bbigrig

Had a bunch of Visions even a Rawhide CHN...we were quick to purge anything from 2003 to 2007 thinking They were nothing but problems.... then we bought Pinnacles....they were good for a while but as they got older they started having the same kind of miles between breakdowns the 03-07 trucks did. Just can't win anymore.

Your comments would have more gravity to them if you owned or worked on trucks with newer, more expensive and less reliable technology. I've followed your comments on Hanks for years. I have always found you perceptive and articulate from a certain point of view, but miss the view from many other sides. Holding the bag on costly technology has cut into profits and customer satisfaction for truck owners and shops alike. I've seen lots of tech come and go on trucks in the last 30 years. This HE engine setup will be more expensive to repair on the passenger side of the engine. Anyone who knows these engines is aware of the amount of work that gets done there for both Volvo and Mack on that side. Heat rejection has always been an issue on these engines. With this design, heat will be held longer, have more parts to fail and for a small gain in HP and TQ. These systems were also designed to be mounted on European COE trucks. The entire set up is under the cab and very hard to get at. Both Volvo and Mack had to augment the cab structure and cab mounts to fit it in. Thankfully at our dealer, only one customer has been ordering them on their new VNLs. None on Anthems. There is such a thing as reaching the pinnacle of efficiency and cost effectiveness within a product offering. Our South American friends with brand new Anthems and zero Emission MP engines are much better off in all segments of efficiency and cost effectiveness. Those engines will last longer due to no EGR and far more miles between breakdowns. It's not about advancements for you to read about in Truck news next week.... It's about building a product that manufacturers can be proud of, fleet owners can rely on and people like you can have jobs turning out miles making money for everyone. Rather then being high tech, stuck in the shop for weeks costing the owners their house and livelihood. I have personally seen a small fleet in which 2 of his 2016 trucks are sitting in the back yard of the shop because the customer can't afford the $16k worth of technology advanced repair bills for the 2 rigs. They have been sitting there for 3 months now. None of the repairs are covered by warranty and are after treatment related. Not main powertrain. Turns out unicorn dust and rainbows come off the same assembly line. As an example whats available to the export market versus what we can order here in N.A. Problem is, it's out of reach for people/customers/mechanics like us that want a more reliable product to produce profits for all.

Did you know there were 5 CHs put into the C.F. fleet with factory L10 Cummins engines. They were Mack test trucks and the only CHs to ever be powered with a vendor diesel engine.

If you can get a vendor engine powered Volvo truck 6 months faster then an in-house built engine, I would say there is a supply issue. That's straight from our sales dept. It also shows that customers are much happier ordering the MP/D series engine which also good for business.

This topic depresses me..... The Volvo order delay is just as long.the only way to get a line spot quicker from Volvo is to order a VNL with a Cummins. Engine production from Hagerstown has apparently effected both truck lines. I learned something about the "float" as I believe they call it when they have built trucks on the plant property but are missing parts because of supply issues as the truck travels down the production line. Apparently, this "float" hasn't been as high as it is now in years.... from what I was told. At our dealer, I see the new Volvo VN out selling the Anthem at a ratio of over 50 to 1. I was really hoping to see Mack have a cab/bunk layout that would be comparable to the VN with the Anthems introduction. Huge disappointment. It's obvious they got very little input from competitive brand truck owners when it comes to the bunk space alone. Most Anthems I've seen going out from both our dealers and others are return customers of the Pinnacles. Unless you are a hard core Mack guy, walking into a dealer and having both VN and AN models available, I could see why more customers opt for the larger interior and higher resale of the VN. They did a really good job on the Volvo VN update. For the record, I'd still buy an Anthem over the VN. Just dont ask me to justify why....its hard to explain to others that when you feel let down by your "corporate family" somehow they still deserve your trust and loyalty. It's a fact...Mack guys are just wired differently.

From a 1976 Canadian Bulldog Magazine. They had one up here for a demo at a concrete association gathering.

A little ironic...Sims opened Savage in Utah and later Mack would take them over and build the FDM.

You can now get a 16k fr. On an Anthem...

I was surprised when Simard built the Dramis on the Granite chassis instead of the heavier Titan. Titan was still available at the time of the test trucks being built. May have come down to chassis price. The Simard group did end up going with heavier chassis builds available from other manufacturers instead of the Granite.

City of Toronto ordered 2 of those team managers. Never went into service. Sold them to somewhere in the Caribbean. Once loaded the trucks had issues stopping and the dept wasn't too happy with them. They were ordered for downtown first response.

