rhasler

News release from Mack Trucks, should be of some interest: GREENSBORO, NC (March 17, 2011) – The truck that established Mack Trucks, Inc.’s reputation for durability and reliability is headed to Las Vegas. The original “Bulldog” – a 1916 Mack AC model – will be showcased at the Mack booth (South Hall, #9011) during the CONEXPO-CON/AGG show at the Las Vegas Convention Center, March 22-26. “There’s no bulldog on the hood of this early truck, but it’s the truck that gave Mack its Bulldog-tough identity,” said Mike Reardon, Mack vice president, marketing. When World War I broke out, the tough AC Model with its chain drive rear axle was called upon to help accomplish nearly impossible civilian and military tasks. During the war, Mack delivered approximately 3,000 AC Models of the 3 1/2, 5 1/2, and 7 1/2 ton capacity to the United States government and its allies. The AC truck earned the nickname “Bulldog” from British soldiers while it was busy dodging bullets and trudging through the mud in France. The truck’s unique blunt-nosed design and its tenacious ability to get through anything with the supplies needed at the front reminded British troops of their own bulldogs. When they faced difficult terrain or a situation that called for the most reliable trucks, it is said that British soldiers would call out, “Aye, send in the Mack Bulldogs!” The AC model, manufactured continuously through 1938, played a large role in the WWI Allied effort, and made an even larger contribution to the trucking industry during its last 20 years of production. The AC became the standard of the construction industry, as well as other applications that required a high performance, rugged vehicle. Construction of skyscrapers, subways and dams as well as logging, mining and heavy general hauling in most cases were done with AC Model Mack trucks. The Mack AC to be in Las Vegas is the first one ever built. It was initially displayed at the Boston Auto Show in January 1916. This truck's permanent home is the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum in Walcott, Iowa. “The AC gave Mack international fame,” said Reardon. “Today, decades later, people around the world continue to feel strongly connected to this iconic brand.” Current models – including the MACK® Granite® series and Titan by Mack on display at CONEXPO – are obviously very different than the AC model. “Today’s Mack trucks feature the latest powertrain, safety and efficiency technologies and cab comforts,” said Reardon. “But our commitment to reliability, durability and getting the job done has remained unchanged.”

Beginning to wonder myself, kinda quiet without the old coot around here...

You got that right!

Randy, that's not a bad price for the drain pan, at least if compared to some other ones that are on the market. I've seen similar pans from John Dow Industries being sold for close to $600! The one you bought looks a lot better than the plastic Lisle ones we have at work, and I think they were close to the same price, and they didn't include any kind of grate over the pan to catch dropped bolts, wrenches, kittens, watch crystals, etc. If you keep making such fiscally prudent purchases you'll probably put enough pennies away to get that second tool box!

Hard to get that idea through to some people

A guy a couple of streets up from me works for the Caterpillar distributor, and until recently had been assigned an Ford F650 (I assume because it was available with a Caterpillar engine) for his field service truck. The other day I saw that he had a new truck in his driveway with a new service body (but not yet marked up with the company logo and signage). I took some pictures of it today and was somewhat surprised to see that he is now driving a Freightliner complete with SCR! Here are some pictures of it anyway:

If that much coolant was leaking into the engine I would expect to see it in the oil. If you have a Mack transmission with an oil cooler you might want to take a look inside the transmission case (through the fill plug opening) or drain the oil from it and check for rust in the case or antifreeze mixed with the oil.

