BC Mack

http://www.aths.org/convention Any BMT'er on the left coast heading for this event????? BC Mack

Sounds like everyone is in agreement as to the cause.. rust, remedy seems to be to brutalise the cover or go take it for a drive..... luckily they're built like a Mack Truck..!!! note to self... clutch pedal all the way down when running for one minute with stuck front disk = smokey clutch brake pad....!!! only half way down next time. just a matter of getting some good vibes to shake it loose... keep the help coming guys as I don't fancy unbolting the clutch through the letterbox in the bellhousing. BC Mack

I've got exactly the same problem... E9 & T2180 tried the usual ways of trying to shake it loose, stall engine with axles raised and applying brakes, gave it some gentle love taps with a blunt chisel on the pressure plate... all I got was rust dust. after too many years in storage it would appear that the front disk is stuck to the splines as with engine running and pedal jammed down the trans input shaft is still spinning.. adjustment is fine. will try rapping the clutch cover plate with an air chisel.... good idea... seems all it needs is enough vibration to loosen the rust... don't want to pull trans either, undoing the cover periphery bolts through the bellhousing cutout is not looking too pleasant... truck was stored too long by previous owner in a damp climate.... one set of rear brake linings and drum were very firmly bonded...!!! old trucks, ya just gotta luv em....... BC Mack

I added two topics re European built Macks, maybe the url to the uk truck forum in the first topic can lead to your answer about Motor Panels cabs, IIRC there were two experts there discussing this matter... you need to register to see photos but text is available (good site for older european research) http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/26639-bernard-mack-france/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/29236-old-european-macks/ BC Mack

JTF two possible causes of your problem have been outlined already... even with crap fuel it would still run... algea blocking the primary is very likely.. if you have an air operated shut-down it can operate as you start to build air... pre-charge air system first. losing prime, find a garden sprayer approx two-three gal, remove the wand and add a fitting.. connect to the secondary filter with a shut off if possible. Pump up sprayer and then fire up.. the gear driven pump needs some time to pull fuel from the primary which is probably blocked.... if it runs ok on the sprayer check back to the pump and primary... you should pull the valve covers and disconnect the rack on both sides, a stuck injector would ruin your day but you most likely you have the newer shafts with individual relief springs, but it will still cause your heart to jump. the DD fuel system is different to most other trucks as you will find out.. most of the guys with DD 2 stroke engines in bus conversion RV's set up a small tank of fuel and a 12v pump near the engine as long standing will allow the fuel to flow back to the tank and the pump has insufficient pull.... losing prime. BC Mack

Congrats on the new family member... may there be more... on a personal and very friendly note... if you are going to indulge in class 8 air braked trucks can I advise you take an air brake course, part of a CDL, as this will give you information on how an air system works, how to do a pre-trip, how to check low pressure buzzer and governor cut-in etc.. worth the small expense and helpful to the rest of the motorists you mingle with. DD 2 strokes usually lose their prime after a long storage period, starting on less than one turn is normal as that is 4 firing strokes on a 8V92... change filters one at a time and fill first, best aid is a fuel pressure gauge added to the secondary filter, that will show you how well things are going, oil pressure will always be high on start-up and will slowly drop as it warms... I've seen 92's idle hot at 5 psi with no issues... I work on green and silver leakers, 92 and 71, pretty bulletproof, 92's have coolant in oil issues so watch oil until you get used to the engine, generally consumption should be under 1 gal per 1000 miles, if dipstick never drops or even goes up you may have fuel dilution. First oil change should be after long shutdown, crack the drain and see if coolant drips out... and only use CF2 40wt, do not use CF4 or 15W40.... Detroit reversed their opinion on 15W40 years ago but some shops still use it. If maxi's were 'on' you may have shoes stuck to drums... billybobjoe would dump it in gear and giverrr, just wind back the slacks and tap/lever the shoe or a 5lb hammer to drum edge, it should "ring" if shoe is released. and as said before, jam your fingers in the door and drive it angry..!!!!! BC Mack

Just adding my two cents (Canadian).... watch out for tire shops using "nut buster" guns... even if they recognise the "L" stamped on the stud and undo them without damage, watch out to ensure they don't hang on the trigger too long when fitting them back on... reason.... these types of air gun are calibrated with 'extra' torque when spinning left hand.... it is used to assist in removing seized conventional hub piloted nuts which are right hand thread in all positions... the "technician" can run the gun too hard to the left, distorting or even stripping the threads... he will use his torque wrench after and it will click at 450 not knowing he probably applied 800+ if you have aluminum hubs this overtorque can crack the hub... I found one on my bus as a result of a nut buster on the left front... on the matter of left and right hubs switched side to side.... that is an automatic test fail, and DOT should clamp your truck if they see it... the budd nuts are directional for a reason, it is part of the fail safe in the design... your mileage may vary... !!! BC Mack

