JoeH

Need more truck owners like him, and less shop monkey's like your Co workers! Glad there is someone taking care of their "older" stuff! Make sure you tell the truck owner not to let anyone from Molvo convince him to trade in.

So who is operating the air brakes on the Cheyenne?

I had a tractor that did this, it blew the line that runs from compressor to the governor. I've had new governor's bad out of the box. Don't rule it out.

Of course it hurts mpg. It's injecting diesel fuel right into the exhaust pipe. Unless the truck uses Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) instead.

Also important is probably safety wire. Haven't worked on this style in a few years, forget if it uses safety wire.

+1 on boost. Every Mack I have puts out around 25psi boost, and yours isn't much older. 1979 r686st, 1980 dm686sx, 1995 rd688s Disconnect puff limiter, see if you get a cloud of black smoke when you gun it. If you don't then you could have fuel issues.

Personally I think my ideal truck would be an early granite with a blown motor. Would use the cost savings on the junk motor to drop a mechanical e7 into it. Would need a little dash overhaul to accommodate it, but worth it to be emmisions and computer free. After what I've read about Volvo's BS injector cups on the mp engines I don't want anything to do with the mp series. Not sure what "legal" issues there would be with a cop at a DOT stop if he doesn't like that your engine is older than the truck. 9.5/10 times I'll bet he wouldn't even notice. And I've only been DOT stopped 2 or 3 times in the 11 years I've been driving our trucks, so I'd probably never run into the one cop that notices an older engine in a truck.

^^^ the reason to buy used: someone else takes the hit on depreciation and Lemons. I figure if its not too old and has 300k+ miles it must have been a good truck, and any major kinks have been worked out. Buy a used truck and stop making payments on the Mack. Keep a well documented explanation of everything you've been through with it so if they threaten to take you to court you're prepared. Their argument that ride alongs didn't see anything wrong probably won't hold up for the exact reason that they put a new engine in, etc. Ultimately they'll just repossess the PoS anyway, and your credit will take a big hit, which is why you get a replacement truck before stopping payments on this one. Your credit score is really the only reason to sue Mack, so you can get out of the truck with your financial reputation intact. After the fiasco with this one I don't think you even want a replacement truck from them.

Never thought about it like that red

Not mine, hood and fenders look solid. https://www.coopskw.com/product/used-mack-dm685s-for-sale-1979-18p219/

Coopersburg Kenworth probably has a few. We just bought a triaxle from them in the winter and had them keep the dump body. Truck is about a 218" wheelbase, RD690S. Steel body. I think they have a few used aluminum bodies too.

Wow 40 antiques! Easily could have cost 5k to clean that up! Well worth it if you have the extra cash laying around! Our property is zoned "light industrial" so what can pretty much do whatever we want. Except paint our house whatever color we want because we're in the "historical district." Its a stone house built in the late 1700s, but it's far enough back from the road no one bothers us when we do anything to it. Plus we're not too belligerent, owning an old house requires a certain amount of TLC, just like an old truck. You wouldn't turn a B61 into a pink Batmobile just like we wouldn't paint a rainbow on our stone house!

Put a carport over it. Ordinances probably don't forbid a portable carport, and if the chassis is inside then they can't see it.

Where are panels available from?

Probably same way this unit us completely rust free. We have owned it for decades, and all it does is load our concrete trucks, and clear the snow around the property.

White smoke is usually antifreeze. Is your head gasket bad? Was it torqued down in the right sequence?

Pics please?

I am so glad I have older trucks.

I've got a flat back r685 with pretty much same air filter housing. I think that's stock.

It's 6 speeds forward (low on the right stick sets every gear to the equivalent of the gear below it, i.e. 2nd acts like 1st, 3rd like 2nd, etc.) And 5 speeds reverse. Nothing pops a grease monkey's eyes open like shifting from 1st through fourth in reverse. And on a straight truck there is no better transmission for offroading. (3rd gear reverse has gotten me through some soft mud many times in our volumetric concrete trucks. Your momentum and continued power application is invaluable.). Only downside is these trucks tend to hit the governor around 62mph.

Best thing you can do for your back if you're going to drive this truck every day is convert the cab to air ride. This'll involve a new fuel tank support cross member, deleting the current radiator support arms from the cab (replace with a couple diagonals from the frame) and the hood bumpers on the top of the firewall need to be converting to a roller style instead of the rigid type. Might be more, but those are some important things to watch for.

Just watched the video in the ad. It's a monster. I want it.

It's the kind of thing someone like Jay leno might take an interest in. Could possibly even mount it on a rail car for transport, some freight routes are good for some pretty serious height... Just trying to be an optimist, that is some really nice old iron. I would not mind using that as a hedgerow next to the railroad along the back of our 7 acres.

If the dealers going to give you the BS run around then squirt some caulk or foam in there and call it a day. Wonder if the insulator pads the factory put in are even the right size. Maybe they used some from the 38k rears.....

Is the water pump part of the fan pulley or is that the water pump between AC and Alternator? My Cummins dodge is set up with water pump separate from fan.