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Handling issues on 2014 CHU


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Forgot about that sorry. You would be surprised how many trucks sitting right outside of the plant waiting to be shipped alreay have some rust coming from between framerails and crossmembers and other places the paint doesnt reach.

This wasn't normal rust, it was a fine powder that you could easily rub off and it would re-appear within a couple days. After they got the new crossmember in they replaced the rivets with 3/4" bolts and there hasn't been any movement since.

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  • 4 weeks later...

post-17945-0-00554800-1410723612_thumb.jWell, they've rebuilt the whole rear twin Y suspension and I haven't been able to try it out yet because the transmission is pulled for the 3rd time and Mack finally agreed to replace it under warranty. The loose king pin bearing was tightened and is loose again, so hopefully they have looked at it while it's waiting for the new gearbox to arrive.

Still chasing a mystery engine code that nobody seems to know anything about.

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This wasn't normal rust, it was a fine powder that you could easily rub off and it would re-appear within a couple days. After they got the new crossmember in they replaced the rivets with 3/4" bolts and there hasn't been any movement since.

Glad they found that for you. As for the Huck Bolts, I reassembled my entire AC frame with them, installed right they don't "move" like rivets can. Paul

"OPERTUNITY IS MISSED BY MOST PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS DRESSED IN OVERALLS AND LOOKS LIKE WORK"  Thomas Edison

 “Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘Holy shit, what a ride!’

P.T.CHESHIRE

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  • 2 months later...

Well it's been a couple of months now and still no closer to curing the problem Rear suspension totally redone. New Sheppard steering box helped somewhat by getting rid of the darting, but it still wanders around, even on the smoothest road.

I was told by the service manager that Mack is not going to invest any more resources into this pile of crap. Truck still has a visible lean to the left that they can't seem to find the cause for. Going to slip in a 3" spacer block on the left front spring and see if that might help. :pat:

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Tire issues would cause the wander too with out a doubt. But also since there were "loose cross member fasteners", any body look at the suspension mount brackets for movement? Seem that would also cause lean and handling issues if the spring mounts or suspension mounts has the smallest movement. Good luck Paul

"OPERTUNITY IS MISSED BY MOST PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS DRESSED IN OVERALLS AND LOOKS LIKE WORK"  Thomas Edison

 “Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘Holy shit, what a ride!’

P.T.CHESHIRE

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Why is Mack not replacing the truck for a new one?

Tried that route. The sales manager tells me there isn't enough equity in this one and they also can't take a truck that has know issues.

Like I'm supposed to fight with it for another 4 years? They sold me a truck that has a serious problem but to them it's all about making a profit. They won't be getting any more of my business when it comes time to get a new truck.

Their finance guy had the service dept pull all the work orders since day 1 and suggested that we go to Mack with the proof that it's been down for over 2 months in the first year and see if they would step up and do something. Again, vetoed by management.

The service dept has bent over backwards to help resolve the issues but it appears we've hit a wall.

I think it's time to start a discussion with the Feds, as mine is not the only one out there with these problems. There's 8 trucks sold out of this branch that have ongoing tire wear and handling issues, so how many more are there North America wide?

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We had a group of 2014 CXU613 chassis in the area with the same type of handling issue. The fix turned out to be replacing the original Bridgestone drive tires with Michellin's. Some sort of problem with the sidewalls flexing.

That was the first thing I did was throw the Bridgestoned tires out. New Michelin steers helped somewhat but Michelin drives didn't make any difference. One of the units here replaced the factory Michelins with an XD Energy and it seemed to help. Mack refused to pay the bill and stuck the owner with it.

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Just curious, have you or your boss talked directly to somebody in upper management at MACK Corporate? Paul

"OPERTUNITY IS MISSED BY MOST PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS DRESSED IN OVERALLS AND LOOKS LIKE WORK"  Thomas Edison

 “Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘Holy shit, what a ride!’

P.T.CHESHIRE

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Tried that route. The sales manager tells me there isn't enough equity in this one and they also can't take a truck that has know issues.

Like I'm supposed to fight with it for another 4 years? They sold me a truck that has a serious problem but to them it's all about making a profit. They won't be getting any more of my business when it comes time to get a new truck.

Their finance guy had the service dept pull all the work orders since day 1 and suggested that we go to Mack with the proof that it's been down for over 2 months in the first year and see if they would step up and do something. Again, vetoed by management.

The service dept has bent over backwards to help resolve the issues but it appears we've hit a wall.

I think it's time to start a discussion with the Feds, as mine is not the only one out there with these problems. There's 8 trucks sold out of this branch that have ongoing tire wear and handling issues, so how many more are there North America wide?

Hope your problems are over soon.

