bbigrig

The BC Mack/Volvo dealer brought him out one of the first Anthems in Canada. Jaime is also a Volvo customer. He has a 780 tractor. The Anthem is almost $10k cheaper then the closest comparable Volvo product.

The Anthem is going to have a small wrecker on it no rotator. He is going to use it on fleet customers recovery and switch outs in the US and Canada.

They are Renaults shipped to Canada and being completed for delivery at the Prevost bus plant in Quebec, Canada. 

The trucks don't even have Mack names on them until they hit Canada.

Another common issue is wicking from the oil level sender. There is an anti wicking jumper harness but some are too far gone for that. Replaced many harnesses for that problem.

On 9/3/2018 at 11:38 AM, Bullheaded said:

I think it looks better like that with the big steers and flat top than it does as a highway truck.

 

I just wish they could find a designer than can come up with some better looking air intakes than those screen doors on the sides of the hood. At least those goofy mirrors can be deleted.

Those big steers are just show. You can get up to s 16f axle on an Anthem.

20 hours ago, Bigl62 said:

Talked to a mechanic and first thing he asked was “how does it start”. For the most part good, occasionally it takes longer. 

I did change the boost sensor, it was carboned up really badly, that said haven’t noticed too much difference in performance. 

Hard start is only one symptom of injector cup failure. Some will only fail once hot and under load.

Titans died a quick death in Canada. There was a race to show how much money tou had to buy one. Shortly after most fell to buyers remorse and couldn't sell them quick enough to huge depreciated losses.

They were no less reliable then any other MP8 powered Pinnacle. Just more expensive to buy and hard to justify comparing to the competition. Even Canadian salesman knew the price would kill the truck before the first ones hit the dealers. They couldn't even go out and sell it to customers.

No side stacks available with the new bunk. It hangs out over the top of the cab. Even the Rawhide package is on hold. I was told by a project head that the mid-rise may return for 2019 woth new interior upgrades from grey plastic.

Some customers want the mid-rise back. Was told due to budget restraints on the Anthem roll out the mid-rise, fuel tank skirt extensions to the rear wheels and interior upgrades had to wait till 2019.

On 9/2/2018 at 1:23 AM, Bullheaded said:

Spotted this at a pit I am hauling out of in northern Ontario, Canada. I was kinda surprised to see an Anthem used for this application with wide base steers.

This truck is owned by a gentleman who owns a fleet of Petes and KWs.  Don't get to excited about Mack getting into this Paccar fleet. The son of the owner is an apprentice at a Mack dealer and convinced Dad to buy it. They still have Paccar products ordered and on the way. 

It's only a 14.6 and 46 spec. Mdrive blah blah. Lots of elecectrical issues with that one already. The owner of the fleet drives it. 

It's injector cups most likely. Takes less then an hour to confirm in most cases.

Just found out yesterday the grill on an Anthem will only fit an Anthem. The Anthem hood doesn't have a lower fiberglass section below the grill that goes from right fender to left fender like CH,CX etc hoods do. The shell is wide open below the grill. It's the grill and supporting brackets that bridge the gap below the grill between fenders. The newer set forward pinnacles I've seen seem the same as old stuff.

24 volt starters are all over the place here in Ontario (just a couple of doors down from you eh) 24v is quite common for city transit buses. Lots of places in Ontario that would ship out west worst case.

Up to this week, all of the Pinnacles with set forward axle have been coming with the old grill style used since the CH days. Funny thing I have noticed is that the screw pattern for the grill is the same as old grill on the Pinnacle set forward. I will have a look to see if the screw pattern for Anthem is the same. Would be interesting to see what a CH grille would look on an Anthem.

The MP8 and MP7 powered Granites of todayvthat are Allison equipped work together with the converter lock up and engine brakes to really slow the trucks down much better then the Etech engine days. The programed downshifting while braking with engine brakes on is surprisingly powerful. Our current customers are impressed with the setup.

On 8/18/2018 at 8:00 PM, Jamkar said:

If/when one of my Etech's 'called it a day', I'd have a serious look at fitting a 14ltr Detroit (hope this comment dosen't get me kicked out of the forum lol), not sure if that's a practical idea or not. 

If your e tech is in the early CH/CX rail the 12.7L won't fit from what I recall( to long and wide). It will fit in a set of CL rails as that beautiful 60 series engine was available feom 1993 up until 1995 as an option.

Too bad they made the option super expensive and the chassis was already too heavy for 80,000lb gross highway applications.

Most up here are ordering Granites with 445hp and Allison Autos.

With dumps that haul small dump trailers behind you will see 18speed Fullers. No one up here orders standard Mack transmissions any more.

