davelakeside1

That's what I thought. Where he is coming from is the alignment of the flat on the transmission end of the shifter and the top center of the shift handle being off so that you are not pushing or pulling the shifter in a straight line. It would always be moving crooked creating wear in the shifting mechanism in the transmission and possibly getting jammed between gears.

In talking to my son he thinks I'm out of my mind trying to modify a shifter to be the same as the original one on the truck. Trying to keep all that straight from top to bottom would be wishfull thinking, especially if someone else goes to drive the truck they would probable break a shift fork before the end of the day. So, does anyone have a good used Superliner Gear Shift Lever? Complete from Trans up to top Handle with Hi-Low lever would be great. If I have my info correct there was only one gear shift lever on the Superliners, at least for my 1990 713. The original shifter was 409KB447M8 and that one was obsoleted to 25052784 and that one is now obsolete also. Any help or leads on where to try would really be appreciated!

Funny you should mention that. I was looking for the adapter on the CLs that located the lever further rearward that Mark T mentioned, and I saw a shock absorber that was rigged up with some brackets from the shifter to the back of the transmission that was thought to prevent exactly that. I never had that problem with the old 9 speed and the shifter that was in it. That old shifter is now in my 10 speed and other than it's as loose as a goose works fine and fits exactly the same as it was in the 9 speed. My "plan" is to pull the old shifter out and use it as a pattern to bend the new shifter to. So if done correctly it should match the shifter point where it works the gears in the transmission and the top handle with a few bends along the way. It would be great to match the bends exactly and will try, but if that turns out to be difficult or if the shifters are a different length, I might have to add a few inches to the length so that the height off the floor is the same. Won't know until we get there.

Thanks Terry! Given that, I should be able to heat it up where I need it, and bend it back enough to clear the dash. I wouldn't imagine that anyone else has had to do this, unless it was for some custom modification. I just wanted to be certain that it would work. The minute I hit it with the torch, I can't return it and if it doesn't work I can kiss $570 goodbye. This is why I wanted some good advice before I tried doing this.

I sent the shifter back because it didn't fit and the Mack dealer said that he would order one that did. I didn't have my hands on the shifter as my son was helping to button it all up. So, I don't really know if that shifter is a solid steel piece or is it a hollow tube. If it's a solid steel piece then the smoke wrench would do the trick. I can lay it right up against the old one and match the form. But if it's a tube that's a whole different ball game. Bending that takes a lot of patience, cold rags, at least a 6 pack, and even then there will be thin spots that can crack or fail over time. Did something like that years ago and wound up welding some formed flat stock over the outside of the bends to strengthen it. Anybody know offhand if the top end of these shifters are solid or hollow? I'll also see if I can find that adapter on the CLs that located the lever further rearward. I'll see if that can work.

The old 9 speed trans, after 600K miles decided to swallow a shift fork and unfortunately chipped up a few gear teeth before landing in the bottom of the trans. I wound up going for a 10 speed ReMack Trans. The extra added attraction was I ordered a new stick shift because the old one was so loose I had to be very careful how I shifted it. Problem is the new one hit the dash so I can't get at the top gears. This one that the dealer sent was the closest one he could find that might work. The one I need has been obsoleted for the old Superliners. I Didn't see that one coming! The original shifter number was a 409KB447M8 which was obsoleted for a 25052784 which is now obsolete. Nothing in the warehouses, nothing in the dealers stock, and nothing that I can find on the internet. I was hoping for a new stick as the old one was so loose, and it doesn't feel much better when I put it in the new trans. If I compare the shift tip of the new stick to the old stick, the old stick tip is much thinner which translates into looseness. This is with all new mounting parts. Does anyone know where I can get a new shifter. I don't know if there is anything like a reconditioned one? I assume that the shift tip is hardened steel so building up the thickness would require hardface welding and machining or grinding, and then worrying about stress cracks later. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Sorry for not replying back on the Tach issue. The tach got put on the back burner for a while. The old 9 speed decided decided to swallow a shift fork and unfortunately chipped up a few gear teeth before landing in the bottom of the trans. I wound up going for a 10 speed and almost done with that. Turned out that there were 12 other parts that needed to be replaced including the trans oil pump. Didn't see that one coming! The extra added attraction was I ordered a new stick shift. That one hit the dash so I can't get at the top gears. The one I need has been obsoleted for the old Superliners. The hits just keep on coming! As soon as I get a breather, I'll figure out if it's the tach, the cable, or the right angle tach drive. Thanks for all your help!

Thanks for the replies. Not that it makes any difference but I should have added that the truck has the E9 engine, the tach is a mechanical tach, and it has stopped working. If it was an electric tach getting a new one would not be a problem. It's coming out tomorrow or the next day to make absolutely certain that it is the tach and not the drive cable or the right angle drive on the engine. I replaced the cable and the drive a few years ago so that "should" be ok. The tach was working one minute and when I looked down a few minutes later it wasn't. Man, when you're so used to shifting with a tach, a speedometer, and the seat of your pants it's difficult to do without one of them! So it will be off to Powl's Speedometer in Lancaster PA to get rebuilt. Thank you, this site and all the guy's on it are fantastic! Thanks again for all your help!

