TripleTreeThomas

6 hours ago, mowerman said:

Sounds like you definitely fell in love with a headache ha ha Ha sorry but there must’ve been something about it you liked I did appreciate the pet peeve crooked steering wheel  caper . I would have to fix that first have a ball with it my friend and welcome aboard..... bob

When I was a kid I had a bad habit of bringing home the 3 legged, blind dogs that I would find. Now I cannot pass on unique old beaters when I find em cheap. Guess it is hard to pass on personality.

Thank you!

2 hours ago, mrsmackpaul said:

I try and stay realistic in my head when buying treasures 

I look at things that hopefully look crap and I almost always buy things that most others would pass on

Everything will wear out and I prefer to rebuild it myself as I then know what short cuts I have taken

It is a truck and a old truck and I would be more concerned with  buying it if it all looked Micky Mouse as I would have no idea what secrets its hiding

If it is a Maxidyne and Duplex you have a box that isnt really strong enough for the torque that motor will make 

As I said before, just a quick glance underneath will show if its a tripple counter shaft transmission or not 

Three caps laid out in a tri angle pattern and a triangle shaped box 

 

Everything is Mickey Mouse on the truck. Lots of non penetrating booger welds, wiring using house wire nuts, or just electric tape or no insulation at all, dash is drilled full of holes with unlabeled mismatched toggle switches with out a fusible link, soft bolts where grade 8 or higher is called for, bondo a couple inches thick in places, steering wheel not properly aligned (pet peeve), lots of corners cut, very amateurish work. 

I dio not remember what the transmission looked like. It is about 75 miles away from me. Did not realize that there was more than one 5 speed duplex transmission but then again my knowledge of Mack is very limited (why I am here). The transmission shifted nice, did not pop out of gear, whine, etc.. but I was unable to float the gears well so I just doubled clutched every shift up or down. Which gets old. Could be more my lack of skill with this transmission/engine/gear combo than the machine. I would not pull heavy with it. Just haul a car or truck on the back of it on occasion. 

I will but it if he meets my price just because I like the way the truck looks, smells and sounds. Not the most logical way to buy things but if I am throwing my cash at it, it helps to like it.

Went to go look at it yesterday.... the cab had lots of rust around the front windows, driver's side cab corner and a bit in the passenger door. Not terrible but not great either as there was lots of bondo covering other parts of the cab. Passenger door fit terrible. The wiper motors and hardware was missing and the holes were silicone shut. The rear diff was puking out gear oil from the pinion seal and had a lot of vibration above 45 mph. Not too big of a deal because I would want to replace it with something a bit higher geared. Drive shaftvm and U joints were all brand new. King pins had a bit of play in them but I did not notice unusual tire wear or steering issues. Engine was a maxidyne with a 5 speed duplex. Shifted as expected (double clutch every gear), the engine had minimal blow by, some oil seepage but nothing bad. Steered well, stopped great. The wrecker bed has several issues but still functioned OK but not completely safe and not completely dry. Had a few air leaks nothing too difficult to fix. Tires are old, 5 out of 6 seemed fine. Guy dropped his price to $7500 pretty quick, I am stuck at $6500 just incase the rear diff blows up on the 3 hour (at 45 to 50 mph) drive and I need to hire a medium duty wrecker to take it rest of the distance. 

Thank you again for the educated replies. 

Thank you for the replys. He is asking 10k for it. Told it is a turn key ready to drive home truck.

Hello, thank you for sharing this excellent for with me! 

To start off, I am almost totally ignorant when it comes to Mack but have experience with other diesels, multifulers, and gassers. Recently while looking for a car hauler I came across a 1961 B61 mack that was converted into a roll off tow truck. The seller told me that it has a 6 speed and a thermodyne engine which tops out at about 60 mph. Here is where my questions come in:

1. Can you get a Thermodyne and a 6 speed or is he mistaken and the engine is a Maxidyne? (I have not seen it in person yet as it is a bit of a drive to get to)

2. Seems pretty easy to change the rear end or gear ratio to get somethingmore freeway friendly. Is this something that the engine and transmission can handle?

3. Other than the obvious hard starts, white smoke, blowby, fuel or coolant contamination in oil, knocking and other odd noises what else should I be looking for?

Thank you again!