61sleepercab

I have a B-61 1961 model with the integral sleeper with an advanced case of rot. I believe that the regular fenders and doors from a regular B will fit. The cab was made by pie cutting the floor of a regular cab and welding inserts to widen the cab. Look under the cab and you will see what they did. I am going to take a sheet of body metal and make the back of the cab with the help of the local vo-tec body shop class who can roll the beads and bend the bottom edge for me. You will probally have to make your own panels. Fuzzy Buzzard on the site has pretty good information on the sleeper cabs. There is a riveted tag in the floor next to the seat edge on the passenger side. Fuzzy Buzzard is collecting the numbers. I have pictures of my 61 under "61sleepercab photo album #1" Good luck. Mark or "61sleepercab" I have a B-61 1961 model with the intergal sleeper with an advanced case of rot. I believe that the regular fenders and doors from a regular B will fit. The cab was made by pie cutting the floor of a regular cab and welding inserts to widen the cab. Look under the cab and you will see what they did. I am going to take a sheet of body metal and make the back of the cab with the help of the local vo-tec body shop class who can roll the beads and bend the bottom edge for me. You will probally have to make your own panels. Fuzzy Buzzard on the site has pretty good information on the sleeper cabs. There is a riveted tag in the floor next to the seat edge on the passenger side. Fuzzy Buzzard is collecting the numbers. I have pictures of my 61 under "61sleepercab photo album #1" Good luck. Mark or "61sleepercab"

I have a 1961 intregal sleeper cab truck with no headliner to go by for a replacement. Once I do the body work , I want to put a headliner in. Has anyone done this before? Any tips would be helpful.

We may need to add a gift registry site so the better halves had some idea for our Christmas presents. I have been hinting for the two stick driving video but nothing is under the tree. When you get married or have a baby they have lists at the stores so here goes. In no particular order: 1. A garage big enough to put my Macks in. 2. Diesel fuel in any quantity 3. Tires that have tread deeper than the weather cracks. 4. Floor boards that I cannot watch the road go by through. 5. A trailer to put behind my tractor. 6. To remember where I saw that stainless steel round nose trailer that looked like it needed a home. 7. 4X8 sheets of body metal to fix an intragal sleeper Mack that is held together by the rust molecules holding hands. 8. Enough time to get a Mack road worthy before my father in law the retired truck driver cannot get behind the wheel just one more time. 9. Chrome accessories 10 Cash for above! I hope you got a chuckle from my list. Merry Christmas and Have a good New Year 61sleepercab

It is hard to answer your families question as to why anyone sane would have drugg in four fourty year old trucks but here goes! I have collected many different mechanical things from mechanic's tool to gas engines to tractors and small crawlers and the family has humored my need for old iron. They did not know that deep down I had always admired B model Macks and wanted to own one. I am the county prosecuting attorney and happened to be at the right place at the right time. I was in the Sheriff's jail lobby and a local tow truck service owner stuck his head in the door and said "Hey they are trying to get me to buy Larry Reed's Mack trucks for junk and they are too big for me . Larry was deceased and his family was tired of mowing around the three Macks in a hay meadow. I contacted them and started to try to outbid the junk men and save the Macks! I got directions to the hay field and there sat three Macks were all in a row. Two single axle dumps I call "Red" and "Blue " Both B61T's and a cab and frame B613LST with no wheels or rear axles. The inspection stickers and fuel stickers were 1992 so the girls had then set for about fourteen years . They were a sight to see with all tires either busted , low or sunk in the ground. My neighbor thought I was crazzy to even make a offer but after some back and forth negoitiation, I got a phone call that all four Macks were mine . The fourth Mack was up a country road off in the briars but I will save that for later in the story. "Blue" looked like the best chance to run as she was complete. My convoy of friends complete with tools ,fuel a 1 ton winch truck and an air compresser descended on Blue. We airred up what tires that would hold air and got all four corners up with some dead duels with no hope. When the tube comes out the side of the tire is a bad sign! Ten gallon of new fuel in the tank and pumped up to the pump and the lines , we were ready to try to pull her to start. Great plan if all three of the vehicles could pull out a Mack still sunk rim deep in the pasture. No such luck as the winch just pull the rescue vehicles to the Mack. There were no trees in the pasture field but there stood an nonconnected utility pole at the very limit of our chains and winch cable. We finally got Blue free of mother earth. I did not know a lot but I did ask the question ," Would it not be a good idea to make sure the clutch works before we pull this monster and she comes to life and runs over our winch truck? Everyone agreed so we got her to a slight grade on the pasture top and got the clutch unstuck. In went the fuel kill knob and we were ready to see if she would start. In hind sight it would have been a good idea to pressurize the brake system and test that but I was not that smart on air brakes. My friend Doug was the driver and I was the spotter as he put her in a middle gear and let her roll about ten feet and let out the clutch. Blue coughed a few times and let out some blue smoke with no death rattles coming from her. We were smart enough to pull her real slow in gear to check for any thing stuck like a valve stuck or a bad rod knock before this live test. A twenty five foot roll and she spit out a mouse nest the size of your head out of what was left of the grass burner exhaust and she roared to life in a cloud of blue from the old fuel in the tank. Well I now had a running Mack going down the pasture with my friend at the wheel heading for the steep pasture bank , the county road and the Pocatalico River on the other side. I thought that this may have not been such a good idea after all . There was room to turn on a flat but before that the truck stopped on its own "Hey this thing has brakes and oil pressure, I am going to your farm" ,Doug exclaimed! I improved the brake sutiation when I closed the fully open water drain at the air tank that was blowing wide open. Blues trip home was uneventfull untill curosity got the cat and Doug just had to tromp down on the go pedal and she come to life going sideways heading over the road bank. He kept her in the road steering for all he was worth and did not try her out again. Blue has a different dump bed on her and I will treat her to some tires that have tread deeper than the weather cracks in the tires and hold air. "Red " came home on a tandem wrecker with no problem other that the one hundred yard path that I got to reseed in the meadow ( road trucks do not like pastureland.) Red's engine is a basket cas so she is for parts right now "Old Bits and Pieces" the LST got to ride a roll back truck to the farm and she is about gone but a friend needs a frame with a title to build him a Mack in the future so she may get a second chance. That leaves the " Ugly Mack" an single axle intregal sleeper road tractor that was parked in the briars and brush almost out of sight. We winched her out to the road with me steering with one hand and beating to death wasps by the dozens with my ballcap. Tip to learn was that wasps do not like noise or movement and it would be a real good idea to carry hornet spray with you in the summertime! I survived and did'nt get stung but I was ready to get out ! The sleeper cab is a 1961 model so my Mack handle became 61sleepercab. The other three trucks are 1959 models and all trucks with transmissions are duplex. Blue and Ugly Mack both yard drives but have a long way to be road worthy. I think they can be saved from the car crusher! I hope you get a chuckle out of this story. I want to thank everyone who have answered my dumb questions of the site . I will update any progress as it comes . I posted some picturs on the site . 61sleepercab (mark)

