Miami Cossack

They said they are phasing their older trucks out and getting new trucks. I may need another wrecker driver soon 😃

Next few days if I can get photos from my phone to the computer. If it's still a major fight, I can find another computer. What would you like to see?

These guys have a 90 mack R model with an E6 and a 5 speed trans. Long frame, it's a city truck which had a vac tank set up on it. They were driving it until the battery box rusted out and the batteries fell out and tore the cable loose and they just retired it. They want $500 for it, so I'm probably going to go get it. I set a stool next to it with a battery and it fired right up and runs good. It's not bad, the cab is perfect, the interior is rough which is always the case in old city drivers. Just the 5 speed tranny is a big disadvantage. I'm likely to just steal the cab off it and scrap it.

I would sure love for this to be wrong, but I tell you from experience that if you thought 2020 was bizarre, 2021 may make it seem like bliss. Welcome to North Korea.

I'm curious. And Floduh keeps changing it. So far, for now what matters is your endorsement, your medical card. People with a straight truck CDL and no extras can drive their RV provided they have liquid brakes. Your set up is a combo, so no passengers to worry about legally. Here, there is an exemption if you drive under a certain number of miles annually, I think it's 1000 or somethink. This works for sales people and mechanics, and some hobby people. We are flooded with New Yawkers in RVs and they don't want medical cards or air brake endorsements. It will change again soon. If bus drivers keep working around the clock with no sleep and crashing Disney buses the government will find a solution. This will vary from state to state too, but not that much. Curious how they do it there. I doubt if they give you much of a hassle as long as you have a CDL and a combo

Welcome. Parts are not getting any easier to find. At least Quality parts. When I find something decent, I don't try to clobber the sales people, I buy what they have because I know I may never see it again.

You won't be on the side of the road with that "de-rate", "won't regen"/ DEF drama.

Those old gas engines timed off number 8 instead number one. Was fun watching new guys get them running if they didn't know

What year did GM do their turbine Astro?

Optional on some KW but rare and I believe I saw an RV with an aftermarket set up some time ago

I have a soft spot in my heart for the Superliner. Nothing I don't like about them.

I guess I'm just surprised they don't put them in the trucks, but for a tyre to actually "blow" (in the front is the one I worry about) There has to be a lot going on, like it going just about completely flat, which you'll feel. By the time it's down to 70 you'll feel it. It would drive you nuts enough to pull over and check it, unless it suddenly went down to 30 Psi and you just rode on it like an idiot until it blew, or you had the belts all separated. I suppose there is more to it then just putting the equipment into the truck. Once it was installed, there would be a million trucks coast to coast with faulty sensors and the drivers get used to it and DOT downing them or they ignore that light and run them flat because the light had been on for 9 months. That's how people do it with their cars and some of the drivers I see go down the interstate half in the grass texting in two phones at the same time. They aren't getting any brighter, that's for sure.

I really want to hear your opinions, so if you drive anything bigger than a pickup truck your thoughts on this matter to me. Over the last decade or more, it seems we are accumulating some property damage, injuries and a death toll from blown tryes. Cars have had TPMS for some time, but medium/heavy trucks won't have them any time soon. At least in the case of a blown steer tyre, knowing that you are rapidly losing air pressure is certainly an attainable technology and could save lives. It may not make sense to try to add it to trailer tyres etc. I get how pre-tripping and maintenance prevents most incidents, but running something over and developing a leak that the driver is unaware of can be deadly if the tyre loses pressure then blows without sufficient warning. The quality of driver is also dropping like a rock and we probably need to give them all the help we can. TPMS would not prevent all, but it would help, I think. At least put them on the steer axles. I suppose DOT would be downing 3 million trucks for TPMS codes/lights though. Your thoughts, please.

A lot of that was emissions, they couldn't meet the emissions as it got stricter. I was told that they still make the series 60 for export. The Detroits are a fortune when they break something and the old days of fixing them quickly is over. That valve train girdle thing has to be replaced as one big expensive assembly if anything breaks and it's a fortune. Everything is machined fit and has to be replaced together like the European car engines. You can't just take parts out of one engine and bolt them into another and run it. A lot of this is like with car assembly, these decisions are driven by union honchos to make assembly easier. Also, it has to be compatible with robotic processes which may not be an improvement from a quality standpoint, merely it facilitates a step in the assembly and nothing else whatsoever. They weren't really concerned about what you or I would be going through as that engine aged. I would rather have a man or 18 liter Klimov, even an Cat 3406B. I feel for anyone trying to make a buck with these new trucks. Stick with Cummins/Insite and do your maintenance.

You can look inside the tubes and the turbo and see if it's gooey. To make it run away it would be REALLY messy in there and low oil level. It's not much work to verify. If you don't see a big oily mess you have a problem in the pump. I'm just glad the old girl didn't end up mortally wounded. These things are tough and you cut the air supply quick.

Everything is auto trans now too. It kind of surprises me how much they are becoming like cars. I wonder how long before they will put TPMS in the tyres, at least in the fronts.

To turn the gov off you're probably going to have to go into the ECM. I get a lot of fleet stuff that is governed, especially buses and I find that if the ECM is sent to the stealership to be flashed and you DON'T specify the governed speed, it will come back with no speed governed every time. The driver loves it. I mostly do Cummins, Mercedes Cat and Detroit. Mack is likely the same as everything is electronic now.

I see fuel filters and separators that look like they have been on the truck ten years. People overlook this stuff a lot. Coolant filters too. They want to replace them when they rust out and overheat. The quality of drivers these days is pathetic. They do zero inspections or have no mechanical aptitude or caring. They just want a paycheck for holding onto the steering wheel while they gab on the phone.

Some times it is the driver. They see the check engine light flashing and they just decide that they can probably make it back to the other side of the country without worrying about it.

The last few years seems to be the worst. Some 2010's too. Some of it depends on chassis and wiring. Recent Freightliners seem to be the worst, Volvo too. They do a pretty good job blaming the customer. I hear this stuff is coming to cars soon.

These trucks now will NEVER work half that hard before going to the Hyundai foundry. You are lucky to get a full week's work out of them without derate or some emissions related towing. People here are buying up the pre-2011 trucks and putting a bit of money into them so they can rack up some miles and not sit on the side of the road.

Start by finding the low pressure switch. See if anything is plugged in there. It has to pass through the low pressure switch to power up the A/C clutch. Then it goes through the clutch windings and leaves the clutch and grounds, as to where that varies. There may be a diode in the positive side. It may help you see where they cut or hid the wiring. It will be a two wire switch.

It may have always had this and the buzzer just started working. If so, it will go silent again

Look at the bright side. You don't have one of the new Detroits.

ESPECIALLY. this