ranchhopper Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 2 hours ago, Lmackattack said: Good eye John , that is odd ...It must be that this was a early design the grill mesh looks the same but if does not have the flat planes around it. it also sports the early RS/RL 700 Hood with no provision for the lower grill extending down into the bumper. Has to be early 70 steel dash and tube type tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james j neiweem Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 Awesome thread. To bad the western models didn't move out of California to the Midwest or south central states like Western Star (Utah) or Paccar (Texas) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Whiskymack Posted July 4, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted July 4, 2017 On 24/06/2017 at 1:45 AM, Lmackattack said: Good eye John , that is odd ...It must be that this was a early design the grill mesh looks the same but if does not have the flat planes around it. it also sports the early RS/RL 700 Hood with no provision for the lower grill extending down into the bumper. Nice looking truck. That is the early Western grill used on both FL/FS and RL/RS models in the late 60's. It was a two part mesh grill with a lower bit that looks like it attached to the bumper and probably hinged when the hood opened. There was also a standard Western bumper which had a cut out for the lower grill panel. This truck is fitted with the heavy duty Mack bumper so I guess they decided to omit the lower grill panel for this reason. The flat panel around the radiator was laid in behind the mesh and if it was dark painted it wouldn't show up but if it was polished ally then it was clearly visible behind the mesh. Both early bumper and grill were replaced in the early 70's with the more familiar single piece western grill with the flat collar around the radiator and a channel bumper with no cut out. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sodly Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 Wow! That looks like a unicorn, right there! Do you have any more pics of that cool, early western R? Looks like a fire truck of some sort. I hope that's a recent pic and it still exists in that condition. I've never seen one of those in person. Would love to see more of it.... or ones like it. Cool stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyT Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 Kinda amusing, the co driver in the G Cabover is wearing a tie! I've only seen one truck driver wearing a tie,was a Newcastle Battery driver in the early eighties! I drove for their competitor AC Delco we delivered auto and commercial batteries in beverage trailers with roll up doors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lmackattack Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 14 hours ago, Whiskymack said: Nice looking truck. That is the early Western grill used on both FL/FS and RL/RS models in the late 60's. It was a two part mesh grill with a lower bit that looks like it attached to the bumper and probably hinged when the hood opened. There was also a standard Western bumper which had a cut out for the lower grill panel. This truck is fitted with the heavy duty Mack bumper so I guess they decided to omit the lower grill panel for this reason. The flat panel around the radiator was laid in behind the mesh and if it was dark painted it wouldn't show up but if it was polished ally then it was clearly visible behind the mesh. Both early bumper and grill were replaced in the early 70's with the more familiar single piece western grill with the flat collar around the radiator and a channel bumper with no cut out. The truck John posted of the logging RS700...that grill is one piece . I agree a HD bumper may have allowed them to omit the lower part of the grill but I have never seen one like that before. I cant see if it has panels behind it but It does not look like it? Im glad they went with the later style as it adds to the truck much better. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskymack Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 8 hours ago, Lmackattack said: The truck John posted of the logging RS700...that grill is one piece . I agree a HD bumper may have allowed them to omit the lower part of the grill but I have never seen one like that before. I cant see if it has panels behind it but It does not look like it? Im glad they went with the later style as it adds to the truck much better. Maybe that's why they switched to the later 1 piece grill and straight bumper. That two piece grill would only fit the bumper with a cut out. I've seen a few with only the top part of the grill but that's because the lower bit has gone missing. That's the first one I've seen that looks like it came out of the factory that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskymack Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 20 hours ago, sodly said: Wow! That looks like a unicorn, right there! Do you have any more pics of that cool, early western R? Looks like a fire truck of some sort. I hope that's a recent pic and it still exists in that condition. I've never seen one of those in person. Would love to see more of it.... or ones like it. Cool stuff! Only one other picture of that one. I've had the pics for a few years now. I think it was for sale somewhere or other back then. No idea where it is now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxfymn Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 I think that may be an ex-Ca. Dept. of Forestry (CDF) truck. They were used to haul forestry tractors on lowboys. Quote Money, sex, and fire; everybody thinks everyone else is getting more than they are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis Quindlen Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 I worked at the Mack Truck plant in Hayward from 1977 until it closed in 1981. We built custom trucks primarily for the western market. These trucks were built with a wide variety of drive components including Engines from Caterpillar, Detroit Diesel, Cummins and of course Mack’s. Transmissions included Eaton, Fuller, and Mack’s. We also built the two lead trucks for the movie Convoy, Rubber Duck and Pigpen call signs, played by Kris Kristofferson and another actor I can’t recall. The movie was based on the popular song of the time, Convoy. At peak production we were putting out 35 trucks a day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 I have one that was built while you were there. It is a 1978 RL755LST w/Caterpillar 1693TA engine, RTO-12513 trans, and Mack "Camelback" rears at 38K rating. Quote Plodding along with no job nor practical application for my existence, but still trying to fix what's broke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Harbison Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 On 7/5/2017 at 6:55 AM, Whiskymack said: Only one other picture of that one. I've had the pics for a few years now. I think it was for sale somewhere or other back then. No idea where it is now. Evidently this truck fell victim to CARB. I saw an ad a few years ago for the cab and hood for sale,I was able to get the hood,but wasn't able to find a ride for the cab,too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry T Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 14 hours ago, Louis Quindlen said: We also built the two lead trucks for the movie Convoy, Rubber Duck and Pigpen call signs, played by Kris Kristofferson and another actor I can’t recall. That actor was Burt Young. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james j neiweem Posted June 26, 2021 Share Posted June 26, 2021 What were the major problems with the early Cruiseliners. I have heard about windows and dashes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackaholic Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 On 6/24/2021 at 6:49 PM, Mike Harbison said: Evidently this truck fell victim to CARB. I saw an ad a few years ago for the cab and hood for sale,I was able to get the hood,but wasn't able to find a ride for the cab,too. I looked at this truck before it was cut up. Had a v-8 detroit in it. Years later I saw the hood in Reno on it's way to you and ended up buying the cab from the same guy. Still have it, waiting to go on a 69RL700. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Harbison Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 On 7/9/2021 at 4:28 PM, mackaholic said: I looked at this truck before it was cut up. Had a v-8 detroit in it. Years later I saw the hood in Reno on it's way to you and ended up buying the cab from the same guy. Still have it, waiting to go on a 69RL700. Im glad to hear someone got the cab,I would've got it but couldn't get a ride for both. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBWhite Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 My favorite part about the western models in the interior, specifically the bulldog with the cowboy hat might just be the coolest symbol on any truck! Also after reading some of the literature on these I have to ask why the early E9 have twin turbos? A buddy north of me has a superliner with the E9 (which I envy) and it only has one turbo. When did they switch? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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