Life as a child in Mississippi Around age 10, my dad got me one of those little badass compound bow beginner kits. Of course, the first month I went around our land sticking arrows in anything that could get stuck by an arrow. Did you know that a 1955 40-horse Farmall tractor will take 6 rounds before it goes down? Tough! That got boring so being the 10-year-old Dukes of Hazard fan that I was, I quickly advanced to taking strips of cut up T-shirt doused in chainsaw gas tied around the end, and was sending flaming arrows all over the place. Keep in mind this was 99.999% humidity swampland so there really wasn't any fire danger. I'll put it this way - a set of post hole diggers and a 3 foot hole, and you had yourself a well. One summer afternoon, I was shooting flaming arrows into a large rotten oak stump in our backyard. I looked over under the carport, and see a shiny brand new can of starting fluid (ether). The light bulb went off. I grabbed the can, and set it on the stump. I thought that it would probably just spray out in a disappointing manner...lets face it, to a 10-year-old mouth-breather like myself, ether really doesn't "sound" flammable. So I went back into the house, and got a one-pound can of pyrodex (black powder for muzzle loader rifles). At this point, I set the can of ether on the stump, and opened up the can of black powder. My intentions were to sprinkle a little bit around the ether can, but it all sorta dumped out on me. No biggie... one pound of pyrodex and 16 oz. ether should make a loud pop, kinda like a firecracker, you know? You know what? Screw that! I'm going back in the house for the other can. Yes, I got a second can of pyrodex, and dumped it, too. Now we're cookin'... I stepped back about 15 feet, and lit the 2 stroke arrow. I drew the nock to my cheek, and took aim. As I released it, I heard a clunk just as the arrow launched from my bow. In a slow motion time frame, I turned to see my dad getting out of the truck... OH NO! He just got home from work. So help me, it took 10 minutes for that arrow to go from my bow to the can. My dad was walking towards me in slow motion with a WTF look in his eyes. I turned back towards my target just in time to see the arrow pierce the starting fluid can right at the bottom. Right through the main pile of pyrodex, and into the can. Oh. No. When the shock wave hit, it knocked me off my feet. I don't know if it was the actual compression wave that threw me back or just reflex jerk back from 235 decibels of sound. I caught a half a millisecond glimpse of the violence during the initial explosion, and I will tell you there was dust, grass, and bugs all hovering 1 foot above the ground as far as I could see. It was like a little low to the ground layer of dust fog full of grasshoppers, spiders, and a crawfish or two. The daylight turned purple. Let me repeat this...THE DAYLIGHT TURNED PURPLE. There was a big sweetgum tree out by the gate going into the pasture. Notice I said "was". That thing got up and ran off. So here I am, on the ground blown completely out of my shoes with my thundercats T-Shirt shredded, my dad is on the other side of the carport having what I can only assume is a Vietnam flashback: ECHO BRAVO CHARLIE YOUR BRINGIN' EM IN TOO CLOSE!! CEASE FIRE. DAMNIT CEASE FIRE!!!!! His hat has blown off, and is 30 feet behind him in the driveway. All windows on the north side of the house are blown out, and there is a slow rolling mushroom cloud about 2000 feet over our backyard. There is a Honda 185s 3-wheeler parked on the other side of the yard, and the fenders are drooped down, and are now touching the tires. I wish I knew what I said to my dad at this moment. I don't know. I know I said something. I couldn't hear. I couldn't hear inside my own head. I don't think he heard me either... not that it would really matter. I don't remember much from this point on. I said something, felt a sharp pain, and then woke up later. I felt a sharp pain, blacked out, woke later.... repeat this process for an hour or so, and you get the idea. I remember at one point my mom had to give me CPR so dad could beat me some more. Bring him back to life so dad can kill him again. Thanks Mom. One thing is for sure... I never had to mow around that stump again. Mom had been bitching about that thing for years, and dad never did anything about it. I stepped up to the plate, and handled business. Dad sold his muzzle loader a week or so later. And I still have some sort of bone growth abnormality either from the blast or the beating. Or both. I guess what I'm trying to say is, get your kids into archery. It's good discipline and will teach them skills they can use later on in life.

Well I'll be! That's neat as all get out, when I enlarge the picture I can even see the back of the dump box in the mirror! That's a heck of a camera, better watch out that Otherdog doesn't come borrow it while he's down that way.

The nut/cap on the bottom of the spindle does not have a torque. Tighten the nut by hand until snug, the spindle will not rotate at this point because of the load on the bearing that sits in the nut/cap, you will then back the nut off until the slots line up and the new cotter pin can be installed. After the slot is aligned make sure the spindle rotates freely. If it doesn't it indicates that the nut is too tight or that you have possibly damaged the upper bearing or (more likely) the lower bushing. The bushing should not require reaming. MAKE SURE TO SEAT THE PIN IN THE AXLE PRIOR TO INSTALLING THE NUT/CAP.

