TeamsterGrrrl

There's a similar lawsuit being developed against ExxonMobil, looks like a similar fact situation. These suits are modeled on the tobacco litigation where evidence that the tobacco companies knew of the risks of tobacco but hid that knowledge and continued to promote their harmful product. These suits look to be as financially potent against the oil companies as the tobacco suits were against the tobacco companies... Thus I have largely divested from oil and suggest others do so as well.

Bid sheet prices them at a little over $4k extra now.

Kinda confirms my suspicions- The Super Econodyne makes sense, but a good driver with a Maxitorque can beat the Volvo AMT. Same with the rear axles- It's hard to beat the near perfect driveline angles and low parasitic power losses of Mack axles. And now we find that the Mack cab is slipperier than Volvo's, despite being a decade older!

I'm not saying buy new, that's a questionable strategy for a truck that will work only one shift a day part of the year. But a 10 year old Granite will run rings around a Superliner and get better MPG doing it. As for electronic controls they have many advantages such as better cold starting, diagnostics, and fuel economy... You just have to get the diagnostic software and learn the skills to use it. When you invest in quarter century old obsolete technology you run the risk of losing your entire investment when something like the engine that costs more to rebuild than the truck is worth fails or you can't get parts anymore... Better to have something 10 to 20 years old you can still get parts for.

But that would make too much sense! I'm amazing that a twin steer is considered "exotic" and thus overpriced here in North America when it really doesn't cost much more to build than a steerable pusher or tag. Never made sense to me why someone would build monstrosities with but one steered axle, two fixed drive axles, and as many as 4 axles controlled by nothing more than big steering dampers. Seems like the only maker that gets it here in North America is Daimler's Western Star, they quoted a twin steer for little more than the price of a steerable pusher or tag... Mack and the rest generally quote a $30k or more upcharge for a twin steer.

They're stuck in the 53 foot trailer 80,000 pound gross weight rut. The world's most common freight container is the 40 foot intermodal box, something like 30 million of them out there and most of the container ships and many intermodal rail cars are designed to accommodate them. The 53 is a North American oddball, only 3 million of them in existence and they sorta fit the intermodal cars with some 28s mixed in and they fit almost none of the container ships. As for weight, the U.S. 80k limit is the lowest of any industrialized country. Real efficiency isn't measured in MPG, it's measured it ton-miles per gallon. Making an obsolete inefficient design like a standard U.S. rig get a few more hundredths of an MPG doesn't accomplish much, for real efficiency and productivity gains we need bigger and heavier trucks. A 30 meter (98 foot) combination with double 40s would offer a third more cube with about the same MPG as a single 53. A 13 axle 30 meter doubles combination under Formula B would give twice the payload of an 80k pounds combination and easily at least a 50% improvement in ton MPG with lower axles weights and less road wear. But Noooo! Instead the so called leaders of the trucking "industry" are trying to beat more work out of drivers for less money and more miles from a gallon of diesel, ignoring the fact that the real productivity gains of bigger trucks will allow them to pay higher wages and enjoy higher profits... A short sighted lot they are!

As for the Spicer transmission, got "stuck" with one for about a week, was a 10 speed splitter behind an 8V-71. For hauling bread with the 2100 RPM governed speed it worked pretty nice, you'd typically start out in 2nd high, shift full gear jumps to 3rd high and 4th high, then 5 low and 5 high.

I've also seen pictures of the Brigadier sold in South America with Volvo emblems. They had very high import duties in many south american countries, so manufacturers were forced to do local assembly despite the small volumes. To accomplish that they used the leftover tooling for obsolete U.S. and European models, which explains why these countries got brand new Falcons and Fairmonts for decades after they were replaced in the U.S, market.

On a 25 year old truck I'd probably leave it just like it is, probably never make back the cost of adding axles, stretch, etc..