Interesting the signage change to indicate a pushing operation on the safety truck and push truck instead of just saying oversize. Not sure the exact terminology. Jim I had similar thoughts when I saw the differing signs so looked up the codes for Alberta... and was even more confused. I believe the yellow 'wide load' is used up to a certain width as I saw a few smaller loads with one pilot and they just had the yellow sign and red flags on the corners... the "D" with red stripes indicates loads beyond that standard and I saw a dimensional drawing as the red stripes are not all the same width or separation... still working on what the "D" means? for extreme loads there were always three pilot cars whether it was just a tractive unit, or tractive and pusher... one 'way' out front, perhaps half a mile and one at both front and rear of the load... in a two hour section of road I passed at least ten of these extreme loads, and they rarely pull over to let the snake of traffic behind go past... you are on your own, just don't hit nothing... and for the most part hwy 65 is two lane... the smaller loads of machinery seemed to keep up a reasonable speed and caused less congestion. adding one more photo for the axle loading experts... saw a few of these for the first time, note that on the tri-axle jeep there is a set of duals in between and outside of the main pair..!!! I assume they needed a weight capacity within a fixed wheelbase or had turning radius issues and this was the solution, sure makes it wide though. BC Mack

Gentlemen, since most of you seem to live near to the East coast I thought I would show some of the scenery on the other side of the continent... I must firstly apologise for lack of hitchikers, wimmins and daisy dukes that other travellers on this site seem to find on a regular basis... we Canucks just have less exciting lives than those south of our border... LOL From Vancouver BC it is about 1000 miles (note, we have km's up here but I know you guys are bad at math) to what has become Canada's oil capitol and the highest household income per capita in Canada. Heading NE we meet the infamous and notorious Coquihalla Hwy (The Coke) now famous by means of a TV series of a truck wrecker team "Highway through Hell" on Discovery Channel. Passing Mount Robson the highest point in the Canadian Rockies and on to Edmonton Alberta... that was the easy bit. Highway 63 heads north for a five hour trip to Ft McMoney... at a very controlled rate the ultra heavy and extremely wide oil production modules are shipped along this road, mixed in with general truck traffic, B train fuel hauls and oil workers pick-up trucks (they all got new ones with one months paycheck). From my observations on the road, in the large yards that expand out of FMM... there are very few Macks to be found..!!! if you are into Heavy Haul then Western Stars and KW C550's will give you goosebumps... awesome machines... and the Mammoet guys are here in big numbers too... anyway... mandatory pics attached BC Mack

Brilliant...!!! pardon the pun... need some advice for a newbie polisher... my rear wheels look like they have never been polished, or, at least for 10 years. Some pitting corrosion has set in and I'm sure when I remove the wheel nuts I will find more problems.. I have used Alodine previously to remove corrosion out of pits in aluminum plate, any probs using it on truck wheel rims? are these wheels beyond hope of ever shining again? I have heard, but not yet seen the results of, machining a small amount of aluminum off the rim as a solution... I assume it is done within factory limits for material remaining.... anyone had this done?? added a pic of my worst wheel, hope the res is good enough to see the pitting... advice gratefully accepted BC Mack

In the same era, Ford UK turned out the "Transcontinental", assembled in Holland for most of the production, which featured a cab from Berliet. Similar to the CL-9000 in basic shape but on US Louisville L type chassis rails, it shared the 'fully suspended' coil sprung wobbly cab and had creature comfort features ahead of most UK competitors. Built too heavy to be profitable at the UK, 32-ton GVW, it never sold well, Maybe it gave the driver sea sickness...... http://www.fordtranscontinental.nl/ BC Mack

if you can measure "little"....!!!! standard industry practice is not to apply heat to any steering component, there are specs in some manuals that allow up to a certain temperature which can be measured with special pencils, but generally most will not know how much they are applying. Heat from a gas axe tends to be concentrated and creates metalurgy differences in isolated points that may tend to crack or become brittle. I've seen views from electron microscopes of heated parts discected and it is certainly obvious. More of a standard practice in airliner maintenance but the science is the same. if I inspect a vehicle and find evidence of such burn marks I fail the vehicle and it then is out of service pending repair or replacement of parts. I have heard of the same being done by DOT road side inspectors. will you have a failure of a steering part at 60mph after you heat it up?... probably not, but it has happened and therefore is no longer a practice... our machine shop has the capability to bake and return to service some items we repair that have received heat beyond the manual, an example would be spindles where the inner bearing was excessively heated or someone use a gas axe to melt the rollers off, but it is an engineered repair not someones best guess. hope that explains BC Mack

