sure looks light in the front .

What else can you do? Anyway, I'm fixin' ta hook my Ranger up behind the loaner pickup to take their truck back to 'em in case someone else needs it and talk with 'em about the work to be done...I had HOPED to be there at 8 this morning when they opened, but after the way yesterday went...I just didn't want to get out of bed this morning.

At least now, if another tire on their truck lets go, there will be someone at the Mack dealer to come out and help...I'm all outta spare tires on their truck

So they are working the bridge, so traffic is down to one lane...got a red light controlling the flow. It changed on me before I could get to the light, so I had to stop and wait for it to change again. When it did, I started easing out the clutch...but it didn't feel right, so I pushed the clutch back in and all heck broke loose...literally

That's the clutch brake and pieces of the throwout bearing. Looks like the clutch is going to need to be replaced...so I called Mack to send a wrecker out to get me.

When he lifted the front end of MY truck, the front end of HIS got reeeeeal light. I was loaded a little heavy, I guess

Ready to roll...soon as the light changes!

We got me dumped off, then towed it back up to the Mack dealer to get it fixed tomorrow...they loaned me a pickup to get me home tonight, but my troubles weren't over yet

Danged lug nuts were on there so tight, I twisted the tire tool trying to get 'em off!

Needless to say, I'm GLAD today is FINALLY over!

Hi, is there any reasone why the crossmembers are fitted in the chassis with the hollow section facing forward? the manual does not mention it, but have seen them only fitted this way.

I have turned mine the other way so the dirt doesnt get held there.

Grant

Not sure what you mean. What kind of truck? My CH, there is no hollow part facing front OR rear...looks like this:

(here's a cross section view....it broke)

The hollow section faces downward like this:

Do you have any pics to help explain?

If you lose your jake again, check the wires to make sure one isn't worn through and shorting against the motor. This was the problem when I lost my jake.

I'll be servicing it this weekend and I'll check. I had "low" jakes in the "high" switch position again...and nothing in the "low" switch position. You really don't realize how much ya use 'em 'til ya ain't got 'em no more

In my exhaust upgrade/replacement adventures, I've found that the mufflers were cheaper ($55) than the 2 foot turnouts I bought ($65). I bought the mufflers from the Kenworth dealer here and the turnouts from Mack, just cause I like the 'Mack' style.

If you think the mufflers are expensive, try buying what's under the cab, especially if you have dual exhaust.

I put 6" straights on mine a couple weeks ago....and it's LOUD!!!!! I think I regret doing it and might put the mufflers back on. So if anyone wants a set of 6 foot long, by 6 inch diameter chrome straights, let me know!!!

I got a welder. As long as it's steel, I can patch it. Heck, my welder is a wire-feed one, so if I were to buy the shielding gas and play with it for a while to figure out what I was doing, I could do aluminum repairs too. Plastic can be epoxy'd...fiberglass can be patched....it's them danged electronics that break me

well its an easy thing to miss if you don't know about it!I have been there done that.Hopefully I'm wrong and they looked They likly won't admit to not looking thou We'll see!

One thing thou if they didn't look and that is the problem and they admit it, thats the right place to take your truck

people make mistakes or are not aware of thngs they can't fix things.Althou this is a (FAIRly) common ocurance its not the only thing it can be nor is it rampent ! stuff happens.

Go figure...they say they didn't do anything but check stuff and it all seemed to work so they had nothing in it but time. They didn't charge me for that. I had 'em pull the charge air cooler and I took it to a repair shop...and while that was out, they welded the lower radiator mounting brackets (one was broke, the other missing) so that the radiator would be held securely. The repair place was supposed to call me for a credit card number for payment, and deliver it back to the Mack dealer (where the truck was) for me...but they billed the Mack dealer directly so of course they had to mark it up or the office would get pi$$ed. I never ask anyone to put their job in jeopardy to do me a favor. So, they marked it up a little and didn't charge any labor for anything they did.

Total cost was around $350...I'd have to look at the receipt again for the exact amount.

