Macktruckman

We have a 475 3406E and the jakes on it make a difference on grades. But if they aren’t effective on the old Mack engines I’d be interested to hear

I’m here for the info and experience of folks that know. None of our Mack’s ever had jakes so I don’t know. They not work good?

Thank you sir I just came across that with a google search myself. That’s exactly what engine I have too.

Where would a guy start looking for a set of Jacobs brakes for an EM6?

I can see where you would catch a finger there with those massive steering wheels. Lol. Thank you very much for the compliment but it’s definitely no professional job. I have a really good mechanic and he was a lot of help. He’s also turned out to be a really good friend. I did a lot of it myself but I also had a lot of help from him. He actually sprayed the paint. It’s definitely not a show truck. That said, it’s definitely a different truck and definitely for the better. I appreciate his help very much. I paid him but I feel like I got far more than my money’s worth for his part. I also appreciate the help and advice from all of you guys on this forum. I’m happy with the truck. Like all of you guys and your trucks, it’s not done. It’s nice enough now that I want to do other things to it. It probably will never be finished. Lol. But I don’t have a hotrod or anything else for a hobby really so this is my hobby that also helps me do my job.

It’s apparently no good. Lesson learned and it’s frustrating when the whole point of changing it was to avoid changing it after it was all together. Lol I’m fortunate enough to have a/c and I don’t really use the wing glass to hang a finger on. My old steering wheel had cracks in just the right places so as to pinch the piss out of the underside my fingers. Lol

Yes Rob you’re certainly right. This was a Haldex and I thought it would be ok but not so apparently

That air ride cab, the transmission and all that insulation have made a different truck out of it. So much more comfortable. And I may get flamed for this, but my old steering wheel was in bad shape and I couldn’t find a stocker I could afford so I put an aftermarket 18” wheel on and it also is more comfortable.

Thank you I hope so. I haven’t worked on the headlights yet, but I’ll figure it out in a day or two. I put a new foot valve on while the cab was off just because they’re hard to get to and I figured it would be smart. It started leaking yesterday. Lol. Parts are so cheesy these days.

Good to know thank you I did swap the old sealed beams out for some new KC hi-lite replacements with halogens. It might help if I stick some led bulbs in those

I was thinking you might already have the rollers, you should be good to go there. Making radiator supports was easy. I would think remaking that bar behind the cab would be pretty straight forward. My exhaust was bracketed to the cross bar originally at the bottom of the stack and the top stack bracket bolted to the cab. I cut that all off and built a headache rack and bolted the new stacks to that. My fuel tanks also hang off of that cross bar. None of it was complicated. It took a little time of course but it was pretty straight forward. If I can do it about anyone else can. Lol. Btw, we have an 1981 that’s factory air cab. It’s where I got the notion to convert this one. It always rode much better before. I have a new problem now. I hadn’t driven it after dark yet. This morning I realized that the headlight relay gets hot after a few minutes and my headlights go off until the breaker resets. And then go a few minutes again. The park lamps all stay on. The headlights quit. I suppose maybe I have a short to chase. That should suck to find. Lol. I haven’t got another breaker to try, naturally the headlight breaker is different than every other breaker in the panel.

I’m not sure but it seems like I remember that rd might already use a roller type hood rest?

Cabmate wants @ $850 for a kit for the rear. I almost went that road but I figured it wouldn’t be that hard to do myself surely. And it wasn’t

Spent less than 200 in parts I believe. I bought two airbags and two shocks for peterbilt cab air suspension and I bought a leveling valve. All off Amazon. Bolted a piece of channel iron across the bottom of the cab with the original rear cab mount bolts. Then, There is a piece of 2x3 rectangular tubing that clamps across the frame and the original cab mount is factory welded to that. I cut the factory mount off of that 2x3 tubing and used good heavy 5x5 or 6x6 angle iron and welded back in place of the cab mount so that it made a dropped shelf for the air bags to sit on and then the channel iron on the bottom of the cab sit down on top of the bags. Drilled holes in the angle and channel iron first of course for the air bags to bolt to. Then I bolted the shock tops through that channel iron and the bottom I welded a little bracket on the angle for the bottom to bolt to. Level valve bolted through two existing holes in the right truck frame. Was all a straight forward deal for me because the cab was off the truck. So I was able to mock up and mark holes and then take the pieces to the drill press and welding table. Then of course you have to bracket your radiator down to the frame or front shock mount like factory air cab trucks do. And you need roller type hood rests. I also made most of that myself. But once you have everything loose, you should be able to Jack the back of the cab up fairly high and get at what you’re doing

Thank you Joe I’m happy

I also think I’ll hunt some Jacobs brakes for it when I heal up a little more.

Worked every day this week and is doing good. The transmission is definitely a change but for the better so far. Rob and some others had said that the power curve would feel a bit flat, and that’s a pretty accurate way to describe it. My driving habit has always been to “short shift” and it seems to really like that. It doesn’t need to be wound out before you shift it like it did before. I am going to work it a while and then I’m probably gonna take Rob’s advice and and have the pump calibrated to 300+ settings and try to fit my chassis mounted cooler. It’s gonna have to make some $$ for a while first. Lol. The air ride cab and all the insulation and new rubbers everywhere is sooo much nicer. Got cold a/c and a pretty good stereo too. But I’m still cruising with the window down because I love the way the 6” straights sound. Lol. Took forever but I’m very happy with the way it turned out. Thank you guys for all the free help and advice. I really appreciate it

freightrain, thank you sir for your offer. Very kind of you. J Hancock thank you for the part # and the size. You are spot on. That crossed to a Murray and a stant # and O’reillys had them for me this morning. Stant #10602. 2.50 with 8nf threads i never was able to load the alumitank site. I’m sure I probably did something wrong but either way thanks to all you guys I’m in business

For anyone interested O’reilly’s Had a listing for brass nonvented 2.50” caps from Murray. I called and they confirmed that they are 2.50”x8 thread. I ordered 2 at $23 each. I’ll update to let know if they are in fact correct.

Thank you sir

I did see some stant brass fuel caps on amazon actually and they aren’t too expensive. I just haven’t figured out what size I have

I ruined my fuel caps. They are just slightly larger than 2” npt they are brass. Steel fuel tanks. Can anyone tell me what size they might be or maybe even a part number?? Thank you very much. I have plastic bags over them so it’s an ASAP type thing. Lol

Thank all of you guys for your help. I really appreciate all of you taking the time

Yeah it’s got to have it. I tried to make it work without it but it just won’t clear enough to start the nut. 41 Chevy that link is what I needed. I ordered it and should have it Tuesday. Thank you sir, if we ever meet up the first couple rounds are on me

You aren’t wrong Rob. Have their own sound and heat.. lol