Looking for a 1990 Mack RW713 Tach. I found that the original Tach was a 17MT4103M6 which was superseded to a 83-161454. Mack has none in the US so if anyone has one that they would part with or know where I can get a new or a used one that would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Hi Paul, I just looked up an 18 speed and given the choices If I can't find a gear I like in an 18 speed, I might as well give up. Probably have more issues remembering what gear I'm in than anything else. I looked at pricing and there were only a few hundred more than a 10 or 12 speed so that was good. Is shifting this trans with a non-electric engine going to present any issues other than a learning curve? Assuming not, I'm back to the fit issue. Can't tell by looking at pictures but it seems like the 18 speed is longer than my 10 speed, so will this all bolt up ok with just a few more air lines and a new stick? A new clutch would be a given but is this another shorter front drive shaft and yoke to match up to the 18 speed are are there more issues involved? I simply want to go into this with my eyes wide open and come out with a better set up than what I have. If I basically double the bottom half of the gears in the 18 speed for moving around that would be great and have more to go when empty it would solve my problems. All comments good or bad are greatly appreciated!

I have a '90 Mack Superliner Log Truck with the E9 engine. The Mack 10 speed transmission has finally bitten the dust. Been putting band aids on it for years and this time it's done. I'm looking for a better transmission and don't know what would fit without major modifications. In reading about the 12 speed that really sounds good as most of my work is short run fully loaded on and off road which the 10 speed didn't like. I need more low range gears instead of almost red lining the engine to get enough speed up to make the next shift. So the question becomes, what will it take to put in a 12 speed in place of the 10 speed. I'm hoping that there is a 12 speed that will drop in the same space without major modifications. I have no issues with more airlines, and I know I'll need a 12 speed stick but how much more would be required to make this happen. I don't have dimensions or mounting details or input shaft dimensions to indicate that I'll need a new clutch and or flywheel and output shaft info to tell me if I'll need a new driveshaft end to mate with it. Lastly, which 12 speed would come closest to a drop in? Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

Is there a spec sheet for an E9-500 500Hp (1990) engine similar to the END Spec sheet that was found. I'm trying to find the Ambac Injector Pump part number for this engine. Mack part numbers don't see to work. Thanks!

Point well taken. I can easily drop from a 200A to 160A alternator, and save some money. My only thought for going with the 200A was that this is an around town truck. Lots of starts and stops and hours of sitting not running with flashers, beacons and warning lights on for hours at a time. I was just thinking that the 200A would charge the batteries up quickly. Now, if it was an over the road truck that was driven for hours at a time I wouldn't hesitate to go with a 160A alternator. The other point in the thinking was that the total Amp Draw on the system is approx. 130A so that only gives me 30A head space. Is that enough? I don't know.

Sorry, I didn't catch that. The purpose of the battery Isolator is to be able to separately charge each battery bank as needed. There are two 12V batteries on each side of truck that came standard on the E9's. RH side batteries were connected in series to provide 24V for the starter, These two were charged by 24V Transformer approximately at the rate of 10A so they would be charged up in 15 to 30 minutes. The two 12V batteries on the LH side of the truck were hooked up in Parallel to provide 12V power to everything on the truck except starting. These two batteries were charged directly from the alternator. So, in effect the two battery banks served two different purposes, were totally separate, and were charged separately. I thought that this was a good design by Mack and wanted to maintain the two separate battery banks. This is where the plan to do this presented a few problems. I tried to find a battery step up transformer that would charge the 24V side in similar fashion as the original transformer. Couldn't find one that would handle the load. I didn't want to simply hook up all four batteries together in parallel to give 12V to everything because the Delco 12V starter didn't want to see anything more than 2500CCA. All four batteries hooked up in parallel would produce 4000CCA's. I thought that this many amps start after start would severely shorten the starter life. I tried to find a battery separator that would work but that didn't pan out because it wanted to connect all four batteries together after the start side batteries voltage dropped 3Volts. This much current would severely shorten the separator life. It. took a while but I finally found a battery Isolator that would keep both battery banks separate and would charge each bank separately, and was rated for 240A, it's cost was only a few dollars more than the Separator, all solid state, no contacts to arc over so I thought that this solved the problem. On paper and in theory this should work. I also need to add a 12V IGN source to excite the alternator because the original alternator was self excited, and a couple of Circuit Breakers to keep everything safe and prevent anything from burning up. Please let me know if this answers your question. I'm trying to provide enough information on what I'm trying to do here, so as these trucks get older and parts are no longer available, this could be a solution. When all this is installed, and hopefully working, I'll list out the parts, and part numbers that I used so anyone could do this if they chose to.