bbigrig

On the flip side, a large Ontario customer in the 80's use to pull the gold Bulldogs off on delivery because they kept getting stolen and had chrome ones installed.

We use to order Midliners with Gold dogs for goodness sakes. Superdog has it right! Keep in mind everyone,for the last 35 years you could order a Gold dog off of the assembly line or have it installed on delivery just because you wanted a Gold dog. It's always been an option.

Mack Australia was a whole different ball of wax. Somehow, their engineering dept. Could dream something one night and start testing it by morning. There were Canadian customers that were willing to spend the money to purchase Australian designed Titans etc in the early 2000's just to get a heavy Mack. Those customers were basically told it will be too expensive and couldn't be converted to a left hand drive to be imported. Mack Australia seemed to be more in touch with customer needs and knew that without the customers input and design there was no product to sell. Canada's market mirrored Australia's minus the heat. Sure we do a lot of cross border freight that would require a similar spec to what's available in the US, but once we lost our engineering in Oakville assembly it seemed we had more in common with the always ahead of the curve Australian engineering.

The Canadian military has been buying all kinds of European cabovers with terrible results when it comes to reliability and parts availability. The last order of trucks went to Navistar with the condition that all trucks were built in the Chatam Ontario plant and to keep that production plant open. Navistar backed out of keeping the plant open as soon as the last truck was delivered. The Navistar trucks are broken down constantly (maxjunk). The last order of Macks the Canadian Military took were 1985 R733 tractors with 350 Cummins 15speed fullers and Neway rears on Eatons. Those tractors were in service till the early 2000's. The only thing they ever did to those trucks was switch the air starter out for electric start. I'm sure these Kerax's will be a different version of more Euro junk to keep our local dealers busier then they already are with warranty work they can't get parts for.

The Granite above is rated at just below 85000. These guys have a bunch of them with 10meter barrels all have Allison auto with Tri drive air suspensions on the rear.

I'm trying to figure out how your Granite test truck would only allow a maximum on 80,000 gross?

Both. Mack salesman here complain they loose on deals due to price more then any other reason. Guys up here that have Titans are hard core Mack guys. Good to seen but it shows that money is no object to their situation. Don't forget, the only difference between the 2 is a cab and hood. If you deny that you may need to speak to a professional. You can order almost the exact powertrain and Chassis from either sister manufacturer. It's about price or pride. Simple really. Titan isn't even considered a competing truck up here to KW, Pete or Western Star. It's almost considered a rich man's truck here. Most just buy granites or heavier pinnacles and beat the snot out of them. If they need the 15L and above power most go elsewhere. It is what it is.

The cab of the Titan does not to be as high as it is to operate in the North American climate. That design came from Australia. The Volvo VN with D16 power has that engine wedged in there and is a big seller in Northern Ontario for example. The Mack/Volvo dealer in Northern Ontario (which is logging heavy haul territory) sells WAY more Volvo D16's then Titan MP10's. The market has dictated where Volvo needs to invest or keep operating in this case. Mack engineering gave up on fitting a larger sleeper on the Titan years ago, I doubt they have any interest in outfitting the current cab CHU with MP10 power. Anything going forward would be for the new cab to be released. So everyone still has a few years of dreaming, have at 'er. When that cab is released most of the guys on here will be running for the hills because it doesn't resemble an R series cab anyway.

I totally agree with your product vision and the gaping hole that exists in Mack's product line. If you were to bring this up to a Mack "bigwig" they would most likely agree that you have a valid point about the short comings in Macks options. This has been pointed out to Mack's sales and engineering numerous times and the big picture has been explained as such.... Most dealers are Volvo/Mack now. What you can't order in a Mack, we have a Volvo that will fill that void in your needs.

The market exists, be it small as it is. Volvo offers it as the VNX and it's priced WAY cheaper then the Titan. The MP10 should have been made available long ago in something besides the over priced Titan. The D16 has been available in the VN highway trucks for years without the ridiculous heavy frame etc. Did I also mention that you can get the big engine and a huge sleeper....Volvo has things a certain way for reasons. Reasons Mack employees keep to them selves for fear of being suddenly unemployed. Great on the truck, tough sell to the Mother ship. I'd be in for that.

Did they change the sleeper? I read in the Bulldog magazine that the last Superliner that was ordered by Yaworski had a factory installed 42" sleeper???

Tallman is 72' spread usually on Neway. Back in the mid 80's they were usually Cat powered R753's with cut bumper ends.

Is that an old Cooney truck?

Will depend on what series of Mack engine after the usual Fuel filter checks. Details please.

The test truck up here was a 400 rating. It was tested at John Grant Haulage. I believe they took the truck after the testing but it was repowered before they took delivery of the RWS.

Sorry, meant 1005

There was a 1000 series and a 1001 series correct?

Thanks for clearing that up Superdog.

Is that the 1000 series (early version of E9? I remember seeing a couple and the test trucks that had them were RWS models not RWII's.

You should have a Borg-Warner Vane type turbo. Not a Holset sliding nozzle like on an MP engine.

They upgraded the design in 2008 but shelved it just before they closed the test center. I saw the mock up there on a visit right beside the Titan mock up with a Freightliner air cleaner oon one side and today's air cleaner on the other. I was told the plan was to shelve the upgrade of the LE due to the down turn in the economy at the time. It was really neat to get to tour the test center months before they closed it. I'm surprised it took this long to see the light of day.

Usually when you have boost issues and engine brake issues at the same time on an MP motor it is Turbo related. The sometimes working sometimes not working description you are giving leads me to believe it is the Turbo actuator on its way out. If the actuator fails or starts to act up it will not adjust your sliding nozzle/vanes internally to build boost. Sometimes it can be the actual internal turbo vanes/sliding nozzle but it's usually the actuator mounted externally on the Holset turbo. Your engine brake also relies on this actuator in the second stage of engine braking by producing a back pressure in the exhaust system. If the actuator acts up you will see both of these problems. The actuator is about $800-$1000 Canadian and must be timed when replaced by the dealer on a lab top. I've had a few go at about 700-800,000 kms of engine wear. We had one turbo that needed to be replaced on a 2013 because the internals seized up at 250,000kms. Hope yours is the cheap version of the fix. The turbo is expensive.

Dry or seizing u-joints in the steering shaft from the column down to the box can cause that aswell.

Dry kingpin?

That cab is made by one of those European cab manufacturers that supplies multiple companies. The same cab without the extended portion is being used on the currently offered Kenworth cabover and DAF trucks in Europe (Paccar) The Mack Freedom (marketed as the Midlum in Australia and under Renault in France) It was full of engine and wiring issues and parts availability/cost issues. Mack released it around the start of the cabover demise in the US for city deliver trucks.