daveigou

Hi, whats an FA 532 while your at it? i have started putting mine back together. new king pins, new front shackle bushes, new front suspension rear rubbers and new shocks so far.

Grant

An FA532 is 12,000# axle

Dave

Look at the rear of the rear axle, just below and to the right side of the check plug, there should be numbers stamped, and with a camelback suspension they should start with "SS" if it is a 65,000# it should say SS65© or some variation. On early models you need a crossover chart to know the rating for a particular model, on later trucks the model numer was also the rating. Mack discontinued stamping the model numbers / ratings all-together several years ago, I don't remember exactly when.

The carrier (top unit)model could possibly be used on several models of axles. for example, the 112/113 series were also used on SS501 (50,000# axles). The carrier model usually was dependent on gross vehicle combination ratings, and maximum torque and horsepower requirements.

Dave

Mack Trucks will be sending the "Rolling Thunder" CX painted in U.S. military theme.

Dave

An FA534 axle is 9,000#

Dave

Look at the front of the axle beam just below the right hand spring. There should be some digits that start with FA or FAW. The next digits should be the axle model. On early models you need a book to tell the rating for a particular model, on later models the axle model is the rating. On the latest RD's, Mack discontinued stamping a model number at all.

Dave

Paul,

You might try Country Inn & Suites, (717 665-5440)(1475 Lancaster road, Manheim, pa)they are just south of Manheim on route 72, about 20 minutes from Gerharts,or eden resort, routes 30 & 222 at Lancaster, (717-569-6444).

There is also a Holiday Inn Express at Lititz, (717-625-2366) (101 crosswnids drive,Lititz, Pa)I brought up a birds eye view on bing maps, around the hotel it looks tight, but it also looks like a secondary street and a field beside it that might work.

If you never been to Gerharts, you won't be disappointed. It's a really nice show. See you there. If you need more help, give me a call 717-989-6744

Dave

About 4 years ago, Volvo / Mack people invited several high profile Mack fleet customers to a "customer cab clinic" at the Mack world headquarters. All were asked to sign confidentiality agreements. Engineers set up two crude cab representations made out of plywood and other generic materials,that just happened to be identical dimensions, and seating positions to a Mack cab & a Volvo cab.

They had steering wheels, pedals, and generic dashes in them with basic controls and such in them. There was no question that the cabs repesented a Mack Cab verses a Volvo cab. They had orange cones set up around them, and asked customers to sit in both of them, and compre the seating position and visibility. After that, customers were taken upstairs to a conference room, where they were asked many questions about what they liked or disliked about each of them, and the whole discussion was video taped.

I believe that was an atempt then to go to a "common" cab, but the Mack guys had a clear preference for the "Mack" cab.

Then sometime later, at a Mid America truck show, Mack / Volvo people invited high profile Mack fleet owners to another clinic where they were asked should Mack remove the bulldog hood ornament, in the interest of saving weight and money, and a more streamlined appearance. Again the idea met a lot of resistance from the Mack customers.

The point is this, I believe Volvo would like very much to loose the Mack identity. But despite recent Mack changes and short commings, Mack still has some of the highest brand loyalty in a world where there is very little loyalty to anything. It's not a matter of "if", it's only a matter of "when".

Sad, so sad.

Dave

Why facebook? Why not here?

Dave

Bob,

I think the E9 engine is one of the best ever built. With reasonable care most end up living a long time, some even hit the million mile mark with no major problems. Notice I said most. I am not aware of a rash of problems with camshafts. I have one that I recently in frame overhauled, and parts are expensive, and some things are no longer available from Mack. Mine had problems with leaky liners, probably mostly from old age. Otherwise everything else looked pretty good.

They are fairly easy to turn to 500 hp if you don't mind smoke, 500's had a different turbo, but I think everything else is pretty much the same. But I wouln't do it because even the 400 & 450 hp were runners right out of the box, especially if you block the puff limiter. I just don't think it's necessary.

Besides, I don't think they have anything to prove to anybody. When you drive it, just savor the experience, the sound, and the feel. That's what it's all about.

Dave

I was at the sale when those trucks were sold. There was a lot of respectful talk about the man that drove that truck for most of its life. Seems he was somewhat of a "legend" for the way he kept the truck and handled it.

I guess you know that Roger Gerhart has a cable operated Rogers "I" beam trailer that came from the same place, although it appears that a "hat box" was added under the gooseneck so it could be used with tractors with a lower fifth wheel height.

Dave Igou

Paul Mathews bought two of those at Hawthornes' sale. He drove one and trailered the other one to the Gerhart show right after he bought them. The one with the big radiator seemed to be a pretty decent truck, He drove it and I followed him from Gap to Lititz.

Other than the fact it is completely disassembled, what I remenber about the truck, It will make a really impressive finished truck.

Dave,

Back in the mid 1990s, Leahman Tank Lines repowered a large fleet of their R-models tractors with 3176B truck engines, the predecessor to the C12. We used to get them in all the time at the dealer where I work. I believe Cat dealers did the engine swaps, as well.

I also spent several years as a driver's helper in a 1975 Mack DM800 that had been repowered with a 3406A 400. That truck was a monster.

John

I should probably qualify my remarks here. Mack power is by far the preference of most Mack users, but historically Mack often times came up "short" in the horsepower offerings department. Before the availability of the E9's in certain models, like the DM800's, if a customer wanted to "break" the 300 - 350 hosepower barrier, vendor engines were the only choice.

Even when E9's did become available, people still had a bad taste in their mouths from the earlier failings of the 865 /866 engines, and they were pricey, and that also opened the door to other altenatives. In the most recent engine options in the CL's, Mack offered 3406 Cats, and S60 Detroits, but they were built in limited numbers. I don't remember if there were any Cummins offerings in the CL before the demise of the E9's, which were replaced by the ISX & Signature Cummins.

Mack trucks over the years was lucky enough to experience the highest brand loyalty of any truck manufacturer, despite some of their engine problems. Who knows how much longer they can say that. Every time an engine family reached maturity, the Feds raised the bar, and everyone started over again.

I'm a Mack guy. Unfortunately, I think we've seen the glory days of Mack Trucks, I hope I'm wrong. I would love to be wrong. That's my story, and I'm stickin to it!!

Dave

Somebody has an R600 on ebay with what looks to be maybe a C-12 Cat in it. I don't know why anybody would ruin a perfectly good truck by sticking a bull-dozer motor under a bull dog?

What's this world comming to?

Never saw one in a b model, but we have a local guy that put one in an LT, really nice installation, unless you peek under the hood, or hear it run, you would never know. I will post picture in my gallery if I didn't already.

Dave Igou daveigou

I believe the owner's name is Yarnell Wastler. I heard that is was for sale, and was advertised in Wheels of Time a while back. I posted another picture of it in my gallery just today. See daveigou gallery.

Dave

Doug Maney is probably correct when he stated that the LT's were built in Allentown. I have an LT brochure that at the very end of the specifications lists factories at Allentown, PA, Plainfield, NJ, and Long Island City, NY. I believe Plainfield was where power train components were built, and after the war I believe fire apparatus production moved to NY. That would only leave 5C in Allentown as the only possibility. Hayward California did not open until 1965 or 66.

Dave

MADE IN MEXICO!!!!

I was just looking at an early Superliner brochure, and under available engine options were listed Cummins six cylinder engines, including KT450 & KTA 525, and Detroit 92 series, up to 435 hp. The second "7" digit in the model designation would indeed make it a Detroit engine.

1988 RW