Freightrain

Not a bad looking unit.

Found some Energy Suspension bushings that I can cut and make what I need. They make all kinds of body mounts stuff, that is what I used to put the bunk on my truck. Just coming up with the correct sizes, thus I may buy the universal stuff and make it fit.

What are you guys using on a B model? Mine are way gone and on the list to fix this winter. Watts doesn't list them anymore. I have no problem going to Summit Racing and buying polyurethane bushings to upgrade from rubber. 5/8" hole approx. 1" thick.

Yes, parts for the old Jakes are getting to be hens teeth. I had to go to Facebook to find the lash cap for early big valve stem 237. They are NLA from Mack. Sorry to say I blew a bunch more money then I should have getting these up to par. They do work well now.

Well, after 15 yrs of dealing with it, I thought I might tear into things this winter and try to make things work better. The first issue was the compound shifter had a horrible "buzz" to it while driving under power. I typically kept my hand on my knee and kept a finger pushed against the handle> Better, but a PITA. There was a horrible oil leak coming from somewhere up top. While pulling the handles off I realized it was the main stick gasket was no longer around and likely the cause of the constant drool down the sides of the transmission. I pulled the handles apart and found worn out pins, so I got new pin material and re-lubed everything and got it all back together: Notice lots of sludge everywhere. The compound shifter is outside the box, so it was the main stick that was making the mess. The pin areas of the shifters were worn, so I TIG'd them up a touch and then carefully ground them back to proper size. Starting to get them back together. The pivot pins are just tacked welded on both sides. I found the grease zerks and did get some grease into the compound shift rails. Though I have since pulled this shifter off the transmission as the shift rods going to the rear box are worn and sloppy too. So I have it all cleaned up now, need new 1/2" clevis pins and can put it back together. I have more pics, will get them downloaded later. The box is still pretty worn inside. Bearings, gear lugs, sliders. It stays in gear under power, but on decel it slips out. Even worse with the jakes on. I have to really hold main box handle in gear. I want something different, but that is for another winter. Here is the compound shifter box all cleaned up. I got new pins today, but can't get too dirty as I have party plans this afternoon. The box is aluminum, the holes aren't too worn from the shift rails rubbing on them for the last 50+ years with likely very minimum lubrication. That will change. The fresh pins will tighten up the sloppiness in the shifter rods and hopefully eliminate the annoying "buzz" running down the road. When I drove Dave McDonnell's B61SX dump in PA a few years ago, I commented to him how different his rebuilt Quad was to drive compared to my sloppy mess. His shifter was very tight and precise shifting. No wiggly-wobbly stuff going on. I hope mine is improved now!!(beyond the worn out gears inside).

David...I think you're holding back.........tell us how you really feel about Mack transmissions......................;)

Towing company I bought my B from had a big Autocar wrecker that was sold many years ago. It showed up on Facebook, someone posted a pictures of this beast sitting in a lot looking well worn. It is currently in Canada somewhere. I asked owner about it, it was sold because he couldn't keep a driver that knew how to drive something that old(three sticks, no power steering, etc).

Looks pretty solid!

Big fan of the paint jobs back then! Love those stripes.

Buddy and I stopped over at the Hill this past summer. They had some kind of eliminations going on(wasn't the big weekend like from that picture). We stayed and watched for a short time. The Akron Rubber bowl is right next door and they were in the process of tearing it down this summer. I haven't been over that way for a few months so don't any update.

From the stories I got from my sister, employees are hit and miss. She was HR over the Romeo Ford Engine Plant. Oh, the stories I heard.

That's called "fun on Friday" at the factory.

Welcome. AMT is re-releasing a bunch of old models. I know the R model is out, along with the Cruiseliner, plus many other brands. https://www.autoworldstore.com/product-p/amt1062.htm

^^This..........

At least you aren't in SC!! Geez, we don't have squat up in Ohio. Lucky us. Man cave is looking good! Buddy just started on his 40x60. Bad weather stopped him til spring. Got the drive in and ground leveled out. Foundation will wait til spring. Trusses will be delivered shortly. Not sure if he can have them hold til spring?