Saw that average truck in Germany, probably someone bobtailed with a bike on it. Thinking over this idea also for R-model as a hobby vehicle. I can't run into most big cities so would like to have a bike with me if I go long way trip around the country I plan for some day.. Hi Vlad... http://www.advancedtechnologiesint.com/e-power-lift---18-wheeler-version.html more info in their photo gallery.. is this what you saw behind cab of semi truck?? second photo looks like a good idea if you have sufficient wheelbase, easy to load/unload probably many more manufacturers out there, I've also seen versions that hook sideways at rear of chassis, as long as you have trailer clearance... BC Mack

Rob Cola Cowboys, Long Haul Pioneers, Trans Orient etc the "at work" series have Volvo Scania and Transcon http://www.nynehead-books.co.uk/description.php?II=2066 http://www.nynehead-books.co.uk/description.php?II=2049 http://www.nynehead-books.co.uk/description.php?II=1777 check out their full catalogue... http://www.toprun.ch/truck/book.html these guys have a lot of the M/E stuff but watch the shipping keep and eye on ebay.co.uk as there are other suppliers and Amazon in the US can have them too, and I've found a few with $6 shipping from the UK. if you can google around a bit you may find some suppliers in the US but I have not been too lucky for the ones that interest me... there are some good books in the US but most deal with custom trucks all blinged out with chrome bumpers for sunvisors, not my cup of tea..!!! Dover Docks in the late 70's all heading for "The Continent"... if only I carried a camera or now owned a time machine.... you can PM me if we start to drift off too far for our Mack audience, but I figure they're all truck guys!!! I've posted this pic before but it just says 'Dover' to me. BC Mack

Hi Vlad it is common to see former Class 8 trucks in N America which are converted to RV/Motorhome haulers and modified to carry a motorcycle, golfcart or smartcar behind the cab.. there are kits available to lift and mount a Harley behind the cab of any conventional, just got to make sure the trailer misses... who am I kidding, with the wheelbases over here you can fit a whole pickup truck in that gap.... BC Mack

Many years ago a British TV channel sent a film crew with a convoy of Astran trucks from UK to Doha... it is now on youtube as a ten parter, if you want to sit back, relax and watch all 10, or jump to "the difficult bit" which takes up the trip in Turkey. These guys make the Ice Road Truckers seem like pussies. Oh yeh, they break down their own tires, fix their own trucks, pull each other out of the sand, deal in cash for fuel in multiple currencies and navigate with a Michelin map with many blank spots on it... and no cell phones. The road is paved now, practically no customs line ups (Bulgaria was three days then) and the sense of adventure is all but gone. I used to have to fix these type of trucks after they came back, and they were knackered. This company also went overland to Afganistan and were an early pioneer of long distance overland trucking from uk to asia. BC Mack

Cummins or Rolls Eagle were the usual, by then the Gardner was losing its charm though a 8LXB 240hp straight 8 could keep up with most of the competition and was good on fuel. I started my wrenching career in the UK and all the trucks from 60's and 70's were around me... worked mainly on the Volvo F88 but got time on Scammell, ERF, Foden, Atkinson, Daf, Magirus and even the V8 Scania 141, mmmmm. There we a lot of trucks doing the 'Middle East run' down to the Gulf and anything that could take a pounding went there... quite an era. if you are into that time period then try this forum... http://www.trucknetuk.com/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=35 the main board is for present day truck (or should I say lorry) drivers and operators. BC Mack

RFCDrum just love the ERF..!!! used to play with them years ago.. and since we are "down under", I saw this today on biglorryblog.com BC Mack Biglorryblog recalls a monster Mack truck pull down-under--thanks to a nudge from Gazza!28 February 2013By Brian Weatherley "I've just heard there's going to be an exciting reunion event being supported by VCV Brisbane next month" says Biglorryblog's Mack man down-under Gary Richards who adds: "I expect a few of the anorak army may have missed "The Mighty Mungindi Truck Pull" back in 2003 so thought I had better fill in the gaps...all part of our 50 big years of Mack Downunder! The record for the world's longest road train was broken near Mungindi in '03 when a Mack Titan prime mover, driven by John Atkinson, pulled 87 trailers, with a combined length of 1235.3 metres. We guessed the GCM to be around 900-tonne!" And Gazza continues: "The event was organised to benefit the Vanessa Memorial Cancer Care Fund and Westpac Rescue Helicopter and won the town 'The Event of the Year' in the NSW Tidy Town Awards. Then in 2006, the record was lifted even higher and its still remains unbeaten today !! - as you can read on the plaque pic. Regards, Gary." Well I certainly recall blogging on the event back in 2003 so it must have been on of the first stories I put down on BLB all those years ago back in 2005. If anyone has some shots of the 2003 and 2006 event perhaps they'd send them to BLB so I can post them up.