You might want to look into joining some organisations... I get back more than my Farmer's Union membership in discounts every year. Farm Bureau has some good discounts on new GM trucks, IIRC, and many groups get motel discounts. But the 20% Farmer's Union discount is the most generous I've seen lately, though a couple decades ago Best Western had a real generous trucker's discount booklet.

Hostess was a 99% COE fleet until the mid 80s when conventionals started creeping in. Many of the drivers preferred the old cabovers and hung on to them 'til they were scrapped despite being offered new conventionals. Same at UPS, I remember high seniority drivers who hung on to the MHs until they were scrapped.

The F150 and any other modern pickup boxes do fine if you don't throw concrete blocks and near 30 pound "toolbox"s at 'em. And if you insist, you can still have a V8 in a new F150. But if you want pushrods, you'll have to buy a Chevy...

I assume you're weight limit is set by Bridge Formula around KC, does the extra wheelbase give you that much more payload?

This is pure PR BS. Battery life is the limiting factor in the range of any electric vehicle, and a helicopter is even more wasteful than an aircraft. Thus if you're going to design a small delivery drone, to get the best range you're going to design a wheeled vehicle. For safety reasons you want it to be small and operate in places where there is little traffic... Thus the first working drones will be something along the lines of a big RC truck or a small ATV. They'll be used first in rural areas and controlled environments like corporate campuses until they're developed to the point where they can be turned loose in the general population.

A lot of the companies that make tags recommend against using them on dump trucks because of the extremely heavy loads on the rearmost axle when dumping. There is also the issue of frame strength- Was your Mack's frame designed to carry as much weight as you're proposing?

As a Farmer's Union member I get 20% on most of the Wyndham motels, ends up costing about the same as Motel6 with free breakfast and WiFi thrown in.

Agreed- Unless you have a special need for a set forward axle, the axle back models will give better fuel economy almost every time. As for other specs, the MP8 445 HP rating is reckoned by many to give better MPG. Also, you might want to consider Mack's "Super Econodyne" low RPM ratings, but you might want to skip the Volvo Automated Manual Transmission they like to stick behind it. And as long as you've got financing, maybe shop dealer stock nationwide or even order a truck built to your spec...

Every trailer sold in the U.S. for the last couple decades has ABS, which uses hundreds of solid state devices that don't tolerate reverse voltage. Hopefully the ABS manufacturers have reverse voltage protected their products, but I'd consult with the ABS or trailer manufacturer before plugging in. Better yet, convert the Mack to negative ground so you can use modern radios, etc..

To put this in perspective, Those 34,125 who made it into court is .01% of the current U.S. population... Denying them a hearing will have virtually no effect on U.S. population growth or more likely, loss.

Step one for dictatorships: Eliminate the free press.

If you have problems with the actuator again, you might see if you can buy just the actuator alone. I had similar problems with a 2003 VW TDI, actuator completely rusted up when I parked it during a humid July. Got it loose with penetrating oil, but still went into limp mode and threw a code once in awhile. VW only supplies the actuator with the turbo, but I found a supplier that sells the actuator alone and just installed it... The power is back, and no codes!

My kinda democrats!

Keep in mind that this truck was built when the speed limit was 55 MPH...

Good catch there Swishy, liftable and driveable axles are catching on everywhere but North America now. IIRC one of our posters, "Mackville", built a lifting and driven 3rd axle to turn a Mack tandem into a Tridem. Reportedly Mack engineers even came by to take a look at it, wonder if his invention wasn't the inspiration for the Euro driven and liftable axles we're now seeing? As far as the engine choice, could be that the Sisu doesn't have enough power or maybe they needed a Euro 6 engine?

Even if that $25B number were true, California could afford it. California alone would be one of the world's top 10 economies, it's the southern states that really suck up the federal funds. If the U.S. divides into several nations the more prosperous states like the west coast ones (Cascadia) and the northeastern ones will be the first to secede. Nobody will want "welfare states" like Alabama, Mississippi, South Dakota, etc.. and what's left of the U.S. will be stuck with them.