But it's "automatic" now. For any steering wheel holder to be able to use.

I hand drilled all my work when I stretched the truck. I did have a large, 3/4", gear driven, all alum CP drill from way back. It was a brute. While stretching the truck, I had it sitting on the frame....and it took a header and hit the floor. Busted the handle off with the trigger switch. Ugh. Old casting, not much to try to fix so I bought a new Dewalt 1/2" drill. It finished the job just fine. I drilled/reamed all my holes, except for the aux box mounts. I do remember having to deal with that crossmember above the box. That shot looking back, you can see the shift rails just below the crossmember with the notch on the bottom. Lucky me. I might have had to drop the centerline down on the box compared to the motor/trans centerline. So the angle of the box downward in the back looks worse because of the drop in height to clear the crossmember and keep the 3-4* down angle. The nuts on the front mounts kinda get into the lower frame rail channel just due to location. It's close, but works fine. As mentioned, no crazy vibrations and I've had it near topped out at 80+ mph with the 4.10 gears out back.

Interesting thought about that valve. Sounds plausible. I think the Sealco check valves I use have a break open point like the one you show. They might not be as high as 80#? I'd have to see the specs on them. I know my truck doesn't take long to fill the two tanks I run on the main system, then it takes much longer to get the air start tank up to 120#. I can hear the check valve squeak as it works on the last few pounds.

FANTASTIC work!! WOW!!! I'm sure your wallet isn't so happy....LOL!!!

Actually I think it is the fact that most all new cars have the dash lit up 24/7. That means the clueless idiot behind the wheel doesn't realize his lights aren't on at night(in the city anyway). Thus they make automatic headlights for them, so they don't have to "think". Maybe if the car was linked to their phone, it would tell them to "TURN YOUR LIGHTS ON"...or "TURN YOUR BRIGHTS OFF"...........then they would know???? Just thinking out loud. I think the brights should automatically turn off(switch to dim) when you turn the ignition off, or at least go back to dim after say 3-4 minutes of driving. That way the idiots can't forget to turn them off or make them turn them back on if they actually do need them. Then they also have the daytime running lights, usually the hi beams on low voltage that light up the road enough for them to see. Only problem is the tail lights aren't on so it's pitch black to any car behind them. Ugh, it's a sad world we live in.

I forget if it is Holland or who? They have driver facing cameras and one veteran driver flips it off(give the bird) constantly. They are not allowed to smoke in the truck, he does...and flips the camera while smoking. He is still waiting to get written up or fired. Guess they give leeway to veteran drivers that have lots of years and no issues with. We get deliveries from most of the usual carriers, though I'm not involved with it on a regular basis like I used to be, I do talk to them if I happen to be around the docks.

Mine has the horse shoe collar around the front, and just a piece of like 2 1/2" angle across the back. Both are sitting on rubber mounts. I don't think mounting it solid would do it any good. Any frame flex would try to break the mounts. From the front looking back: Here is what the back looks like, before I got it hung up there. It hangs from rubber mounts: ( I don't have crane access where truck sat, so I had to use straps to hoist it up) Like I said, I need to check centerline heights, maybe I did drop the aux box some, but kept it at 4* down in the back to balance out the front u joints. Though since I did stretch the frame, I had plenty of room for the rear driveshaft and kept it at about the same basic angle it was before. Without some kind of frame stretch the box would not have fit with only 150" wheelbase.

ORRRRR..........just slot the bumper holes in the frame and move it til it matches the front end?? LOL!! I agree, slip the bolt out, jack the support up and slip in a thick washer(or two).

Doh....didn't think about this having tandems.

My guess that is a check valve to feed the start tank. That would be the first thing I would check/change to see if you start holding air better. I know a few times I've lost air quickly on my start tank(over a week). Only thing I can think was some piece of crud got stuck in the check valve( I use Sealco brand). They are new, but if something gets stuck it will bleed off. I've heard mentioned before about dropping the air in the main system by hitting the brakes a couple times after shutting motor off. That will drop the air pressure on the wet tank, seating the check valve better then waiting for it to slowly drop off.