doubleclutchinweasel

Welcome aboard. Shifting a non-synchro box (up or down) is a matter of matching the speed of the engine/input shaft to the rest of the transmission. "Double-Clutching" takes just a little practice to master. You have to listen to and feel of the beast to know what it wants. As far as smooth engagement of the gears, there is no magic RPM. If it matches, it goes in. If it doesn't match, it grinds. That simple. Now, some engines do have a preferred RPM range to work within. So, for any combination, there will be a sweet spot where the power delivery is optimized. But, work out you shifting to get it smooth first. You may be correct on those downshifts. That may be the speed you have to be at before you have enough RPM available to make the downshift smoothly. Or, it may need a different RPM before going into the lower gear. Each box (and each shift, for that matter) has a specific RPM percentage change. For instance, your comment about coming out at 1800 and going in at 1200 represents a 33% drop in RPM for that shift. I don't know the ratios for that box, but that may be a little too much RPM drop. If, for instance, the drop is really 25%, then it might go in better at 1350 instead. Your 2000-1600 is a 20% drop, so that might be the percentage you need right there. And, remember that downshifting is the inverse of the upshift. That is, if the RPM after an upshift is 3/4 of what it was before the shift, then downshifting that same gear change will give RPM that is 4/3 of what it was before the downshift. It just takes a little time to get used to it. And, each transmission will have its own drops. Obviously, a 5-speed will have far greater drops between gears than an 18-speed. Pretty soon, you will learn how to unload the drivetrain with careful throttle work, and you will be shifting without even using the clutch..."floating" the gears. When floating, the correctness or incorrectness of the RPM matching is even more evident! Just be patient and give yourself time to learn it.

Way back when, Mack sold a conversion kit. Had one on the truck I drove in ‘80. Still had the oil bath bottom on the can. But, when you dropped it, there was a dry filter up in the main body. I couldn’t find anything like that for my later truck. I’ve seen a lot with the Donaldson can swapped onto them.

Yep. It loaded. That's what I thought...or was afraid of! LMAO!

I couldn't get it to load right now. Is that Raymond J. Johnson, Junior?

By the way, we also called the forward/reverse lever in a direct-drive Caterpillar tractor the "Johnson Bar". I think the steam locomotive engineers used that term for other things, too. EDIT: A quick search shows that steam locomotives' "reversing bar" was sometimes called the Johnson Bar. I guess that's where the Cat guys got it.

"Missed it by thaat much."

Did you ever get this sorted out?

Just saw this post. Wow! That is one beautiful truck!

You definitely have some serious stones, Swishy.

That's what I was thinking. All the ones I grew up around had the larger air cleaner, and the RH door was definitely harder to get into. Same deal on the R-models. Less swing on that door.

With the "clutchless" Liberty (twin countershaft, by the way) and Jerico boxes, it is now WAY easier to make a good pass. The sliders in those are a great idea, and I wish I had thought up the design! What I like about all those old-school guys is that they were still using a "conventional" box. Takes a lot of skill to hit those just right.

There is a LOT of renewed interest in straight-shift drag cars. It is getting popular again. I guess some of the guys wanted to put the driver back into the equation!

That’s awesome!

Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins at about 1:05 and Ronnie Sox right after that. Gotta' love Grumpy's cigar!

Ronnie Sox was one of the best I ever saw shifting a 4-speed. The pass starts at about the 50 second mark.

ouch!

Alaska Passage (1959) had B models in it.

Another one.

Mack built trailer.

I order it from Opti-Lube on Amazon

I'm a big fan of Opti-Lube. Adds lots of lubricity to the fuel, as well as the cleaning action.

Ya' know... Sucks to have to dig into it. But, once he's finished, the engine will be worthy of the rest of the truck.

I remember being on jobs and getting bulldozers that had just come back from "rebuild", and finding freshly-painted yellow sticks still poking out of the radiators. Found radiators clogged with paint. Worn out rollers and sprocket segments...all with a fresh coat of yellow paint on them! Engines low on oil, and old oil at that. I think they called that a "Rebuild-in-a-Can"...paint can, that is!

I think you are all over this. I have never seen bigger cans on the front axle. Seen same size a lot on dump trucks. Usually smaller fronts on tractors. Glad you got it sorted out.

THAT'S what the dash is supposed to look like! Clean. Simple. Easy to read. Easy to work on. NO PLASTIC! And I always loved the shape of the needles on the speedometer and tachometer. The heel of the needle always looked like a counterbalance to me. When they changed to the later needles, I always felt like we got cheated.