I've thought about why they dont build a glider. One reason could be that because they build their own engines, trans, axles and emissions systems. I could see A lot of customers rebuilding their current trucks with less emissions on them to save money and not have to worry about the next step of emissions on the newest models. Selling a customer a glider with no powertrain or emission system would seriously cut into Volvos potential profit margins.

You could get the Titan from factory with planateries here when they still built the Titan. Some of the last for the Canadian Military had tri drive planetary rears. I'm not sure if those rears are optional on the granite chassis.

The Dramis Granite.... It has been replaced by either Kenworths, International or Western Star chassis

They still put Gold Bulldogs on Pedigree all Mack component ordered trucks. In Canada, Mack rear axles are not as common any more. There were a fair number of issues with 200 series carriers in the 90s and 2000s that made customers turn to Rockwell/Meritor or Eaton for heavy and highway use. The Mack axles are also more expensive on the spec I believe. Even in the last 10 years, the Mack axles have seen a high failure rate for how few are being ordered here. I see lots of Mack Axles in the States, just not up here so much. We have had a truck in the truck for almost 4 weeks waiting for a ReMack Mack Diff all because of the special carrier housing required for the torque rod of the M ride suspension. Unlike other carrier housings, the casting is different for the upper torque rod mount. The heaviest Macks up here hauling logs etc in the most severe conditions use planatery rear ends not available from Macks product line.

They have been trying out Granite Tri Drives for large stick loads in Western Canada. This one has the 14 spd M Drive.

The Dump set up on you tube you may have seen was a deal between Mack and Simard to make large tonnage haul trucks in a smaller package....i think they were called Dramis...the first trucks built were on Granit chassis but Simard decided to go with Kenworth and Western Stat as the Chassis supplier. The truck could haul 55 metric tonne if I remember correctly. Had an MP8 engine with Allison trans.

Nothing really Super about it. It would be best of they had a cooler model designation then just a Granite though. Fairly common up here. Most for the Canadian market are ordered and built as single steer with factory tridem drive and have the second steer strapped to the frame for delivery up to Simard suspension in Quebec. Trucks ordered south of the "great white north" have the twin steer factory installed at Macungie. Simard I believe holds the patent on the twin steer design and has a deal with Mack/ Simard for the shared installs. It's a set up commonly ordered for maximum gross hauling ordered by a few cement companies here in Ontario. The ones I've worked on are MP7 powered with Allison auto trans and tridem drive on air ride. Replaced an SCR can on a "Super Granite" last week. For as big a truck as it is with a mixer on its back, that MP7 and Allison go like heck.

I wonder of a CXN could take an E9? That Volvo frame may be wide enough.i think the engine compartment would be long enough? The cooling system may not be a fit if you plan on putting it to work.

I wish the engines would just get simpler to work on and maintain.... I was able to get some pictures of the only MP8HE engine coming down the grooming line at the Macungie plant on Saturday. For those that don't know, this is the engine option where the wasted heat energy from the turbo has a drive coupling back to the timing gears, producing more power and torque to the flywheel. They had to redesign the cab mounts and shave the RS cab mount plate just to get this thing under the cab. I will let time and the marketplace determine if this engine option is a success or not. I'm not looking forward to having to work on it when the time comes. The Volvo version which I've only seen 2 in use so far, has a little more room to work on.

That's funny.... Ironically, Toyota owns Hino I believe. They make a very reliable product. They can be a pain in the ass to work on at times but a close friend owns a Hino Service dealer. Very seldom does a valve cover come off. Seem like they will be into the class 8 market this year...should be interesting. Hino Canada has been very responsive to customer issues. They build some of them here in Woodstock Ontario at the Toyota plant.

We had a beauty a few months ago. Had a Volvo with a D13 drop a valve seat, ordered a "factory" rebuilt head from Volvo slap it back together days later the truck comes back pushing coolant.....replaced cups on reman head...truck hasn't been back... We now joke that cups need to be done like spark plugs. Cups should be made a routine maintenance item. One mixer we have in the shop from a large customer that orders Granites annually has an MP7 that has had 2 sets of cups and injectors, usual dpf and SCR issues, has had the double idler and flywheel housing done a few years ago and now needs a reseal on the flywheel plate from the idler job years ago. They have several engines that have had the same batch of issues. Truck isn't even 7 years old. That engine hasn't had the bottom end touched yet but has cost over 30k in engine maintenance. These are 7 month a year trucks up here in useage. Imagine the cost over a fleet of them versus older mixers in the fleet. They love their DMs and RBs for a reason.

You raise a very good point....Mack Engines started going down hill with E-Tech. They were a joy to work on and operate before 1998.

The Renault name casting is only on the e tech 1998 and newer I believe, not the PIN engine that was developed in the late 80s.