mrsmackpaul

Dunno, I just blinked and poof, all gone Paul

Mark yah know, Mal the Traxcavator driver and I have been through a lot together, my mate Mal and I have been through so much, mainly shitty times I will try and describe a little, Mal and I started farming out on our own with our young families at the beginning of the very worst drought in Australian history, we watched as our hopes and dreams and all we ever worked for blew away in dust storms If any of you have heard of the dust bowl in the Pan Handle, it was like that Dust would roll in midday and blow all night Anyway Mal and farmed through this, I think the hardest part for me, was city people telling us it was our fault, pricks, I'll never forgive those woke bastards That just cut deep and changed me for ever Anyway Mal had the Traxcavator from doing contracts years before clearing scrub under power lines etc We, perhaps just me and Mal (maybe not the woman folk) enjoyed the fun, made the best of our bad situation We pushed channels in and reformed then, laser leveled paddocks for irrgation I started with my old Chamberlain and a land plane Then I bought a worn out 886 (wore it out a lot more) International Harvester 4x4 and Mal bought a old Colville scoop I know this is all old rubbish but we was both growing broke at a fast rate of knots, feeding cows in a drought isnt the right way to make money Mal had the Traxcavator and we used this for filling irrigation channels in before adjusting and reforming channels and laying out irrigation Anyway, Mal bought a old Steiger Cougar for leveling Yeah I know, nothing to do with Macks, so bare with me This is about a very Australian thing "Mateship" we were and still are a couple of odd balls that were never "kissed on the dick by a fairy" or in other words, someone that had everything they touch turn to gold Like seriously, we would have to be the two unluckiest jokers around We both bought irrgation farms in the most reliable irrigation area in Australia and it promptly turned to dust No matter how bad it got we always had tea (evening meal) on Saturday night at each others place We bloody laughed and drank, drank and laughed It really was crap, to give you a idea of just how bad it was, on average, one farmer every fortnight was topping themselves, it really was shit Mal and I just kept on laughing, mostly at our selves Anyway, way of topic now Mal had the Traxcavator and I foolishly had a vision and we were and still are the best of mates I have a video some where of the Traxcavator and lots more photos of our stupid stuff Life truely is great with great mates, stuff is always okay no matter had bigger shit sandwich your served Sorry for the waffle Paul

Yah know My mate Mal, the Traxcavator driver, he is pretty good I noticed the other night while unloading a shipping container site hut with Mal and the Traxcavator that we are officially getting older or muffler is getting worse On this delicate work I could just talk away to Mal in a fairly normal voice Not no more, few more hand gestures and a louder voice are needed

You all get the coolest gear at Richies over there compared to Richies in Australia Paul

I could pretend to know about body work, but I really am not any good with body work Looks good to my untrained eye Paul

Done, I have never been a life time VIP anything until now Keep up the good work Barry Paul

Great news and hope bub is doing well Truck looks great as well Paul

The bottom wedges are pretty much what all R and F models came out with in Australia However, they are prone to breaking studs, most are changed over to the longer wedge A fella I know lost a wheel at walking speed at Emerald in Queensland while turning at a intersection Truck is a series 1 Superliner with a V8 and ended up sitting on a fuel tank This was in the 80's, he changed over to the longer wedges and never had a issue since I still use the smaller wedge and have lost bits here and there I hear it when a stud lets go, it goes off like a gunna, followed by a very wobbly steering wheel The stud comes out pretty easy so far, I'm sure I'll run into trouble one day The smaller wedges are gunite, dunno about the spelling We put 6.5 ton or 14300 pounds on the normal 6 spoke axle, dunno how that compares to other countries Paul

Some more useless information Australian Army ones had 12.00 x 20 tyres from new Modern tubeless equivalent is 315/65R x 22.5 Paul