Just to clarify, this is NOT something I did, just an email I received that I also found to be quite humorous

Nothing else going on, so without further ado, here's this fine story about MRE's (thank you Veterans): I had a date the other night at my place. On the phone the day before, the girl asked me to "Cook her something she's never had before" for dinner. After many minutes of scratching my head over what to make, I finally settled on something she has DEFINITELY, definitely had never eaten before. I got out my trusty case of MRE's. (Meal, Ready-to-Eat) Field rations that when eaten in their entirety contain 3000+ calories in each meal. Here's what I made: I took three of the Ham Slices out of their plastic packets, took out three of the Pork Chops, three packets of Chicken-a-la-king and eight packets of dehydrated butter noodles and some dehydrated/rehydrated rice. I cooked the Ham Slices and Pork Chops in one pan, sauted in shaved garlic and olive oil. In another pot, I blended the Chicken a-la-king, noodles, and rice together to make a sort of mush that looked suspiciously like succotash. I added some spices, and blended everything together in a glass pan that I then cooked in the oven for about 35 minutes at 450 degrees. When I took it out, it looked like, well, ham slices, pork chops, and a bed of yellow poop. I covered the tops of the meat in the MRE cheese (kinda like Velveeta) and added some green sprinkly things from one of my spice cans (hey, if it has green sprinkly things on it, it looks fancy right? For dessert, I took four MRE Pound Cakes, mashed 'em up, added five packets of cocoa powder, powdered coffee cream, and some water. I heated it up and stirred it until it looked like a sort of chunky gelatinous xxxxxxx, and I sprinkled powdered sugar on top of it. Voilaanger Pudding. For alcoholic drinks, I took the rest of my bottle of Military Special Vodka (yes, they DO make a type of liquor named "Military Special"...it sells for $4.35 per fifth at the Class Six) and mixed in four packets of "Electrolytes - 1 each - Cherry flavored" (I swear, the packet says that). It looked like an eerie Kool-Aid with sparkles in it (that was the electrolytes I guess... Could've been leftover sand from Egypt ). I lit two candles, put a vase of wildflowers in the middle, and set the table with my best set of Ralph Lauren Academy - series China (that stuff is EXPENSIVE... My set of 8 place settings cost me over $600 on sale at the Lejeune PX), and put the alcoholic drink in a crystal wine decanter. She came over, and I had some appetizers already made, of MRE spaghetti-with-meatballs, set in small cups. She saw the dinner, saw the food, and said "This looks INCREDIBLE!!!" We dug in, and she loved the food. Throughout the meal, she kept asking me how long it took me to make it, and kept remarking that I obviously knew a thing or two about cooking fine meals. She kind of balked at the make-shift "wine" I had set out, but after she tried it I guess she liked it because she drank four glasses during dinner. At the end of the main course, when I served the dessert, she squealed with delight at the "Chocolate mousse" I had made. Huh? Chocolate what? Okay... Yeah... Its Chocolate Moose. Took me HOURS to make... Yup! Later on, as we were watching a movie, she excused herself to use my rest room. While she was in there, I heard her say softly to herself "uh oh" and a resounding but petite fart punctuated her utterance of dismay. Let the games begin. She sprayed about half a can of air freshener (Air Freshener, 1 each, Orange scent. Yup. The military even makes smell-good) and returned to the couch, this time with an obvious pained look. After 10 more minutes she excused herself again, and retreated to the bathroom for the second time, I could hear her say, "What the hell is WRONG with me???" as she again send flatulent shockwaves into the porcelain bowl. This time, they sounded kinda wet, and I heard the toilet paper roll being employed, and again, LOTS more air freshener. Back to the couch. She smiles meekly as she decides to sit on the chair instead of next to me. She sits on my chair, knees pulled up to her chest, kind of rocking back and forth slightly. Suddenly, without a word, she ROCKETED up and FLEW to the bathroom, slammed the door, and didn't come out for 30 minutes. I turned the movie up because I didn't want her to hear me laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my cheeks. She came out with a slightly gray pallor to her face, and said "I am SOOOOOO sorry. I have NO idea what is wrong with me. I am so embarrassed; I can't believe I keep running to your bathroom!!" I gave her an Imodium AD, and she finally settled down and relaxed. Later on, she asked me again what I had made for dinner, because she had enjoyed it so much. I calmly took her into the kitchen and showed her all the used MRE bags and packets in the trash can. After explaining to her that she had eaten roughly 9,000 calories of "Marine Corps Field Rations" she turned stark white, looked at me incredulously, and said "I ate 9,000 calories of dehydrated food that was made 3 years ago?" After I admitted it, she grabbed her coat and keys, and took off without a word. She called me yesterday. Seems she couldn't shit for 5 days, and when she finally did, the smell was so bad, her roommate could smell it from down the hall. She also told me she had been working out nonstop to combat the high caloric intake, and that she never wanted me to cook dinner for her again, unless she was PERSONALLY present and supervising. It was a fun date. She laughed about it eventually and said that that was the first time she'd ever crapped in a guy's house on a date. She'd been so upset by it she was in tears in the bathroom while I had been in tears on the couch. I know... I'm an asshole, but it was still a funny night.

