ThaddeusW

Good question Rob. I think the lift axle may be grease although I am not sure. The lift axle has a plug in the center and what appears to be a drain plug off to the side. I have not yet looked over the front hubs, they are covered with the chrome Mack hub caps. Either Thursday or Friday I will pull them and see whats under there. I assume the drive axle is is lubed with 80wt gear oil. Should I change it as well? The truck has sat for 3 to 5 years. I will check for that as well.

Since Dennis was an expert witness for many truck accident cases, the first thing he told me to check are the wheel seals. And I agree. Now i have done the hubs on a bigger truck before, but how do i check these. do i have to pull the wheels? What do i look for? I have a few ideas but i want the experts to tell me the right way.

Thank you for the kind words everyone (and those who are yet to post)! I thought the brake system was leaking something fierce. I now know how the "tractor protection valve" works. I thought it should be in the normal position, WRONG. Also the Neway lift bag is shot and the switch was in the up position which caused air to bleed right out of the system. After I sorted that out, the air system holds tight. After two hours of being shut off, it still had 60 psi in it. I cant wait to get this puppy out on the road.

So I turned 31 on Sunday, and Today my birthday present arrived (well i paid for it ). 1961 B61 that is fully loaded. Its not all original as it was restored professionally by a Mack dealership about 10 years ago. It originally was a single axle that was stretched and had a lift axle installed. It starts and runs like a champ, sounds great because it has no mufflers (seriously, who would want to muzzle that sweet sound?) Its my 1st REAL truck. I plan to have allot of fun with this ol dog . Run down of the truck: - ENDT673 w/ Jake Brake (yep a Jake!) - 9 speed OD duplex trans - twin chrome stacks (5 or 6 inch) - air lift tag on Neway lift suspension (with wedge brakes and 9.00R20's) - good 11R22.5's on the steer and drive axle - Spring brakes on the drive axle - Brakes on the steer axle. (I believe original because i have the dry-slippery valve switch in the cab) - Wet line (single line) for a dump trailer. - Big Fruehauf winch (estimated 40,000 pounds) with capstans on each side, hydraulically driven from the wet system. - Air ride drivers seat - Roof mounted Kysor AIR CONDITIONING! ..... That doesn't work (that is going to be sorted out right quick) - AM/FM/CB/ 8 Track radio that works! (who ever heard of a radio with a CB built in?) - Little tool box on the passenger side behind the cab. I have always wanted an F model, I am still addicted to F's but when a gem like this comes along, you just don't brush it off. I always check out OldMacks.com every week or so to see if anything new comes along. I saw it pop up a few months back and I loved it. I gave it some thought and figured I could afford it, this year my new years resolution was to buy a truck. During Macungie I saw the truck in his for sale book and here I am surronded by trucks, I couldnt resist, the planets aligned so to speak. I made a few calls, checked my bank account and waited for Dennis to come by his spot. During that time others were looking and that truck had them talking. I kept hearing "oh wow look at that truck" "thats a good truck to buy". F--- that I said, this truck is mine. Dennis pulls up and before he got off his cart i was right there next to him telling him i want to buy that B and we shook on the deal. I was on a high for the next 20 minutes, that what it must feel like to shoot heroin. No wonder its an addiction. Today the truck came, the driver drove it off the trailer and into our yard. I moved around our vehicles and made room to pull it back so that it isn't blocking any of our vehicles. What a world of difference driving it, arm strong steering is a whole new game to me. All in all I had no problem jumping in, starting it and moving it around. The cab is quite small, smaller then our GMC. I bumped my head on the door jam the first two times getting into it . UPDATE, Air brake system holds tight, I had to learn what air switches do what. There are a few problems for me to sort through first. The main problem is the air system barely builds pressure, without revving it it doesn't go past 30 psi. I pulled it out of our yard and almost couldn't get it back in. Revving it up it builds up just over 60 psi, just enough to release the brakes. Major air leak toward the rear and I hear a hiss in the cab as well. Pressure drops like a stone when the engine is shut off (from 30PSI it bleeds to 0 in just over a minute). The air lift tag has a bad lifting bag with a big hole in it and who's hose is cut (don't see the other end yet). I also think the air bags on the lift axle are bad as well. It took about 5 min for me to rev the engine and release the brakes. One step on the pedal and the pressure take a dive and the knob pops out. I am going to hook an air line to the tanks and trace the leaks. Expect lots of questions......

What size rears does it have? 55/58/65 thousand? Those hubs are only going to mount a 24 inch tire. The best bet is to switch to 12.00R24 or you may be able to find Chinese 11-24 tires, they make some odd and old size tires. Changing the hubs is more trouble than its worth unless you really want to mount other tires. you could go down to 22 inch hubs and mount 11r24.5 tires, those parts should not be hard to find. but the labor is going to cost you unless you want to do it yourself which may or may not be practical (if a wheel comes off and the lawyers ask you where you got the wheels fixed, your in for a world of butt hurt). Oh, and can I please have my stapler?

