I never here much about Mack trucks on this board ... why?

[Ray Torresdal]

Mack engines

I don't know which engine was the culprit, but Solar Transportation leased Volvo's, because they couldn't keep enough of the Mack fleet on the road in the Denver area. My cousin drives a Solar truck, and that engine has been tore down twice before 350,000 miles!!! (And he is as conscientious a driver as you can find. ) That isn't durability in my book! He said that the engines they are having trouble with are Renault engines - go figure.



Ray

 

[lil red cummins]

mack had a light duty truck with renault drivetrain in them. approximately the same as a ford f700. my saturday job included working on that truck. it was NOT representitive of mack. the clutch took alot of leg to push in which was my main complaint. second and most disturbing was how much it smoked before getting warm, even in 50 degree weather. in 30 degree - forget about it. either get in and drive right away or walk far away for 10 minutes to let it warm up. never mind how much it cost to replace the air conditioning components as they started to fail. all in all it was sold before it hit 100,000 miles. glad it wasn't my truck

 

[Ncostello]

I dont know too much about the tractors... but Mack CF series fire truck chassis made from the late sixties until the early 80's were the absolute toughest fire trucks made... period. That is my own and many others opinions in the fire service. Mack built the entire truck with the exception of the pumps... which were Waterous, Hale or Darley pumps. Everyone still uses those today.



Clinton Fire (our twin department down the road) has always ran macks. They still have their 1921 Mack chain drive pumper and it looks like new and still runs great. Their 1973 CF600 with the MaxiDyne Diesel still purrs like a cat and could easily be refurbished to offer 30 more years of excellent service.



FDNY used them exclusively for years until they couldn't be purchased. They even purchased the remaining CF cabs Mack didn't put together and had other companies assemble them into apparatus ready to fight fire.



The also had extremely innovative ideas and designs in the early 80's before they quit making apparatus. Their fire truck design prints and artist drawings were sold with all the remaining parts. These new ideas were copied over by other companies and are still a great influence on the way fire trucks look today in the USA.



Truly a truck that is missed by the fire service.

 

[Sageair]

Re: macks

Originally posted by woodsrat

does mack make a truck??



had nothing but trouble with them compared to the petes with cats that i run. still have an older superliner that is a good truck.

the rest you can keep.

I've got to throw in with you on that one. I'm driving a 2001 Pete with a Cat 3406 and a Super Ten transmission. What a truck. Sometimes it's almost a letdown to get out of it and into my CTD!

 

[Rosco]

I second what Ncostello said about the CF Mack firetrucks. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to operate a Mack since the department I work never had them. However, I have seen many up close and I will say they are one cool rig.



Ncostello, the city of Providence R. I. still has a few CF's from the 1980's in front line service. One's a Tower Ladder and the others are pumpers. Having trucks from the 80's in front line service may not sound like a big deal in smaller departments but these are "city" rigs. The pumpers are probably doing 3000+ runs a year and the Tower's around 1500 runs. Also, these rig's are in districts that get a lot of fire duty. The trucks will be replaced in the next year or so and go to "reserve" status for another five or so years.



FWIW, my department has a 1994 pumper from one of the "top" apparatus manufactures and it's falling apart. This is in a suburb department and this particular rig does about 1500 runs a year. It just does not hold a candle to an old CF Mack.

 

[Hummin Cummins]

We have a 79 CF Mack from FDNY. We have had it since 1992 and plan to keep it pretty much forever. We replaced another engine with a brand new HME in 2000, I still run for the Mack when I'm driving. They dont know how much $ they are missing by not making fire apparatus anymore.

 

[Will24]

A company I used to run with had a 1980 CF that was sold while I ran there. 21 years old and sold for nearly $20k, I was impressed. They also have an 85 MC and that truck MOVES. I used it to take my EVOC class, and it was also the first decent sized truck I ever drove. Only gripe I had was both Macks rattled to no end. The MC cab shook so bad I had to hold the driver side mirror while I took EVOC...





oh well





-Will

 

[Peterbilt379CJ]

Because if it aint a CAT its a dog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





DRIVE PROUD... ... ... ... ... ... . DRIVE LOUD

 

[Ncostello]

I love driving/operating the CF600. But with its manual transmission, you better have your stuff together on how to drive it. Its very unforgiving to beginners but will take all the abuse they can give it.



There is something "magical" to me about climbing into its cab. Kinda makes me feel like I'm transformed into days gone by... better days. Everything is metal cept the seats. Its real... it feels solid. These trucks mean business and are all about the job at hand. Our 2000 KME rescue pumper is very nice... but wont hold a candle to the Mack.



Only two makes can be 25 years old, get refurbed/upgraded and resell for $275,000 as a 100' aerial/aerial scope. Mack and Seagrave. In this case... it pays for a company to stick with what works. Fire Departments hate change in general.



