Maxidyne

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Sounds like you've got some good ideas, especially the use of stronger steel in critical areas and the tipover alarm. The tipover alarm could be the first step toward a "smart dump" that could control flow rate to allow uniform spreading, etc..

Not a member of the circle and not sure of the timing, but we came into this COVID-19 pandemic overdue for a recession and the U.S. and some other nations are still bogged down in the pandemic and their economies won't completely recover until they conquer COVID-19.

That's been the experience of Ploger Transportation, they run a fleet of late model Volvos and Macks. They've found that to keep costs down they have to service the emissions stuff like the DPF more frequently than Mack/Volvo recommend.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/wisconsin-coronavirus-cases.html

While we're still dealing with COVID-19 because we refuse to take it seriously, the Chinese are passing us.

David, you're the one that's complaining...

David, nice of you to preserve those old warbirds. Hopefully young folks will learn something useful from them, not the glorification of war but it's terrible cost, to be avoided if possible but we still need to be ready to defend our nation if peaceful solutions evade us. I didn't have an airline pilot dad, mine was a WW2 vet who worked at the VA while working on a pharmacy degree. He had to drop out in his 4th year and never got to become a pharmacist, made a better living for a while at least as a "detail man". I paid my own way through college while driving truck, tried to enlist but couldn't pass the physical due to congenital disability. I can point to statutes I wrote in the law books and helped start the first dislocated worker program back in the 80s. And while I love restoring old vehicles and have some completed and in the works projects in my shop, restoring warbirds is pretty much a boys club and while I probably learned enough to pass ground school before I could get a driver's license, I could never afford flight school. So no point in my switching from ground to air in my 70s even though I could now afford it.

David, am I supposed to be impressed or something?

Take a look at the 2006/7 USPS Macks- Per-2007 emissions, Mack engine, and Allison automatic.

You almost had a persuasive argument there until you sunk to name calling.

Hopefully that's the case, but it's from the rust belt and if the frame is jacked from rust, the cab may not have that many years of use in it yet. There's also the issue of parts availability- Volvo doesn't seem to willing to supply parts to keep Mack engines running.

At least not new Macks...

I've only been playing with trucks for about a half century, so thanks for enlightening me with your boundless expertise. And you're correct. I have no experience as an owner, because I'm good enough at math to do the numbers and see that I was better off as a company driver...

One could argue that with the steel bumper and other rugged features USPS wants for city operation the HV was a closer match for their specs. But Mack had no problem supplying a steel bumper on CX conventionals, so no reason International couldn't have supplied the RH built to USPS specs. The high mount cab of the RH would certainly give better visibility, and if USPS asked me to give up a Mack for this thing I'd retire... But I already did that.

Agree with you on that, good way to rebuild a usable truck for much less than the cost of new. But the problem with a lot of these decades old trucks is that they're on the brink of the truck equivalent of "multi organ failure"- They need engine and transmission rebuilds, brake and suspension work, cab repairs, etc.. and by the time you're done you've got almost as much in it as a new truck but still have decades old parts breaking.

By the time you get done messing with crossmembers and may as well fix everything attached to the frame as long as it's apart it'll probably be twice that. Maybe worth it for a specialized truck that costs north of $200k new, but for a garden variety dump truck may as well by a new or newer one.

Only if your labor cost is about nothing- Last rerail I saw booked out at 40 hours per side!

IIRC the KW/Pete/DAF low cabover uses the same "Club" cab as Volvo/Renault use for their low cabover. So now days if you want a low cabover like the old Mack/Renault or Volvo FL here in America you have to go to a KW or Pete dealer...

I wouldn't mess with the tuning on an E-6 Maxidyne unless I had a chassis dyno to see if my mods worked and money to burn- It's too easy to screw up Mack's work.

Worked for an outfit once that had a CH with an E7-350 and a couple Louisvilles with 425 Cats on the same run, the Cats were no quicker than the Mack.

Would be nice to see Navistar stay independent, but is that possible?

There's a bunch of possibilities- Perhaps the NAV board is trying to make themselves less appealing by cutting the deal with Cummins? Or maybe putting pressure on Traton to make the acquisition? Or maybe that deal is all but dead and NAV wants a guaranteed supply of engines? Or maybe the MAN engine is having a tough time meeting the new GHG requirements so NAV needs some more efficient engines to cut their average GHG emissions?

The Amorak is a real truck, and I suspect International has considered adding it to their product line.

Soft ground?