yep, federal law see item 3 on this chart BC Mack http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/standards/conspicuity/TBMpstr.html

Vlad... you're welcome..!!!! please enjoy those 'Canadian' trucks and thanks for the business... and we are enjoying the Kamov KA-32 Helicopters we got from your country, great for heli-logging, hope it didn't upset anyone when they left Russia. BC Mack

hmmmm, just looked at my screen and it shows the large youtube screen with the arrowhead.... looks like 2stacks has viewed it already... your settings? let's try again BC Mack

OK guys, one question... is "exporting" to Canada ok with you guys?... we exported OUR homebuilt Macks to you with no complaints..!!! LOL When we take a step back we have to consider how small our planet is today... world trade in used trucks, ships, planes, dozers etc 25+ years ago was a slow ponderous exercise controlled by an elite group of businesses... now, with internet and cellphones, tweets and all insundry anyone can find anything they want on the planet, same day. Superdog... you nailed it I used to work in the aviation industry... nobody complained when hundreds of used American made Boeing 727's went to third world countries to be used in ways Mr Boeing never thought possible... to the new owner in the jungles of Africa or mountains of Bolivia it opened up commerce, food in and manufactured goods out, they finally parked the long obsolete propellor spinning avgas gulping old Douglas airliners that were well past their last legs... the world is becoming a level playing field with the US and EU superpowers fading fast, what were once backward countries are now revitalised with oil and mineral exports, China is in Africa big time helping out countries with their infrastructure... and all this creates a trickledown effect where small operators in the far flung reaches of the globe can actually afford and easily acquire the truck he has dreamed of, a Mack. Once he has spent his entire wealth on one truck do you think he will trash it on day one?, not likely. Will he fix it up and feel the same pride of ownership as you?, yes. Are there shady dealers, dangerous trucks, rotted cabs... yes... but there is hope the next owner will fix it... they've gone through the effort and expense so why waste it. If you think that any particular truck on the market today is a national treasure and "somebody" should save and restore it... well, that person is YOU, mortgage the family jewels if it is that important to you.... but, we have to refrain from complaining about those "******* exporters", they are merely filling a worldwide need which will not only continue but expand. one man's opinion BC Mack

Gentlemen, turn up the volume, sit back and enjoy..... those guys in the Netherlands REALLY enjoy their American trucks... BC Mack

4176mack take a look at this site.... http://mackmuppet.skyrock.com/23.html scroll down to second item.. just like yours but in not so good condition, right? potential supplier for your needed parts, or even a donor truck... note, rear mounted engine..!!! I'd jump on it except I'm on the left coast of Canada... got to be a few more of those high roof F700's still lurking around EU scrappies... I don't remember seeing too many F700's before I emigrated but the OHS trucks dropped into the dealership in London where I worked, we always strolled out to take a look. BC Mack

In my area... Commercial trucks and buses... which are subject to annual or semi-annual "Commercial Vehicle Safety Enforcement" independant inspection. Recap, retread, remould or re-grooved tires are illegal on an 'active' steer axle Retreads can be used on 'passive' self-steering axle.. light vehicles (except taxi or bus).. no annual inspection, owner rsponsible for condition and maintenance. re-tread accepted on steer axle... (but you will rarely see them due to market conditions) now, what is a "hobby truck"...???!!!!! here in BC, they are technically classified as a 'private truck' ONLY if used for personal and non-commercial use... there is a further classification of 'collector car' which is confusing as a bus or class 8 truck is included if it meets reuirements...if you pull a private trailer with your other private truck loaded on it.. well, then it becomes an issue which could requires some discussion with the gubberment, usually a less frequent commercial inspection is called for due to concerns of weight and brakes.... and these are on a case-by-case basis. I have seen 'exemption' letters for approved variances on a few specialist trucks and some have included tires but they were slow moving vehicles. I think the local 'Hayes' club has a 3 year inspection. if you want to run a non-commercial hobby truck with non-virgin tires on the steer axle then you may want to consult your state motor vehicle act, as there will obviously be differences state to state, and may be determined by gvw regardless of use. here's one to ponder..!!!! would you rather have fresh namebrand recaps on the front steer... or... virgin tires with a 15 year date code????? hmmmm BC Mack