Tyre size depends on diff ratios front and back I would imagine that they are the same On Australian Army 6x6 R models the transfer case is two speed and is like open differential They are full time 6x6 and have a diff lock in the transfer case The front axle is a slightly different ratio to the bogies I would think your transfer case will be the same Terminal strips, I have never shopped for any but most are pretty stuffed as they are getting old now, maybe try Mack Try this for a manual, it shoukd be for a Australian 6x6 wrecker https://afmsafety.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/UHB-Mack-Heavy-Recovery-Vehicle-661517176.pdf That might have plenty of information on diffs, transfer case etc Paul

Glad you had a great time on the boat Doing nothing is hard yacka Paul

The radiator is tiny, I have never seen a R model with a small radiator, I think Australian R model Macks all had the biggest radiator as standard Paul

Well I ordered two books One for my mate who's birthday is Christmas eve and I'll wait a extra day before reading mine We are both Mack men so it should be at the very least a good chuckle for our wives to see us pretending to read while actually staring at pictures Paul

Looks comfy Swishman, you must be a good Grandad 😴, sweet dreams Paul

Welcome to the forum Looks like a heck of a work ute for tool boxes etc Air ride conversions seem to have most people slipping the new chassis rails over the outside of the old rails by a few feet and drilling and bolt it all together Paul

I would do drive that way Paul

A good look at history Paul

Great stuff Paul

Exactly what was said above, reusable fittings Apparently the correct type of hose is needed as some rubber can't handle diesel Paul

Well Thursday night I bumped into my mate Mal up the street We yarned and eventually Mal asks if I have seen how the house ended up I explain no and he whips out his phone shows me this As I understand it the dolley (joey dog or jeep or what ever you call it) was never latched on and when they went to drive forward it just sort of popped out from underneath and the whole shooting match hit the deck Anyway I suggested to Mal that he and the diff join us for tea Friday night A few drinks later after having our tea (maybe called supper in the U.S., evening meal) Mal and I are watching the fire and I reckon we can slip a chain around the front of trailer and hook this to the winch rope and winch it back onto Mrs Mack First thing this morning (Saturday) we meet there and I back the Mack in shove a chain under and around and start winching away Anyway the kingpin is on a big rectangular section that the grease plate is attached to, I forgot this and once we got that far up the winch was trying pull forward but the trailer still had to go up and 8 inches or so So we parked the Traxcavator bucket under one side and blocks of wood on the other and let the trailer down Repositioned the chain and then winched and strained and pushed and lifted and in no more 20 minutes the trailer and house was firmly attached to Mrs Mack by the grease plate And then backwards forwards and so on and a short drive and the trailer is positioned I left the Mack there with the trailer still attached as it can't fall down The old bucket of bolts to the rescue again They really are a good old truck Paul

My thoughts are really simple as that's my style Unlikely a blocked vent, most gearboxes aren't very airtight thru the gear stick etc However, my experience or lack there of tells when things like this happen the oil is frothing up in a gearbox The air bubbles take while to go down and as such the oil runs out for a while once stopped If this is the case you sort of need to be careful as the bearings might be running in froth and not oil Good news is, there's anti froth agent's to add to the oil and anti froth oil Sometimes when a PTO is added with a idler gear that runs all the time it can cause this Maybe just add sdome anti froth additibe Paul

I think even if you could get parts from Mack it would be cheaper and quicker just to rebuild things were you are Paul

Wash this out with petrol and get me some better photos and I'll have a look about Or take it to a truck place that does wheel alignments Paul

That's good news, worth effort and phone calls etc to have it all sorted Paul

Once you get the sloppiness sorted Take your time shifting, no clutch pedal all the way to the floor like a European truck as this put the ckutch brake (if it still has it fitted) on and make things harder And take your time, there's a lot more spinning around in a Maxitorque than a RoadRanger or ZF box They are pretty box I find they can't be rushed at all On a 10 or 12 speed, about 400 revs between changes On 5 or 6 speed about 800 revs They do take a bit of getting used to if you have never driven one, just take your time For the rest of you lot from Yanky land and there abouts In Australia European and Japanese trucks generally don't have a clutch brake at all, only American based trucks Most truck drivers in Australia even use the clutch brake as most are used to driving with out one Even European trucks with RoadRanger boxes don't have a clutch brake fitted Paul