...and to top it all off, the Jake IS working now. It is slow to activate until it's been run a few times...but then it works like it's supposed to until I shut the truck off again. Then it's slow activating the first time or two again before it works fine. Still not sure what was wrong...but I'm not going to complain.

There are plugs in the rocker shaft ends one of the most common causes of instant jake failure baring an electrical failer is the plugs poping out (Hydralic failure)Did they look for this?Lift the lids back of and check the ends of the rocker shafts for plugs.

Supposedly, they had the valve covers off and looked at everything in there...but I'll ask when I go back to pick it up. I ran the charge air cooler down to a place in Mayfield, KY to get repaired...2 bolts missing and another one broke...didn't take long for it to start leaking. They are also welding up the lower radiator bracket too...broken on one side and missing on the other...saves me some fabrication work next weekend. They ought to have the charge air cooler back today...need to call on that anyway, since they close in 2 hours and the place that was doing the repair was supposed to call me to get a credit card number instead of billing the Mack dealer...even though they were delivering it there.

I swear, if it ain't one thing it's another...

'01 CH613 with an E7-460 and barely over 360K on the odometer. Jakes quit working last week...but not all at once. First, the high started acting like low and nothing would happen on low. Then a couple days later, it wouldn't even do that...nothing in either switch position. Had it in to the Mack dealer and they said the oil lines are clear and not plugged up, and the solenoids are getting power and seem to be working. They are claiming that every individual part of the system is working as it is supposed to, but that the system as a whole does not. That just doesn't sound right to me. One mechanic said that it might be due to low oil pressure...but I haven't noticed my truck's oil pressure being any lower than it's ever been when it WAS working. They say there's an update kit available...new oil lines or something like that...but that it's $2000 and just not worth the money. If it was a stronger jake, like the 3-stage that was on the 475 CAT I drove a few years ago (would hold 80,000 at 35 mph heading down Monteagle without ever needing to touch the brakes) it might be a different story...but for what it was, it just isn't worth dumping that kind of money into it.

I'm stumped. I don't mind when things I never use don't work (i.e. the air conditioner hasn't worked for as long as I've owned it)...but for something that I use regularly, it just bugs me when it doesn't function properly....especially when there doesn't seem to be any real reason why it doesn't work.

I got a brand new 9400 International when I drove for H.H.Moore and it was 13'3" to the top of the stacks. First thing I did was take 'em off and shorten them a foot.

I took about 2 feet off of these. I had been up around 12' for a clearance height. Now I'm a hair under 10'.

Nice welding! You just saved yourself a ton of $$$ too. New mufflers and stacks ain't cheap. Just replaced mine a while back ($500 give or take) and I just have a one-stack Mack with a window in the back.

I used the old muffler clamp as a patch. Wasn't too tough welding around the bottom edge where the steel was still good, but the top where the muffler was rusty and the metal was thin...and the fact that all I had was a .35 gauge flux core wire...wasn't nearly as easy. Had to set it on a real slow wire feed rate to basically rapidly spot weld to build up material without burning holes through it...then once I had enough built up, I could run a decent bead on it. I really needed the shielding gas and a .24 gauge wire...would have made the job MUCH easier.

I've wanted to shorten the stacks since I bought the truck...always liked the low-profile look...especially on a work truck. The passenger side was dinged at the top when I bought it, and I made short work of making the driver's side match at a shipper...danged catwalk wasn't quite over far enough... Anyway, tried doing the job last fall, but couldn't get the stupid stacks out of the top of the muffler. This time, I just cut 'em off even with the top, then used a chisel and a BFH to get that last few inches removed. While they were off, I straightened out the dings, then I marked 'em and cut 'em to the size I wanted.

FWIW, the Mack dealer quoted me a price of around $150 just for one muffler. I don't even want to know what they'd want for the stacks.

