Maxidyne

What they're worried about is the next owner who abuses the truck, then blames the power upgrade when something blows.

Any reputable truck dealer or manufacturer would give you the same response- They will not give you a power increase beyond what the truck's drivetrain was built for. They look at it from a liability point of view- If they turn up the engine and it grenades the transmission, they'll be liable for the damages.

I'm underwhelmed... Good to see the Ranger back, but with such limited powertrain options and cargo capability, I won't be buying one.

Transit Custom van, sized between Transit Connect and big Transit.

GM is playing the same game with the Colorado/Canyon diesel, have to take expensive trim unless you can put together a fleet order of X number vehicles. At least Ford makes it easy to be a "fleet" in their eyes, in some cases just one vehicle will qualify you.

I saw that on the website too, wonder if it was copied from the old website? IIRC, the wide ratio transmissions for the Maxidyne engines were dropped a few years ago. That left the 6 speed which makes a good match for the "Maxicruise" tune engines but haven't seen one on a new Mack in years, so it may be gone too. That leaves the 9 and 10 speed 40% ratio spread models, the 13 and 18 speeds, and some 10 speeds with deep low gears like Eaton's ALL series. There was also high torque versions of the 13 and 18 speeds for the MP10 engines, but I suspect they've disappeared along with the MP10s. So they're probably down to a handful of transmission models, available to order only.

Interesting that an out of town company would be doing the work, there's plenty of construction companies in the area that would be happy to do the work this time of year.

This one of the trucks hauling contaminated dirt from the pipeline spill?

I can see why Daimler needs gliders- Freightliner cabs are often junk long before their Detroit and Cummins engines die. But Mack cabs are usually good for a couple decades or more, same as Mack engines...

Original was probably a yellow square button, the black button is probably a generic replacement.

Should be a yellow emergency brake button next to the red tractor protection valve button... Where'd it go?

That was in the days of "factory branch" dealerships, so it's possible that being Mack owned they'd take a loss on a sale to keep the factory busy. I've seen Mack, KW, etc. make competitive bids on big orders, but when a small operator wanted to buy just a truck or three the bids were sometimes much higher. Back in the 70s GM and Ford were still making big trucks and would often underbid Mack, Paccar, etc. on one truck orders and offer financing when Mack, Paccar, etc. wouldn't.

IIRC that's a 4000/4070 cab on the turbine truck.

Usually EMD 2 strokes, similar to the locomotive power plants. But with EMD fading, Cat, Cummins, and others are trying to get into this market.

Interesting reading- Looks like the V8s were big sellers in the 70s then faded. I remember reading in one of the magazines that before Renault offered the V8, Mack was only building two a week. Would be interesting to see the numbers with all the exported V8s to Renault, Mack Australia, etc. included.

Agreed, but as usual, we Americans can't have the nice stuff, and get stuck with limited diesel options. Car & Driver is known for usually getting worse MPG than the EPA ratings, but in their test they beat the EPA rating by a bit... Sorta reminiscent of the VW diesels. Should be interesting how both crossovers do in Consumer Report's tests, as they use they same course for every vehicle so their results are repeatable and comparable.

While I wished they built more of it themselves, GM is developing quite a wide product range! Heard yesterday that the diesel Equinox is finally available in America, and gets mid 30s MPG even with 4WD. It ain't a serious off roader being a small car on tippy-toes and it's 1500 pound tow rating is low, but it's MPG beats the gas powered competition by a long shot.

True, Signal should have invested in Mack instead of selling. Signal wasn't alone in divesting from truck making in the 80s, when Euro truck makers bought up half the American truck industry. The British magazine "Truck" covered this era well, often noting American management and investors demand for short term quarterly profits- While American management would pull out of a market or sell off a subsidiary if it missed a quarterly profit, Euro management was more patient and the Japanese would move into a new export market and not expect to turn a profit for 5 years. In the 60s and 70s Mack and the other American truck makers should have become established in export markets worldwide, even if the initial volumes were low and less than profitable. In the recession of the 80s American investors and management should have stood by their truck making investments instead of dumping them, but they panicked and dumped them instead. Thus Daimler and Volvo got half the American truck making industry at bargain prices.

Mack is owned by Volvo because they bought Renault's truck division and Mack was owned by Renault and was thus included in the deal.

Lots of other factors involved- For example competitors like Daimler that was buying market share and Navistar that was desperate to generate cash flow. Thus they would ruthlessly underbid Mack and other competitors. Another factor was the huge changes in the market in the late 70s and 80s brought on by deregulation and the end of overall length regulations. In the 70s Mack had the most elegant solutions to fit a 45' trailer into a 55' overall length with the U model conventional and the F and Cruiseliner cabovers, with the MH on the way. Suddenly length didn't matter and regional carriers became nationwide carriers and wanted sleepers instead of day cabs. U model sales disappeared, and having spent millions to develop the MH it never sold well enough to justify those expenses. While Mack only had narrow box sleepers to offer, Freightliner and Paccar had conventionals with big sleepers ready to go, and Volvo put the Integral Sleeper White had developed into production. It wasn't 'til the late 80s that Mack caught up with the CH series and it's integral sleepers.

I think so, seems like the Postal Service had some.

Good points. Although the remaining E series variants are doing better than expected, with the slow F650/750 sales I suspect OAP is running far below capacity. Sort of reminds me of the wisdom of Mack offering "vendor" powertrain components- Better to make some money selling a "Mutt" than make no sale and money at all.

Doesn't help EMD any, and they're already hurting from their delay in producing a Tier 4 locomotive.

Volvo would rather slowly kill Mack then sell Mack as a going concern that will become a competitor.

Not a lot of demand for auxiliaries these days, and priced kinda high... Vanderhaags price