Who owns Mack Truck now? Mack still? They make some pretty tough units for concrete pumping trucks like Schwing. 7 axles and 3 of em' steer it. Cool.

 

[jrobinson2]

Who owns Mack Truck now? Mack still?

1967 Mack Trucks, Inc. becomes a member of the Signal Oil and Gas Company

1979 Renault takes a 10 percent share in Mack Trucks, Inc.

1990 Mack Trucks, Inc. becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Renault V. I.

In 2000 Mack was purchased from Renault by Volvo.

Mack History

I have the truck that lil red cummins mentioned, a Mack Mid-liner (Renault "Le truck" ) . A very unimpressive truck indeed, mine has the "big engine" a 339cid turbo diesel and you need to rev and slip the clutch to get it moving like a C-60 chevy with a 350 gasser I hope Volvo is doing better.

Jared

 

[Will24]

Peterbilt, you are on a cummins board... why be playin with the ***** when you can be cummin'?

 

[MO'Donnell]

Our fire dept had a '72 CF series mack pumper. Had the rear body rebuilt in around '82 due to serious rust issues. They sold it within the last 2 years or so, but that truck was unstoppable. It could out run, out pump and just generally out work the 82 Pierce Arrow, and pretty much any other truck in the area. It was a handful to drive with the non-synchro transmission though. Always paid REAL close attention to who was driving!

 

[Hummin Cummins]

Don't forget the purple chain deck lights, fuel tank diapers, and full rear fenders. Peterbilt people

heh, heh, heh, CHICKEN TRUCK



Oh, wait thats the American Classic Pete..... I drive one of them

 

[Peterbilt379CJ]

I love my CAT. She purrs like no other engine in the world. The reason for my being her is because you cant get a CAT in a pickum up. So the next best is cummins.





DRIVE PROUD... ... ... . DRIVE LOUD



CLUCK, CLUCK CHICKEN TRUCK COME ON BACK

 

[Ray Torresdal]

just remember

Old truckers never die - they just get a new Peterbilt!



Some day I'll get a picture scanned and post of the '73 Pete I bought brand new when I was but a young pup. There was NO comparison with the Macks of that day. You had to open the door to adjust the seat on the Mack - there wasn't room for your hand. And purgatory was merely a few hundred miles bucking a headwind and listening to the 237 Maxidyne groan! V8 diesels??? My 270 CAT would outrun a co-worker's 325 V8 Maxidyne (passed him uphill with equal loads) - made the boss mad, because co-worker had to take a day off to have his truck checked at the Mack garage.



They might make good dump trucks and refuse haulers, but there is a reason owner-operators drive KW's and Pete's.



Ray

 

[Ray Torresdal]

just remember

Old truckers never die - they just get a new Peterbilt!



Some day I'll get a picture scanned and post of the '73 Pete I bought brand new when I was but a young pup. There was NO comparison with the Macks of that day. You had to open the door to adjust the seat on the Mack - there wasn't room for your hand. And purgatory was merely a few hundred miles bucking a headwind and listening to the 237 Maxidyne groan! V8 diesels??? My 270 CAT would outrun a co-worker's 325 V8 Maxidyne (passed him uphill with equal loads) - made the boss mad, because co-worker had to take a day off to have his truck checked at the Mack garage.



They might make good dump trucks and refuse haulers, but there is a reason owner-operators drive KW's and Pete's.



Ray

 

[bmoeller]

One thing that would help, if you could get an engine other than the Mack. The Mack salesman told me that Cummins is the only other option. They dropped the Cat. To find an used truck with the Cummins or Cat is VERY hard to find, from the ads I have seen. In general the ones I drive have been very reliable, but the powerband is very small.



Part of their problem, is the turbo lag. Boost doesn't really start coming up 'til about 1500rpms. , and the engines top out at 1850-2000 rpms.



If you had a T2130 behind it, it would really help (double O/D). Especially with the EM6-300, instead of a T2050( if moving over 65-70k). Real dog (in O/D) 'til you're up to speed. This is even w/ 5. 13's. 4th tops out at 42mph, 5th tops out at 70. Big jump from direct to O/D.



I also don't like the short hoods. Don't like having the engine partially under the cab.



Sorry, I'll stop ranting now. Miss the 400 hp. BC 855/Eaton 13 spd. we had in the old KW cab-over. Boss' brother got into accident, totaled it. That thing could pull.

 

[CPG]

Having been a HD truck mechanic for 36 years, I had to work on these Mack trade in's at the different truck agencies that I worked at in the past. Most of my fellow mechanics ( no tech's then) hated to work on them as they seemed to have always an extra bolt or nut on them that the other trucks did not have. Mack certainly had their own concept in design. Hard to work on. They were built like a tank. A lot of Mack dumps were used in construction. The Bulldog on the hood describes them well. They were tenacious.



Chuck