Yes, that is what I am thinking of. Was it a different engine model all together or just a different manifold? Were they turbo charged? It did sound like a jake brake, that interrupted exhaust note is quite unique.

I have has a question burning in my head for about a week. At Macungie there was an Autocar (or was it a Brockway) that had the Cummins with the west coast exhaust manifold. What model of engine was that and was it solely found in west coast trucks? Did any ever find their way into Macks? It had one hell of a unique sound, I wish I made a recording.

That trailer looks good hooked to the F. I assume it was too far gone to restore. Shame really, would have made a nice pair.

The spring brakes are fed by both the primary and secondary air systems via a two way check valve. When you push the yellow knob in and your air pressure begins to drop, you have a leak somewhere in the system. The air dryer feeds both the primary air system which operates the brakes on the rear driving axles and the secondary air system feeds the steering axle(s). Both systems are isolated by check valves. Both systems also feed the spring brakes on the truck/tractor and the trailer emergency/supply (red) line. There could be a leak in one of your brake chambers, air lines to the brake chambers or your spring brake relay valve. Let the truck build air pressure, shut the engine off, block your wheels and release the brakes. Get under the rear of the truck and listen for leaks. Also a spray bottle with soapy water sprayed on the brake lines/components will reveal leaks as well, though, I suspect if you see a rapid and drastic drop in pressure you have a large leak and should be able to hear it. See this diagram for a better idea of how the brakes work. Follow the yellow lines, they are the spring brake lines. Its not guaranteed your truck is plumbed the same, things may be slightly different in Australia/NZ and between trucks in general (the diagram is also a bit dated). But that diagram is pretty much the foundation of any air brake system in North American designs.

Probably Axletech (ex. Rockwell / Meritor). I dont think Dana (ex. Clark) is making those types of axles anymore. Sisu axles topped out at 70,000 but I have seem them rated as high as 90,000 on Fabco's site before Marmon-Herrington took over Sisu distribution. Plus Sisu axle hubs mount the European hub pilot rims with the 335mm bolt circle.

I will be there as always.

Here is the line that has me thinking twice about historic plates: I do want to use it for personal hauling so that appears to be out of the question. I will look up my options to see if there is an alternative, if not I might start out with historic plates and if they don't like what I am doing, then I change it if I have to.

Mr. Archer, set a course for the Macungie system. Warp 9. Engage.

Awesome pictures! Is it possible for you to post them in a larger size? 14.00R25. Those are Michelin XMH tries and if you look hard enough you can see there is a 25 at the end of the tire size. The XMH is only available in 14.00R24 and 14.00R25 and is geared toward earth movers and logging.

So I am actually contemplating buying a truck, I have some pennies saved up. Now the biggest question is how to properly plate and insure the truck so I can use it to cruise around town or pull a small trailer now and then. I was doing a bit of quick reading and I read that a commercial vehicle can be insured using private auto insurance as long as its not used for commercial purposes. Antique plates as far as I can tell are only good for a very specific purpose: parades, shows and club events; you cant move anything with them and you cant cruise around town. So I figure I could register the truck with commercial plates (you have to in NY state) and insure it with regular auto insurance for private use. Has anyone done this before? Any other advice/input?

John, Thanks for the truck porn, keep it coming!

Yup. The recharge time is the biggest down fall. Electric cars cant fill the gap an internal combustion engine currently fills. A few minutes and you have enough fuel to go hundreds of miles. One idea for electric cars is there will be no gas stations but instead parking spots at malls, hotels, businesses and rest stops would have a charge station at each parking space. An incredibly costly infrastructure to setup and maintain (i can also imagine vandalism and theft a big problem as well). I doubt that we will see electric cars take over for long distance trips. Current batteries are only practical for trips less than 100 miles. If you think about it, you have to plan your trips to ensure you have enough charge to get you to your destination and then home again. Kinda pointless to own one unless you live in a high density city where trips to multiple stores are short. And running the heat or AC will take away from your range. Fossil fuels wont last forever but we have technology to make fuel from a variety of sources. Bio-diesel derived from algae is the best bet. Also coal to fuel plants could also become economical.

AWESOME! So there is at least one still around.