I am getting ready to tackle two of my B models. I am going to have to replace the windshield rubber. I know the origional rubber is available but is pricey. Has anyone used aftermarket bulk seal with success?

I have been combing the net and every site I know for some info on the B model integral sleeper. All pictures that I have found have quarter circle windows on the sleeper walls. My truck has vents on the side but no windows on the sleeper sides. I posted pictures as "61 sleepercab's Album # 1" . You can see from the pictures I am fighting some rust but there is still some thing to weld to. Any info or pictures will be a help. Thanks Mark

Under "61sleepercab's Album # 1" I finally got some pictures uploaded of three of my four Macks. Some of the captions do not match the pictures as I had about three lists of images and could not figure out how to view before posting. Old Blue and the Ugly Mack sleepercab both yard drives. Thanks for all the advice from everyone. I will write a truck story soon.

I changed oil in the 1961 B61T with 673 nonturbo . I am showing steady 20-25 lb oil pressure hot idle. The truck is yard driven only so I can't tell if I am near normal. I am using Valvoline 15W 40 All Fleet Plus. There was no grit or slime in the pan or the oil screen. Is 20 to 25 psi normal hot idle and what should I have on the road? Thanks Mark

Do not know why sleeper cabs rot out whether they didn't drain they sweated or they are made of thinner metal than the regular cab. Everyone I have talked to the sleepers are prone to rot. I would weigh the places were you are fixxing and the condition of donor metal from a regular cab from forming the part from new metal and welding to good metal around the hole. I would watch welding 50 year old rusty metal when you could cut out the rust and weld new metal to the area. Look on the underside of the area to see if their is a weld because some where on the window frame the sleeper roof was welded to. If you look in the floor you will see where the origional cab floor was added to widen the cab Mark

My truck has several rust sites. Worst is around the top of the cab door top and the front door post.Rust through on both sides of the cab above the drip rails above the doors and the drip rail in the sleeper. You can figure out where rain goes in and then where it runs down. Rust at the tops of the windshield posts lets water in which rots the door posts and then runs down the panel between the door and the front fender edge.Water runs down the sleeper wall and rots out the edge of the door frame towards the rear. I would check for rot at the top and bottom of the window corners and the cowl below the window posts. I would check where the cab roof curves and meets the sides of the sleeper and the top of the door frames. The only bright spot is that the drip rails are installed by screws and can be removed so we can put new metal where the roof meets the door frame. Also the body metal is thick enough to mig weld without much trouble. Hope this info helps . Mark

I am working on a B-61T single axle tractor and I am not going to trust the pancakes in tha air chambers or the axle to frame rubber air lines that may be pushing 40 years old. Where are sources for these parts and how do you identify the parts as I believe that the rear axle has been swapped out some time before. Any help would be helpful. Thanks

I have been working on a B-61T 1961 Sleeper Cab that I saved from the junk man. I know that the sleepercabs are rare, but how many are still out there and not turned into beer cans or manhole covers? The body was so bad I was afraid to show it to my friend the bodyman because I figured he would say she was a hopeless case. We have decided to mark an X on the truck and build a truck from that spot. I have two 4x8 sheets of body metal so that is a start. I have brakes and changed the oil with no sludge or coffee grounds on the oil screen or pan. I have yard drove the"Ugly Mack" ( the name given the truck by an owner's family) so there is hope. I have talked to Fuzzy Buzzard who has a sleepercab but I notice not a lot of info or pictures on the sleeper cabs. Any info or suggestions would be helpful. I saw this truck on the road still working and have talked to two former drivers of the truck and two owners or their families. The old girl started out as a Surface Bananna tractor, hauled groceries and produce for a local Foodland stores and ended her working career pulling a lowboy for a dozer and loader company.

Glad to hear of your find. My pasture bound B model had the last inspection sticker of 1991 and it was sunk in the dirt with low or flat tires. We put in 5 gallon of fuel and pumped up the fuel with the primer and pulled the old girl and she ran and had brakes. So 14 years in the field and we drove it home. Everyone I have met in Mack land have been nice and helpfull. Go luck on your R.

I let one of my Macks set a little too long and the foot valve is stuck from moisture. I am soaking it with penetrating oil and going to remove the top. Any hints from some one who has allready been there and done that. Thanks.