convoyduel

I was able to get the radiator out a couple of weeks ago. Took it to a reputable shop in St. Louis and got it back with a brand new core, gaskets, grade 8 bolts and dressing the whole works. In all, it took about 3 hours to get out and 2 hours to get back in. I was dreading the project but it turned out to be rather simple overall. I'd always heard dreadful things about radiator replacement in a CF, but it was extremely simple. Hardest part was dealing with the aftermarket junk installed on the doghouse.

I almost bought a new '04 with a 460, Mack 18 and 4.17 rears. We tested it for what was to be a week. After the second day, we turned it back to the dealer because it couldn't even get started. It was a quarry type tri-axle with 20 steer, 22 lift and 44 drivers. The dealer finally said they figured out there was a torque limiting setting in the programming that was set too restrictive. Maybe some of the Mack techs know what that might mean.

I think you're starting in the wrong place. I suspect your slack adjusters and/or s-cam bushings are extremely worn and not allowing the s-cam to rotate and apply proper pressure to the rollers on the shoes. I had a '97 CL713 that had the exact same problem. I'm also not sure what you would be gaining on plumbing the hand valve to the tractor service brake line. You would have to tie in the the outbound air line from the handvalve into the tractor service brake line. The easiest place would be to plumb it to the service INPUT line on the tractor protection valve as in your case the TPV is no longer something that is used.

You need to dismount the power steering gearbox and look at the shaft and arm in detail. That is not something that is "normal" and without diagnosing the exact cause, you risk literally killing yourself or someone else if you try driving the truck without fixing it 100% properly. I'm sure everyone knows this already, but steering repairs are NEVER something that should be shortcut or done half-ass. That gearbox is very heavy and its location makes it extremely awkward to handle. I suggest using a rolling 2 ton floor jack to support and lower the gearbox if possible (even if you're outside and laying in the dirt or gravel).

Glad to hear I'm in good company. I've bought 3 trucks using craiglook in the past 3 months. I have also been extremely frustrated by Craigslist's inability to search multiple areas. I hope something gives.

Save yourself a lot of time and aggravation and stay in St. Louis. We went down after Katrina in late 2005 thru mid 2006, brought in a whole heaping bunch from St. Louis and Minnesota. You don't understand crooked until you work in New Orleans and the surrounding area. Basically, there are a handful of guys down there who do nothing but double, triple and quadruple broker trucks. Even if you don't think you're dealing with this small knit group of clowns, you'll soon find out that their hands are in the very pot you're working on. You'll see a lot of iron sitting around down there, most of it because they made it down there but didn't have the funds to get back home. You'll start working for someone and things will go okay for a week or so, then your pay gets held up, or they start telling you that your truck needs to have a liner to work or some other thing. Also, all of a sudden you find another broker or two inserting themselves between you and the contractor. In the end, you'll get shafted out of weeks worth of pay. The contracts they have you sign are worthless and don't hold up. Not only that, but you have little recourse to sue as a Missouri company against someone who lists an address in Mississippi but works you in New Orleans. You'll go through all sorts of hoops getting ID's issued by the Parish Constable, but never need them. You'll also be asked to pay for the right to work, not only by the broker, but also the contractor and even the Corp of Engineer inspector from time to time. I'm not exaggerating. I was there and experienced it first hand. I refused to pay bribes and that was the end of it. The worst part about down there is that the Corp and the brokers put out a call on any given day for say 200 trucks on a job. Trucks are lining up at 3AM or earlier for a 7AM start. The Corp inspector or contractor comes along and selects the 50 trucks they need for the day and tell the rest of the trucks to go home. Most of the guys are starving and sit lined up along the roads to the jobsite. You don't want to get caught alone or broke down. You may run 20 or 30 loads for the day but only get paid for 15. Again, you have absolutely no concept of how crooked things are until you go down there. Even though my experience was 4 years ago, some others from around St. Louis have tried it since and experienced the exact same thing. I still get calls maybe every 6 months or so from a guy named Mac and another guy named Jefferson asking me for trucks. These are two of the very guys that screwed me and others VERY hard. I'm stupid, but not that stupid. Once again, no matter what you hear otherwise, everything moving down there winds up going through a select few guys and every one of them was crooked. It's not like up here in St. Louis. I would really think twice about doing it if I were you. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Trent, What's the point then? As for the lawsuit, here's a link: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/09/air-pollution-railroads.html

I agree with the sentiment, but the reality is that with the new CARB rules in California, I think there will be a fairly quick adoption of rules by the EPA that compeltely outlaw the use of diesel engines made prior to 1994 for commercial use. I hope I am wrong and I hope that the railroads' recent victory over CARB in the 9th Circuit is quickly applied to trucks as well.