Edited by Samtruck199
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Just curious, have you or your boss talked directly to somebody in upper management at MACK Corporate? Paul

Not so far. Management at the dealership seems to think that I have to go directly through them and not have any contact with corporate. When I mentioned going public with the issue last time, they contacted someone higher up the food chain and instantly had approval to try a Sheppard box. There was even talk of sending out a field engineer to ride with me to experience the problems first hand. After installing the new box and getting my feedback, they seem to have forgotten that it's still not right.

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  • 1 month later...

Does the tractor have Bridgestone M726 Tires?? We have had some here that did the same thing and Mack replaced tires.

It originally had M799's on the back and R260's on the steer. Currently running Michelin XZA1 on steer and XDS2 drives for the winter.

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  • 2 weeks later...

CHU, MP8-505C, T318LR, S40's @3.98 with 24.5 rubber. Speced by Mack for pulling 140,000# up to 8% grades. Top end power is ok, but it's the 1760 torque that causes the lack of bottom end holding power. Our company trucks have 550 Cummaparts with 2050 torque. Top 4 gears I can keep ahead of them but below that they're around me and gone.

You realize your running a 13 liter with 15 liter engines and apparently giving them a run for their money on top end. I would think you'd be happy to be able to remind them they just got passed by a Mack with a smaller engine with 50 less horsepower and 300# less torque, I mean come on man this is apples to oranges! Lol

"Any Society that would give up a little LIBERTY to gain a little SECURITY will Deserve Neither and LOSE BOTH" -Benjamin Franklin

"If your gonna be STUPID, you gotta be TOUGH"

"You cant always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need"

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  • 6 months later...

Well, to anyone else that has the misfortune of having the Twin Y suspension, my condolences. Almost 2 years into the truck and the handling problems are still not resolved. The latest discovery about this nightmare suspension is that there is no articulation in the axles. Put a jack under one side of the axle and start lifting and within less than an inch of the wheels coming off the ground, the other side lifts off as well. Since the axles can't flex to follow the road, it's forcing the frame to constantly twist which in turn wreaks havoc with the steering geometry.

The dealership discovered the pivot bushings are seized to the bolts and need to be replaced for the second time. Mack refuses to pay for it claiming that the dealership didn't install them properly last time. The dealer has agreed to foot the bill but is this supposed to be a once a year replacement job? At $3000 a pop, not likely!

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Unreal!!!

"OPERTUNITY IS MISSED BY MOST PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS DRESSED IN OVERALLS AND LOOKS LIKE WORK"  Thomas Edison

 “Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘Holy shit, what a ride!’

P.T.CHESHIRE

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post-17945-0-27888900-1439347307_thumb.j

Another fault is the shock mounts. I recently went thru a CVIP level 1 and was given a warning that the shocks were loose. I pointed out to the officer that the brackets are made of 5/8" solid steel and it's impossible to draw it tight enough to keep the shock from moving. He gave me 7 days to repair it. All I could do was squeeze in a thin washer to take up the slack, but that only lasts a couple weeks and it wears thru the washer.

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Is that type of shock mount for the KY Twin Y suspension? Paul

"OPERTUNITY IS MISSED BY MOST PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS DRESSED IN OVERALLS AND LOOKS LIKE WORK"  Thomas Edison

 “Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘Holy shit, what a ride!’

P.T.CHESHIRE

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Well, day 3 at the dealer shop trying to replace the rear suspension bushings. They had to cut the huck bolts and remove the hanger brackets from the frame to get the blades out. One of the bushings required 20 tons on the press to remove it and another one was up to 30 tons when it started to deform the blade. Now they're waiting for a new set of blades to be flown in.

Better ride, 25% improvement in tire wear the brochure claims. Couldn't even get 180,000 kms (111,000 mi) on a set of drives. Think they better rename it the Twin Edsel suspension.

No wonder that Volvo wouldn't put it on their trucks.

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I've seen your truck in the shop the other day.

Sorry for your troubles. I have a 2011 CHU with Hendrickson suspension and the truck rides and handles like a dream. I was looking forward to that TwinY suspension but not anymore.

Nobody should have that kind of headaches.

That is just not acceptable

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I've seen your truck in the shop the other day.

Sorry for your troubles. I have a 2011 CHU with Hendrickson suspension and the truck rides and handles like a dream. I was looking forward to that TwinY suspension but not anymore.

Nobody should have that kind of headaches.

That is just not acceptable

Today was day 10 and they finally got the parts in this afternoon. Can't fault the service department when corporate hasn't even released the "new and improved" parts to the public yet. So tell me, if Mack insists there's nothing wrong with this design, why have they changed all the parts?

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