The article is of very poor quality, its very vague and has no links to the original report that article is based on. "Biofuels derived from palm oil emitted 55 times more carbon dioxide if the palm oil came from a plantation located in a converted rainforest rather than a previously cleared area, according to the report." Huh? 55 times more? Why is previously cleared land less polluting then cleared land? Are they factoring in the CO2 released from the machinery used to clear the land? If so that is a one time release that is not repeated. Sounds a bit more like scare propaganda to me. "Biofuels could ultimately emit 10 times more carbon dioxide than conventional fuel, the report found." Again, WHY! Can we have a link to this report? Clearly this is probably sensationalism that the author used to gain attention. He probably skimmed through the report, hand picked the scary parts and wrote about those. I bet you any money the report concluded that bio fuels are cleaner but there will be an initial high release of CO2 emitted to bootstrap the process. Roudy, The electric cars only use as much power as they consume. The bad part about batteries is you cant charge them as fast as you discharge them because you either destroy the battery OR you need more power then can be practically delivered. Think about it like this: A car has a 100HP electric motor, 1HP = 746 electrical watts not counting efficiency losses. To power that motor you need to constantly draw AT LEAST 74,600 watts (amps times volts equals watts)! A typical home has a 100 amp main circuit breaker and split phase 120/240 volts. 100 amps at 240 volts is only 24,000 watts, a third of the power consumed by that cars motor. Lets say the motor drains the battery in about an hour and a half. So for 1.5 hours that battery pack is supplying 74,600 watts (you aren't using the 100HP constantly but for the sake of argument we are). So to recharge the battery in the same amount of time it was discharged you need to pump that much juice back into it. No home has that much power available. So you have a smaller 30-50 amp breaker powering a charger and deliver the same amount of power over a longer period of time. 74,600 watts consumed for 1.5 hours equals 111,900 kilowatt hours. So if we have a 240V 30 Amp charger we can deliver 7200 watts, which for every hour of charging is delivering 7200 kilowatt hours. So we divide 111,900 by 7200 which gives us 15 hours minimum charge time for that car. Of course electric cars don't have 100HP motors running at maximum draw but that is our example. You have to spread out the charge time because you can only deliver as much power as you can draw from the utility. Maybe in the future when our homes are covered in solar panels with large beefy battery banks we could draw the required power to charge the car in the same amount of time it took to discharge it. Although that future is closer to a pipe dream than reality. The above example also shows you why an electric truck is also a pipe dream without some really high density almost magical batteries and a huge power source to practically charge them. a 400HP diesel engine develops about 300,000 watts. Thats over a quarter million watts. if that motor killed the batteries in 1 hour you would need a 1000 amp 208V three phase circuit to charge them back up in about an hour or so. Imagine the batteries you would need to supply that much power, half your trucks payload would be batteries, something no trucker would ever consider sane. Imagine having 10000 pounds+ of batteries on your dump truck that only allow it to run for a few hours and taking hours upon hours to charge it back up. Electric vehicles are currently only good for very light weight short hauls. Commuter vehicles or banging around town to run a few errands. I do believe we will solve the battery problem but it will take lots of time, money and research to get there.

I wonder where it went. Thats a real piece of Mack history right there. It would have been interesting if Mack went into the construction machinery business. Perfect match, Mack trucks hauling Mack loaders, dozers, excavators etc. Imagine a Mack dozer with a bulldog on the hood.

Gregg, The M series Macks almost all used big Cummins and Detroits. There were a few that used Mack engines such as the smaller single axle dumps and the M15, an M that used a tandem set of 80 mack rears with a Mack 865/866 V8. The M30 and bigger used Cummins VTA's or Detroit 12v71's or 16V71's.

Not sure if its related to the Mack Pack, a hulking 2 axle articulating belly dump truck (or side tipper). Very few were made and 20 sounds about right. I don't believe any are still around.

That is an interesting idea. Sounds like a cartridge type SCR system that can replace the DEF tank and injection system.

LOL! Interesting to see that IH invested in an epic fail of an emissions system. Here I was thinking, no they cant be that stupid, they must have an ace up their sleeve somewhere! Looks like I was wrong. Its funny too how they paired up with CAT for a big bore engine. The same company who was fined millions and whos reputation went down the bowl because of another failed emissions idea, ACERT. You would think CAT would be like: "hey guys, we tried doing some crazy emissions stuff around 2002-2004, thought it was pretty sweet but we got kicked in the balls." If IH is really partnered up with MAN I hope they have an SCR backup, MAN does.

Crap ton of awesome rigs on ebay, but dear God why are they all on the other side of the dam country! The up side is rust free cabs and frames. LJSWX (California, been looking for one too ) http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MACK-TRUCK-EARLY-50-S-VINTAGE-MACK-TANK-TRUCK-/280669926139?pt=Commercial_Trucks&hash=item41593b32fb 6x6 B42 with spare chassis and engine! (Texas) http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mack-B426SX-6-Wheel-Drive-/250814000431?pt=Commercial_Trucks&hash=item3a65aded2f#v4-37 Long frame G model ('nother Texas truck) http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mack-G733LST-/250813999179?pt=Commercial_Trucks&hash=item3a65ade84b