Believe it or not, there was one of those (Galion) sitting around not too long back when they were building some new houses around here. A couple of weeks ago in the same area a man was killed by a Volvo track hoe with a mulching attachment as it cleared brush and trees. Apparently he was "sleeping" in the area and some how was not wakened by the machinery ripping through the trees. Sorry, no pictures of either piece of equipment, Otherdog would be so ashamed.

Those are thrust washers.

Randy, this sounds like it's right up your alley. You'd put all those Euclids, Clines, etc. to shame!

At least you made it (in one piece?). Where are the picture of the road trip?

Here are a couple more pictures of it. Left rear mounting of sleeper. Left front cab mount Engine compartment from the right side.

I like to take pictures too, here are a few recent ones. 1985 R model electrical pole truck Pictures of the gas engine and turntable mounted on the truck for setting poles.

I think you're on the right track there. Maybe an overfilled differential or inter-mixed gear lubes.

By the way does your truck have some kind of weird Rockwell automated transmission in it?

QC, I think this is what you're looking for, it's originally from an old bulletin that was added to the AL and AL II Service Manual. It describes how to install the pads on chassis that did not originally have them. I think on the later suspensions these were held on with roll pins, it seems like there was a service bulletin or something about them but I haven't been able to find it. The part referred to is a slipper pad, your chassis shows that it uses slipper pad part number 4000-56929 and roll pin part number 4000-582871. Those part numbers should change to a newer number, they are Hendrickson numbers. I think all you should need to do is raise the rear of the main support leaf to relieve pressure from the slipper pads, drive the roll pins out, install new slipper pads, and drive in new pins. Here are the instructions on installing the pads on chassis not originally equipped with them. To equip a chassis with slipper pads, four slipper pads 55QF41, eight retainer plates 71RU310P103, and sixteen 3/8" hex head self-tapping screws 131AX280 will be required. The vehicle must be empty of all load when installing slipper pads (i.e., work on an empty vehicle). Before beginning the installation procedure, take the following precautions: Chock the wheels of all axles. Support the frame with frame stands. Support the axles with jackstands. Release all air from the air springs. Replace or install the frame hanger slipper pads, using the following steps: Complete the left and right sides for each axle at the same time. Remove the rebound bolt locknuts, washers, bolts, spacers and rollers. The torque rods can remain in place. Apply an upward force on the cross-channel section (cross tube) or the lower air spring brackets with a jack or pry bar. This causes the tips of the main support members to drop away from the cam surface of the spring hanger. Inspect the top sides of the main support members. If wear is uneven (i.e., grooving marks are not parallel), replace both right and left main support members. If grooves are parallel, or if wear is even, and wear on main support members does not exceed 3/8 inch (10 mm) the existing support members can be reused. Inspect the frame hanger legs for wear. Replace the frame hanger if wear exceeds 1/8 inch (3 mm). If slipper pads were not previously used, or if existing slipper pads have worn through, also inspect the frame hanger cam area. Replace frame hangers if cam wear is uneven or if the cam area is cracked or worn through. Remove the worn slipper pads (if used) and place new slipper pads on the frame hangers. If pads were not previously installed, use a slipper pad as a guide, and drill four 11/32-inch holes in each frame hanger.Make sure that the slipper pad is seated against the frame hanger cam surface before drilling holes. Improper seating results in poor slipper pad service life. Position retainer plates over the slipper pads. Apply lubricating oil to 3/8-inch self-tapping screws. Insert and tighten screws to 25 lb-ft (34 N•m). Release the jack or pry bar on the cross tube or lower the air spring brackets, allowing the main support members to move up to the new slipper pads. Early production models used two sizes of rebound rollers. On chassis with slipper pads, use the smaller-diameter rebound roller (part No. 10QK269M). Assemble the rebound rollers, spacers, bolts, washers and locknuts. Torque the locknuts to 50–70 lb-ft (70–95 N•m). For tandem axle suspensions, repeat this procedure on the other axle.

WaterPower.wmv

Glad to hear that, I know the situation you're in there, the same thing happened with my step mom. Just wait until "Spot and the Double Dog Dilemma" comes out!

I wondered where he was. My wireless router booted me out of the site last week and I couldn't get back in till I reset it.