mrsmackpaul

Yes I am officially jealous, looks bloody fantastic, you should be proud 

Paul

Loving it, doubt they will ever sell one out here, but if they do I reckon I'll be first in line

Paul

The size of the oil pan wont make any difference to how the dipstick reads

It's depth is measured off the bottom of the block not the bottom of the sump

Paul

Run low air pressure in your drive tyres if you arent carrying a big load helps a low, 55 psi max with no load on for a hobbie truck

110 for a loaded truck

Let the steer tyres down to no less than say 75 - 80 psi other wise trucks dont seem to handle any good

Air ride cab and seats make huge difference, also the sockers or dampers need to be spot on as well on the seat, the cab, and axles, they take a huge amount of the getting thrown about out of the ride 

As I've got older this stuff is becoming more and more important, getting softer I think

Noise is the next big challenge for me, want it quiet as a car inside

Paul

The little Brockway is gorgeous, just the thing to go shopping in

Paul

Some do, not all

A lot of  European trucks have a Roadranger in Australia as do the bigger Isuzu's and still have no clutch brake, you just need to get used to driving them

Paul

Just wait a moment, European trucks as well as Japanese trucks dont as a rule have a clutch brake fitted

Just push the clutch in and wait a moment, then slowly shift the stick into gear, you can feel the gear engaging, not grinding but actually engaging

Maybe wait 5 seconds at the most before sticking it into gear

Also I hardly ever do city stop start driving so I might have a different opinion if I did, I have driven thru plenty of big cities in Australia in peak hour I just mainly drive in rural Australia 

Paul

Sorry Im of no help, I rarely use the clutch brake, it is out of adjustment 

Can understand it's gunna be a challenge working thru that little hole

I'll follow along to see what I can learn

Paul

Vlad I think by world standards Australia is doing exceptionally well with COVID 19

Most of Australia still operates as normal, yes we have had lock downs like most other countries and from what I understand they have been heavily enforced and it seems to work

The governments seem to get ontop of a outbreak pretty quick now

Im booked in for my vaccination shortly and if I drop off the perch (die) as a result, well I'm fine with that as well

Just as long as they cart me off to be buried on my Mrs Mack is all I want

Paul  

In this southern part of this wide brown land it gets cold in winter, it is as wet as a shag at the moment 

Yes very cold and very wet, not cold like were your from but cold for me 

Paul

If people have ever done this type of thing on there own with out a large amount of lifting gear they will never understand just how big a job it is

Well done, and done on gravel as well 

You would have to feel good having these bigger items back together 

Paul

I dont think it does put the spring brakes on as you think 

Many years ago, back in the early 80's (that actually only seems like yesterday in my head) trailers in Australia never had spring brake chambers, just brake chambers with no maxi spring brake on any axle 

So if you used this as the parking brake and walked away and the truck wasn't running as the air leaks out the brakes come off and the truck and trailer etc could easily roll away

We need to remember that way back when dinosaurs roamed the face of the earth there were no spring brake chambers at all on big trucks, there things called hand brakes and these were from a transmission brake (band or disc) to mechanical linkages 

Yeah Im been a bit silly here but youget the drift

Im gunna say the mid 50's onwards prime movers started getting spring brake chambers, totally open to correction here

If you as think back to when trailers had no maxi brakes the landing legs had wheels instead of feat, this was so that if you backed under and there was no air in the trailer and it rolled it didn't bend the landing legs 

Once maxi brakes came out we got feet on landing legs instead of wheels because if the air leaked out the brakes came on and the trailer wasn't going to move 

Paul

4 hours ago, fjh said:

You will likly need a complete donor truck with a wiring harness to suit but quite  doable!

Im thinking that this would be a good start, at the very least I feel be there when the wiring loom is been pulled out 

There is a very good youtube channel were a bloke does the crownvic swap with a old F 100 uni body

He goes thru seperating the loom and proving exactly what he needs and that it will still run, you are essentially doing this but to a much bigger vehicle

I hope the link works, if it does follow it thru to see the build, your sort of heading these lines and if you have never done this type of thing before this would give some insight 

Anyway good luck and keep us posted

Paul

Yep, pretty much what is said above, the ride isnt the best but everything else about them is, they do have a really good following even today because of the things mentioned

All though most people would prefer a air ride truck for comfort a Mack with a air suspension cab and a air ride seat gives a acceptable ride with camelbacks

Paul

I have had trouble with Chinese tyres in the smaller size but have found that I need at least a 100 psi and that seams to help a lot

However I dont travel as fast as you blokes, 55 - 60 MPH tops

Paul

Looking good to me, burn the tyres one dark and foggy night lol

Weld the old rins together to make a huge pot belly stove for outside or a couple of fire pits 

Could also make some huge swans out of the tyres if burning isnt your thing

Was stunned to see palm trees and all sorts of other classy stuff made out of old tyres 

The neighborhood will love prettying up the area with your tyre creations

Paul

It's like looking at a Ford Aeromax of 25 plus years ago

What the heck is "Smartway certified" tyres ?

Paul

I guess it wil be just like when the motor car first came about, a lot of smart companies and even quite large companies will fall by the wayside 

Not everyone can be a winner and this company maybe one of those that fade away 

Paul

I seemed to have missed this thread somehow up until now

Looks like a fun adventure so far

Paul

5 hours ago, Vladislav said:

I never heard about Mack 5.29 diffs. They were 5.32 or 5.13. If a real interest I'd jack up a tyre and count the prop shaft revs after spinning the wheel 10 or 20 turns. Another way is removing that big side cover off a carrier and make the teeth count. Sharp method but the issue you only can see the top gear set. No access to the bull gear excepting removing the carrier off the banjo.

Vlad you are possibly correct 

They were 5.73 when new, the carrier has 5.29 stamped on the top of it so I have just assumed that is what they are 

I did have that big cover off only months ago as it was weeping around it and replaced the O ring, or maybe gasket goo, dunno now 

Anyway that is my understanding, 95 km/h is revving pretty hard 

That is on the GPS thingy mahbob

Paul

Have a great trip, neat looking truck you have there

Paul

I would be getting all nervously excited at the same time shifting the cab about and leaving it in someone else's care 😀 I'm  sure its in good and capable hands 

Have really enjoyed watching this truck slowly develop, thank you for sharing with us

Paul

No your all wondering what the fudge does this photo have to do with what we are talking about 

It was on Facebook the other day and people made comments as to just how gutless these trucks are to shift such a load

Well as most of you know, I dont know my ass from my elbow 

I made the comment that was made to me one day sitting at the road house at Springsure in Queensland with maybe the higher side of 70 ton on heading south and the next range to climb was the Carnarvon range

A older and wiser fella asked if he could sit down at my table and of course I welcomed the opportunity for a yarn

Anyway he asked about my old bucket of bolts out the front and we got talking and the Carnarvon range came into the conversation 

His eyebrows raised a tad when I mentioned I was heading that way

He didn't say dont try it or any such thing, his only comment was

"Plenty of blokes with a lot less power have pulled a load that big or bigger over there"

My point is this truck in the photo is only 250 hp with a 6 pot Cummins or 300 with the 903 Cummins (I  had to Google that)

I suggested that it's about gearing when shifting big loads not horse power 

I also suggested when carrying big loads you dont want a lot of speed as trouble finds you quick enough

And that not that many years ago, loads this big and bigger were shifted with little more than say 150 horse power

Have we really lost our that much over the years ?

Paul

By the way Carnarvon range is the only mountain range that I have seen that has a sign at the bottom of the hill saying "Trucks must use low gear when climbing hill"

I dunno how I have missed this for a while but I have

Looking bloody great

Paul