JoeH

You guys should have had more sex with less condoms! Then we wouldn't be in this mess!

In all honesty I think what's going on is the Boomer Generation is retiring and there simply isn't enough population in my generation to fill the void. (I'm 32). Covid pushed a fair amount of Boomers out of the workforce I bet. Guys that didn't want to deal with all the BS of vaccine/mask mandates changing every other week, etc. Meanwhile these folks still have homes, still need plumbers, are still investing in the hardscaping around their houses, etc. The generations behind them simply don't have the population to carry the workload. Thats my observation and I'm sticking to it! Look around, I'll bet you see a lot less young folks in the companies you work with than you remember from your youth.

I do about 10k miles/year on my triaxle, usually replace 2+ pairs of drive tires in a year. I keep a pair of recaps mounted and ready to go in the garage. When that set goes on the truck I go to Bergeys Tires and get the bald set recapped or I get a retread on one of their cases. Once in a while I'll work in a set of new drive tires. Truck has 11R24.5 drives, 315's on the steer and lift axle. Steer usually gets new Continental's, the old steering tires get capped for the lift axle. Not worth new tires, I'll just grind the tread off delivering concrete to postage stamp driveways with a long wheelbase. Most driveways are a 3-5 point turn for me to get into. We bought an MR688S, and that truck uses 315's for steer, lift, and drive! No way in hell is this truck ever getting new drive tires, not at 800-1000 a piece! New 315's for the steer, but that's it for new tires on this truck. Steers from both trucks will start making their way into the drive positions.

Brakes still get done this way, there's a reason there's a core charge on brake shoes. Associated Truck Parts where we get our brake/driveline components relines shoes. They've even relined the shoes for our wheel loader.

Easily the most used switch in a truck.

For drives? Cheapish I'd fine with me on drives, but we spend money on the steer tires.

That's landscaping in style. I hope your customers like it when that shiny old dog rolls up!

Also the pyrometer is now running 2-300° cooler.

April fool's I suspect!

The top "right" (passenger side) bolt must have dropped the rubbery washer out. That bolt wasn't holding that corner down well, but the bolt was seized: twisted off. Had to drill and re-tap to take a 5/16 bolt instead of the metric junk that was in there. Only got to do a 4 mile round trip test run empty today, looking forward to seeing how it runs loaded tomorrow!

Replaced charge air cooler. Had a fatigue crack halfway down the front of one side.

Truck went from being a mutt tapping out barely at 20 psi of boost back to a bulldog at 30 psi of boost. In 10 years of owning this truck we have never seen more than 25 psi out of it.

Now I want to find one for when my boys are old enough to not trash that thing.

Never seen a camelback with shock absorbers...

If you've changed fuel filters and have had the tanks off then you have a ton of air in your fuel system. Many trucks have a hand primer mounted on them, there's a few different styles. Take a picture and upload it for us. The hand primer pump should be pumped until you hear fuel splashing back into the fuel tank or if you're running out of a bucket then you can hold the return line up so you can see fuel flowing out. You know you're starting to move fuel when the hand pump gets very hard to push. When you get to that point.... Keep priming for a bit. Also since you're new to diesels, these older ones have a knob next to the key for "Fuel shutoff" you need to push that knob in all the way before it will start. You can pull the batteries out of these trucks and they'll keep running til you pull that knob out to shut the engine down.

Are you oiling the gasket o ring before installing the filters? They can bunch up and cause leaks if you install them dry. Also, follow the.instructions! Run the filter on by hand til it makes contact, then go 3/4 to 1 full turn more.

Finally got good news, PTO and hydraulic pump are in, about a week later than the "three weeks" estimate I was given a month ago. Truck will be ready for Pick Up on Monday April 11th! I plan on being in Iowa around lunchtime on the 11th. I haven't seen pictures of it yet, but I will certainly upload a few at some point!

@Joey Mack the original thread accidentally got deleted, so they had to rebuild it from scratch. All part numbers for cam interchangeability, proper exhaust manifolds etc are all in here.

There is the "Logging Dog Dead Dog Remediation" post on here for the ASET AI engines. Involves replacing camshaft with a pre ASET cam, changing exhaust manifold with pre ASET, as well as turbo and exhaust pipe. All basically to remove the Backpressure feature, allowing the engine to actually breath. If you have an ASET AC, well... That sucks, not a lot you can do there. ASET AI is probably the only Mack engine that takes a "delete" well.

Does the new key switch still need a couple key cycles to get it to shut down sometimes? That seems strange, possible short circuiting in a wire harness?

Jot that VIN down and ask your local Mack dealer for some gauges and components for the In Cab Oil Level Checker....

Bergeys has access to it, it'll be here in about a week. Anxious to see what 350hp feels like, this truck has always run a little hot on the pyro with no more than 25 psi boost.

If you're engine light is working it will power on for a few seconds then go out, assuming there's no active fault. Should look like a lightning bolt. You should have two fuse boxes, one in the glove box the other under the hood. Fire up the truck, look for the fuse that says EECU, wiggle it. I bet your engine will shut down. You'll need to pull that fuse/circuit breaker and squeeze the terminals a little tighter so they get a better grip.

The guy near us closed up his radiator repair and shifted to selling welding supplies. Nowadays radiators are plastic throw-aways, not much business in repair. I'll call him tomorrow and see if he's willing/able.

Charge air cooler leaks like a sieve. Bergeys put in a request to Mack to see if it's available, if it's not then what are my options? RD688S chassis.