Chicago R models

[ajdereicup]

Hands down favorite Mack I’ve seen in person 

[mowerman]

Typical dirt truck they’re all passing everybody. I got them gone by me all day long at 80 miles an hour but yes, it looks real good.

[ajdereicup]

Little bit of older photos but you can’t talk about Old Chicago Macks without bringing up Crosstowns.

These guys are what started my love of Macks as a kid. My dad actually leased to them when he bought an old R Model from a previous company he worked for called PTL (Pennsylvania Truck Lines). He ended up with 2 old PTL Macks running for Crosstowns until he grew tired of the headaches of finding competent drivers. Some of my first memories is sitting on the front stoop waiting for him to come down the hill to pick me up and bring me into the city for the night.

 

Any trucks working for Crosstowns back then had to be painted the green. According to my dad, Art Kanark (spelling might be off on the last name) wanted them green because he was Irish. Another friend whose family is involved in Chicagoland Warehouse (another company that loves their Macks in Chicago), said they were that green because Crosstowns bought old Chicagoland Warehouse Macks. 
 

They are still in business I think but I’m not usually in their areas anymore. I know they were selling their shop on Wood St which is where all the trucks would park inside (hence the shorter stacks). They had a beautiful old Ford 9000? hidden in there that a friend of my dad used to drive but that’s all gone now.

[harrybarbon]

On 9/27/2024 at 12:05 PM, mowerman said:

Typical dirt truck they’re all passing everybody. I got them gone by me all day long at 80 miles an hour but yes, it looks real good.

At 80 mph, what diff ratio would they be?

[tjc transport]

a 4.56 gear truck will do 80 with no problem, but you will be up around 2100-2200 RPM with 12/24.5 tires. 

[Brocky]

7 hours ago, harrybarbon said:

At 80 mph, what diff ratio would they be?

The ones Bob is speaking of, on I-80 between Reno And Salt Lake, are probably lease operators / independents with Large Cars.. Probably about 3:55 or lower rears..

Edited September 29, 2024 by Brocky

[harrybarbon]

16 hours ago, tjc transport said:

a 4.56 gear truck will do 80 with no problem, but you will be up around 2100-2200 RPM with 12/24.5 tires. 

My B model has the E6 - 350 with the 2070 OD box, tyres are 11 22.5 and diffs are 4.17, it maxs out at 120 kph/75 mph.

[terry]

Never heard of a 2070 behind a 350?  Terry thought the maxidyne was only 300 hp.

Edited September 30, 2024 by terry

[harrybarbon]

My error s/be 1070

[Joey Mack]

Thats more like it...

[terry]

10 hours ago, harrybarbon said:

My error s/be 1070

That’s a real long transmission for a B model!😁. Terry

[Joey Mack]

im no guru on 'B's,  but the one and only tranny I put together, was a TRD72  No where near as big as a 1070.. Just my 2 cents..  

[harrybarbon]

14 hours ago, terry said:

That’s a real long transmission for a B model!😁. Terry

It is a custom B 75 model with the E6 2 valve 350 and it has a Hydrogen producing unit, that only works when the engine is running. No hydrogen is stored. It uses a mass of negative power. The Hydrogen mixes with the diesel through the air intake pipe, which boosts torque and HP up to 25% and improves fuel economy between 20-25% depending on operation. hills or flat roads. No issues with the turbo from the hydrogen. Also keeps the pistons and valves clean. The unit was developed by a local Aussie and he has about 300 units installed in Aust. My unit has 2 X 1.5 litres stainless steel bottles of distilled water, 3 litres will produce hydrogen for 3000 klms, then easy just refill. 

There was a guy in Florida some 12 years ago that had a similar system fitted to his Peterbilt. Somewhere, I have a video of him demonstrating it at a truck show down south. He fitted it on the left side of the frame below the front of the cab. I tried for about 1 year to find him, just vanished.

Originally I had planned to fit an LPGas tank and feed that into the intake pipe, the same set up that Mack had around mid 70's to early 80's. The local Mack engineers told me that the LPG caused many engine failures, burn't pistons and valves because drivers were not watching the turbo gauge and backing off when it got too hot. Ian Lee fitted it to his Princess Diana, Diamond T with a 250 Cummins engine. Ian's Diana with a loaded trailer kept pace with Tony Champion's Mack Superliner V8 - 500 across the outback flats, even up the hills, but it got hot so he had to ease off the pedal to cool it. The other practical issue is the LPG needs a big pressure tank to store it and outside of the cities most service stations do not store LPG. Plus the danger of LPG and insurance, so I dropped the LPG idea.  Then I found the hydrogen system.

Regular highway use, the hydrogen system cost is paid in 3 months, then the 20%+ fuel saving and less oil changes, 1 for 3 usual changes.

[mowerman]

On 9/29/2024 at 12:29 PM, Brocky said:

The ones Bob is speaking of, on I-80 between Reno And Salt Lake, are probably lease operators / independents with Large Cars.. Probably about 3:55 or lower rears..

No thier mostly company trucks dirt powder and fuel trucks but cattle trucks are mostly independents thier all flying but yes 80 is the speed limit out here 

[mowerman]

I’ve never even been 80 miles an hour in a big rig except for downhill… bob

[mowerman]

Been running freight trucks most my life and 65-70 is what most do mainly 65