Most go with heavy Neway air and 46 Meritor rears with 4 way locks. Some order Hendickson HMX all the cement guys order Chalmers.

No more Camel back springs or Mack axles here either.

Only seen a handful of the M drive 14speeds. Not enough to give a good read on. Allison seems to be doing fine.

Most here in Ontario are now running the Simard twin steer front axle.

For fitting a D16/MP10 The CX rails are too narrow and it won't fit in the space between the cab firewall and the radiator.  The CX also doesn't have enough space up front to fit a rad that can cool a working MP10.

Shit out of luck

We use MP7s and MP8s to haul 90,000lbs gross up here.  MP8s up to 135,000lbs gross.  Thats why very few MP10s ever got sold, not worth the huge price tag as the MP8s are doing the job.

Our newer Allison 4000 and 5000 series on Bus application (2015 and up) have the stack plate type trans coolers under the drive shaft. Plate type coolers always seem to have a higher failure rate. The old standard pressure testing both sides may not show signs of leakage. Your test won't produce heat which is a large cause of plate type cooler failure. It's the only spot your coolant and auto trans fluid mix. Change it and flush both systems real good. 

On 7/27/2018 at 11:18 PM, glenbjackson said:

i have one!!! had been sitting for 5 years when I bought it. why whats up?

they do have the engine service manuals on ebay

and the custom part book is just that for that serials listed on the spine BUT it still helps for a owner this model....WELL WORTH IT. mine only mismatched on axle, exhaust piping and trailer air piping(mines was a straight truck).

and on engine!! odd thing is cylinder #1 is the rear most cylinder and #6 is front one.

All Renault engines cylinder numberings are backwards. Worked on lots of Mack/Renault products in my day. Pretty reliable trucks.

Had a bunch of Visions even a Rawhide CHN...we were quick to purge anything from 2003 to 2007 thinking They were nothing but problems.... then we bought Pinnacles....they were good for a while but as they got older they started having the same kind of miles between breakdowns the 03-07 trucks did.  Just can't win anymore.

On 7/16/2018 at 10:11 AM, james j neiweem said:

I saw a picture on facebook which really floored me. It was a Consolidated Freightways Mack F model 50 in BBC. The caption stated that it probably was from a company that they bought out.

It was done up in the later year white paint scheme with the red and green stripes. I wonder what company that might have been from. The only Mack's I ever saw for CF were the CH's from the 90's. I would think that would be a collectable photo.

Did you know there were 5 CHs put into the C.F. fleet with factory L10 Cummins engines. They were Mack test trucks and the only CHs to ever be powered with a vendor diesel engine. 

On 7/20/2018 at 10:54 PM, 41chevy said:

From what I've found Volvo engine production is fine, it's them supplying them to Mack that is the issue. Every Mack sold apparently upsets the Euro management.  Like they don't seem to grasp that Macks sales also boost their bottom line.

If you can get a vendor engine powered Volvo truck 6 months faster then an in-house built engine, I would say there is a supply issue.  That's straight from our sales dept. It also shows that customers are much happier ordering the MP/D series engine which also good for business.

13 hours ago, 41chevy said:

Was estimating a seawall job in Chesapeake last spring and stopped at Tidewater Mack. Looked at an Anthem and asked the salesman if I ordered one, whats the lead time for delivery. Straight faced told me 6 to 10 months or longer, Volvo has supply issues and really could give a crap if they sell or not. Heard the same thing from Excel in Roanoake and Gabrielli in N.Y. 

This topic depresses me.....

The Volvo order delay is just as long.the only way to get a line spot quicker from Volvo is to order a VNL with a Cummins.

Engine production from Hagerstown has apparently effected both truck lines. 

I learned something about the "float" as I believe they call it when they have built trucks on the plant property but are missing parts because of supply issues as the truck travels down the production line. Apparently, this "float" hasn't been as high as it is now in years.... from what I was told. 

At our dealer, I see the new Volvo VN out selling the Anthem at a ratio of over 50 to 1.  I was really hoping to see Mack have a cab/bunk layout that would be comparable to the VN with the Anthems introduction. Huge disappointment. It's obvious they got very little input from competitive brand truck owners when it comes to the bunk space alone.

Most Anthems I've seen going out from both our dealers and others are return customers of the Pinnacles. Unless you are a hard core Mack guy, walking into a dealer and having both VN and AN models available, I could see why more customers opt for the larger interior and higher resale of the VN. They did a really good job on the Volvo VN update.

For the record, I'd still buy an Anthem over the VN.    Just dont ask me to justify why....its hard to explain to others that when you feel let down by your "corporate family" somehow they still deserve your trust and loyalty. 

It's a fact...Mack guys are just wired differently.