The one thing I find confusing, though, is that the passenger side exhaust (muffler, heat shield, etc.) seems to be mounted 1" higher than the left side Found that out when I was measuring to make sure both sides were the same. I ended up mounting the stacks relative to the mufflers they are inserted into, rather than to the ground in case there was just a low spot in the driveway that I was measuring to. I need to double check one of these days on a concrete pad...seems odd they would mount one side higher than the other...

in my grandfather's basement. He drove a 10-wheeler dump bucket for 27 years...ALWAYS in a

They thought I should have them....now I just gotta figure out where I'm gonna put 'em

...wonder if it's got a title

here's a couple more....first is the fiance...other is grandma again

not because it's a Mack that it's suppose to look like a big foot!! it's an highway tractor.. not a recovery truck!! get that thing low and it will kick any petercars ass by far!! this truck is perfect, in my opinion, am i the only one??

Work trucks is s'posed ta be huge! My grandma does a real good job showin' how big my really is

I think a hooklift might be the way to go. Especially for mulch and topsoil jobs. If you've ever had 10 yards of mulch dumped in a driveway you know it leaves a big mess to clean up at the end of the day. With a hooklift I could get some dumpsters, fill them up with mulch, open the back doors and drive my machine in and scoop the material right out. At the end of the day shut the doors, lift the container and go. Plus if I got a 25 yard container I could buy 25 yards of mulch at a time for a discount and store it. Just need to tarp it to keep it dry. Same kind of deal for topsoil.

A yard of mulch weighs around 900lbs, a yard of topsoil weighs around 2,000lbs. What kind of truck would I be looking at that an haul a 25 yard container of mulch or topsoil legally? Are 25 yard dumpster containers available?

Can I still fit a conventional dumpbed to a hooklift? Like for spreading gravel? The kind where you can do a six inch spread, tilt the bed, and drive to spread it.

How exactly does a hooklift secure the body to the truck frame once it's lifted up? I haven't really seen one up close.

Can I get a chipper body for a hooklift? Like for holding wood chips after chipping up a tree?

What are some other bodies I can put on the back of a hooklift? How about enclosed containers I can store tools in at jobs as opposed to hauling trailers?

That hooklift idea is really growing on me. I like it.

You won't get 25 yards of either in less than a 39' dump trailer. Topsoil at 2000 pounds per yard is 50,000 pounds for 25 yards. That puts me right at the 80,000 pounds weight limit in my '01 CH with a 39' dump. A shorter trailer would require more axles to meet federal bridge law requirements.

I also just hauled a load of mulch out of Alabama on Friday...loaded nose to tail, side to side, floor to tarp, I was only able to get a hair over 12 tons in the trailer...which at 900 pounds per yard would figure to be a little more than 26.5 yards.

Dump trailers are not wise to spread with...unstable and likely to tip over if you try it.

Hate to say it, but you're going to have to compromise on something...

the trucking outfit has sent out to have a phisical(truth) , the doctor sent to a chicken coop to weigh me because of my fat(joke) LOL

Last time I weighed myself, it was on a truck scale...

One of the fleets with trucks leased to the carrier I'm with has a lot of Mack trucks...one in particular has a kitty cat under the hood. The motor that was in the truck was plum wore out, and they had the Cat sitting around in the shop ready to go...so they swapped it in. Minimized the downtime, and a Cat under the hood is better than tryin' ta run down the road fully loaded with anyone else's wore out motor.

I used to stop in S.C. and Tn. and get some every year.I lived by a big field in Appomattox, now i've got woods all around and it's gotten pretty dry too-wouldn't wanna set the woods on fire!

Just make sure ya gots the marshmellows handy

Heck, I was gonna grease my truck yesterday....but it was raining on & off most of the day. So, I figured I'd do it today before I went up to the yard to drop & hook trailers and drop off last week's paperwork, but it's still wet & threatening rain...maybe it'll clear up in a bit...

I got a big'ol stack of wood from tree limbs that have been blown down by storms this past winter...gonna get around ta burnin' it one of these days, too. I think there's a family of bunny's living in there now, though...dog spends a lot of time sniffin' at it an' peein' on it. If I time it right, I might get dinner too