Does anyone have a part number or good source for a replacement radiator core for a '77 CF685? The core in mine is getting pretty bad and I want to replace it. Looks like it will be a heck of a lot of fun getting it out.

Well, the 700 Westerns are rare in St. Louis, but it's everyday here you see R's working, old MB front loader garbage trucks and old MC/MR's. GHG, I agree with your assessment AND I'm a fan of Pete's and KW's.

I'm in and out of there enough with my toys that they know the Rubber Duck truck well. The other Mack was there first and they were telling a few of the newer guys about my truck when I pulled in. The new guys said they were stunned at how beefy the trucks were and how simple they were then compared to all the junk on trucks now. Everyone agreed that there was very little chance that anything built today would be pulling into a tire shop in 35 years.

Apportioned tags and a USDOT number without Common Carrier Authority is only valid if you are a private fleet hauling your own equipment or product OR if you are hauling an "exempt" commodity. Under the FMCSA ruling, soil, sand and gravel are NOT exempt commodities and therefore would require MC authority. . http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/fmcsr/fmcsrruletext.aspx?chunkkey=090163348008ef07 Don't forget that you also need IFTA to cross state lines. I think you are going to find that the cost of compliance will put you at a severe economic disadvantage. Dirt dobbers and dump truckers in general are among the most flagrant violators of weight and compliance laws, largely because the bar to enter the market is so low. Those that are non-compliant work for less and therefore drive the rates down to a point where compliance can be cost prohibitive. Rates are set by the customer, not the hauler, so when it comes to fuel, paying a driver, making a truck payment, insurance or compliance, you know where the first cut comes. Compounding the problem is that quarries, contractor and other customers look the other way and ask no questions. It's not like they are trusting you with a load of flat screen TV's, its something they just loaded with a Cat 966. They can get more. Dump trucking, for the most part, is a race to the bottom. No one ever got work on an hourly job or took over a material haul with a rate that was higher than the previous guy.

I pulled my drop deck today into a local truck tire store to try and get a tube for a 1000x15. When I got there, this RS795LST was in the bay getting 10 new tires and wheels. I wound up buying the ten 1000x22's and wheels they were taking off. They were in great shape, but are old. The truck is in very good shape and has been repowered with a 3406 Cat. Not sure if its a DI A model or a B model, but it is definitely not PC. I talked to the owner by phone and he still uses it to pull some farm Cat's around. All the guys in the shop were trying to figure out the odds of 2 Mack RS700L's in the shop at the same time, much less the same month nowadays.

I'm working on converting a '70 CF600 from pos ground to neg ground. I've searched the forum and read all the posts but I'm wanting to clarify. I'm very good with automotive electrical wiring, but I've never converted grounds before. If I understand correctly, I switch the positive and negative battery leads at the starter end first. What specifically do I need to switch or do on the Generator? Do I need to change anything on the Voltage Regulator? I need to reverse the wiring on the volt meter and water temp gauge, correct? Do I need to reverse the wiring on the fuel gauge?

The changeover occurred in the '73 model year run, I believe in late '72. I have never found anyone who can pin down exactly when. I have seen titled '73's with both the new and old cab from the factory.

We're looking for both driver and passenger side.

Has anyone bought or tried to find the front outer fender for the front axle on a CF? I'm working on a CF that has the usual corrosion through the skirt.

I'm thinking maybe he just got some bad gas. Run a tank of higher octane and a can of Heet and it should clear up. Now I've got a good sense of humor and can come off a bit dry at times, but that post sounded a bit too serious for me.

My son plays with the tractor-trailer lowboy and dozer set all of the time. I have most all of them, including the original boxes (thanks, Mom). They were relatively short lived. The lowboy was the best lowboy of that time, complete with the screw-down landing gear. I would have preferred a different truck besides a MB cabover.

I was touring through a very large truck salvage yard not far from St. Louis and found a couple of items of interest. Among them, I found a complete RW Western red interior in very good shape from the late 70's and a blue R model interior less door panels from a mid 80's Mack from Mack Canada. The blue interior included the headliner, rear wall and A pillar trim pieces, all in very good condition. I have not interest in this, just passing it along as I know how very hard this stuff is to find.

Yes, it appears to be DuBois' ladder. I'm curious to know the history of it, especially the mechanical history. I'm not 100% sure I know the correct story on it. Anything you can provide would be helpful.

Here is a picture of the air starter tank I was referring to. It is aluminum but painted black.