Red Horse Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Well I was at JC Madigan's today (One of the larger equipment installers in New England) and took a drive through the lot. Probably 12+ new F-liner SD 114's (tandems) for Mass DOT in various stages of body plow installation. Also 5 of so Navistar 7400's and one single axle Granite- all municipal plow trucks. Allnice heavy spec trucks, all Allisons. But in looking st the chassis, I would have to say the Granite appeared to me to have the neatest plumbing/wiring. The F'liners the worst. all of the Mack wirting appeared to be tightly wrapped with a heavy tape of some sort that looked like it would do a lot to keep out dirt/moisture and the corrosion that goes along with it. the F'liners opn the other hand were pretty much all encapsulated with the cheap split plastic wrap that you get at AutoZone. The Internationals appeared to be a bit better Six pix attached: First 3 FG'linerF'Liner]Next Mack Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/29970-comparison-mack-fliner-navistar/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
2stacksuperdog Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Thats why Mack is the "Greatest name in trucks." Our town went in with the state about 5 or 6 years ago and got a Freightliner. It was the worst thing they ever did. The truck can't plow snow up a hill with a load of salt on it. All the other trucks we have are R-models ranging from 1980-2001. They also got rid of the International last year to pay for another used Mack they just finished building. 1 Quote Matt Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/29970-comparison-mack-fliner-navistar/#findComment-164784 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Horse Posted February 16, 2013 Author Share Posted February 16, 2013 Thats why Mack is the "Greatest name in trucks." Our town went in with the state about 5 or 6 years ago and got a Freightliner. It was the worst thing they ever did. The truck can't plow snow up a hill with a load of salt on it. All the other trucks we have are R-models ranging from 1980-2001. They also got rid of the International last year to pay for another used Mack they just finished building.A buddy of mine is chief mechanic for a nearby town- they did the same thing-bought a used heavy spec Mack that some other town had sold off. Had to do some work on it but they have the skills to do it-that is the key-qualified people make things happen! Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/29970-comparison-mack-fliner-navistar/#findComment-164802 Share on other sites More sharing options...
2stacksuperdog Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 A buddy of mine is chief mechanic for a nearby town- they did the same thing-bought a used heavy spec Mack that some other town had sold off. Had to do some work on it but they have the skills to do it-that is the key-qualified people make things happen!Our town is pretty self-sufficient. Our mechanic does everything himself that he can. We only got 8 or 9 trucks and about 5 or 6 fords F-150/F-350. they don't have any problems with the macks besides regular stuff that happens but the Freightliner is a whole nother story. Quote Matt Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/29970-comparison-mack-fliner-navistar/#findComment-164804 Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb502 Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 County highway dept here is all Mack for heavy trucks, always has been. They have one medium duty Mack mid liner still in the ranks too, most of the single axles are something else. I remember growing up seeing a Mack R model tractor pulling the lowboy and Dm tandem dump trucks, now its a set forward CH with the lowboy and Granite tandem dumps. I know they pondered and demo'd a Freightliner once after they got the first two Granites and nobody wanted to leave their R models for the Freightliner so they went back to Mack. TDOT has had their purchasing issues but they always end up back to Mack triaxles in the end, they have some Freightliner trucks but mostly Mack CH,CL tractors and RD, Granite dumps, actually there's a few Internationals in there too but I have never heard good things about them. Quote "Any Society that would give up a little LIBERTY to gain a little SECURITY will Deserve Neither and LOSE BOTH" -Benjamin Franklin"If your gonna be STUPID, you gotta be TOUGH" "You cant always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need" Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/29970-comparison-mack-fliner-navistar/#findComment-164834 Share on other sites More sharing options...
GearheadGrrrl Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 I've noted too- Macks have the best wiring and plumbing in the biz! Unfortunately, in government "low bid" usually wins so Navistar and Daimler just low ball their way in and push Mack out. Navistar and Daimler will sell new trucks at low profit or even a loss just to get market share, and they know they'll make it back in parts sales later! Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/29970-comparison-mack-fliner-navistar/#findComment-164898 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mack 3P Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 Happy you like the air and electric routing and clamping. We work very hard on consistent routing and are always trying to make it better.I'm surprised how many open holes are in the frame of the Freightliner. The battery cables are rubbing at the box. Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/29970-comparison-mack-fliner-navistar/#findComment-168218 Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullhusk Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 My question is this, why are the big Mack fleets changing over to other truck mfg.?? and I know it's not price. I have talked to a couple of big Mack fleets guys and thay were not to happy with the newer Macks?BULLHUSK Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/29970-comparison-mack-fliner-navistar/#findComment-168356 Share on other sites More sharing options...
HK Trucking Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 If they've got automatic transmissions in them, that pretty much renders any truck useless. Quote "If You Can't Shift It Smoothly, You Shouldn't Be Driving It" Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/29970-comparison-mack-fliner-navistar/#findComment-168507 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullheaded Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Happy you like the air and electric routing and clamping. We work very hard on consistent routing and are always trying to make it better.I'm surprised how many open holes are in the frame of the Freightliner. The battery cables are rubbing at the box.Funny you say that, I had Freightliner catch fire over the weekend because of that. Only thing that saved it was I had the dump box up to the first stage and when it burnt through the hydraulic line, the box came down and the forcing oil flow extinguished the fire. Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/29970-comparison-mack-fliner-navistar/#findComment-172336 Share on other sites More sharing options...
41180 Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 ive heard of several newer freightliners burning up , one was a cascadia only 2 yrs old burned to the ground in a matter of minutes . the guy went out and bought 2 more new coronados . go figure Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/29970-comparison-mack-fliner-navistar/#findComment-172643 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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