When Scania trucks roamed North America

[kscarbel]

In 1985, Scania entered North America with an impressive truck line-up. The effort failed more due to an arguably flawed market launch strategy than the product itself. Scania’s plan was to first penetrate only the Northeast U.S., and then grow outwards throughout the rest of the country.

Scania felt their trucks, designed for the global market’s higher GCW’s, were better suited for the eastern U.S. where trucks were more heavily spec’d. Scania at that time had not engineered lightened models for the weight sensitive U.S. “west coast” market.

At its peak in the U.S. market, Scania had 17 dealers in the northeast and central part of the country.

The low COE “P” cab was designed for the MC/MR applications, while the high COE “R” cab and conventional “T” cab were for the long distance on-highway market. Features like air ventilation filters, unheard of back then on U.S. trucks, were standard equipment.

In Scania speak, the earlier trucks were “2-series” (2nd generation) Scania trucks. The newer 3-series appeared in the 1987-88 time frame.

An example of the model designation breakdown is:

R112M

R - cab type (high COE cab)

11 – engine size (liters)

2 – series (generation)

M – Chassis class - medium (spec’d for operation on surfaced and well-maintained road)

Most were equipped with Scania’s own 11-liter engine, rated at 308 horsepower DSC11(06) and 341 horsepower DSC11(03). There was some criticism about the lack of a 13-liter engine for long-distance hauling, but actually 350hp was the mainstream rating at that time so the Scania 341hp engine was competitive.

Note: Scania’s 14.19 liter DSC14 V-8 of the time (and by no coincidence the same displacement as the Mack ENDT866), was available up to 500 horsepower and at least one example was sold in the U.S. market (pictured below pulling for Watkins) with an extended length sleeper cab.

U.S. market Scania’s typically had a fully synchronized Scania GR871 10-speed transmission which was a pleasure to shift.

The North American Scania customers quickly developed a strong loyalty for these trucks and praised them for their fuel economy.

On June 18, 1992, Scania U.S.A. Inc. announced it would discontinue the importation of heavy trucks effective December 31, 1992.

The last customer-ordered Scania was delivered to a U.S. customer in 1992 (which was actually a newer 3-series P113HL)

If Mack was to be acquired by a Swedish truckmaker, it should have been Scania. Mack Trucks had a very successful decades-long relationship with Scania going back to April 10th, 1949.

Scania continues to provide after-sales support in the U.S. market via its industrial and marine engine unit. (http://www.scaniausa.com)

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[other dog]

good looking trucks too, they really deck some of them out in Europe!

[GearheadGrrrl]

There's am owner operator in southern MN who bought a tandem conventional with the V8 new. I haven't seen him in a few years, but last I heard he had 1,300,000 miles on the Scania with an engine rebuild at 800,000.

[REEL ADDICTION]

There are a bunch of them still on the road here in nj My buddy use to have a scania triaxle dump truck it was very economical

[RFCDrum]

That company in Newark TRMA? imports parts I think and is the go to guy for Scania.

Cheers, Rob

[daveigou]

Might be good trucks, not much dealer support, imagine taking one of those to your local truck shop for parts and repairs. And if you think a Volvo has a sharp depreciation curve, try trading a Scania back to any new truck dealer. Here we go again, trying to compare apples to pears, a product from the past to current product.

[storkmack]

There's one running around Chicagoland pulling a lowboy. -Brad

[vision386]

When i worked for Atlas Van Lines as a company driver,we got one of these as a "loaner" from the local Freightliner dealer when my tractor was having the leaking windshield "fixed" for about the 15th time. They had just became a Scania dealer,and were really pushing these trucks,i drove one like the one in the picture for about a week,what a shitwagon! had about as much power as an air-cooled VW beetle,about as much room inside,some kind of convuluted 7 speed direct trans. with the most annoying "shift indicator" light on the dash,so bright it would blind you at nightime! i could'nt wait to get the POS Freightliner back! thats how crappy this truck was! and at the time it was brand new!..................................Mark

[theakerstwo]

I remenber back in themid 60s when there was some B models here with the sanie engine in it. END 475

[kscarbel]

Scania has become one of the best heavy truckmakers in the world, and arguably superior to Volvo in every way. Here are a few shots of the company's recent offerings.

The Mack-Scania relationship, both acknowledged and otherwise, was very in-depth for years.

I test drove vocational 308hp Scania chassis and found them competitive with the Mack DMs we sold at the time with EM6-250, -275 and -300 engines.

In the R and T highway models, the performance of the 341hp engine was comparable to the Mack E6-350 2vh.

Today's Scania 9.3L, 11.7L and 12.7L inline-6 engines, and 16.4L V-8s (520, 580, 720hp), are all cutting edge.

Cummins has a joint venture with Scania producing advanced high pressure fuel systems (Cummins-Scania XPI Manufacturing LLP).

Scania is present in every global market today, except North America. They discontinued the conventional cab T-series in 2005, and now only build cabovers (the global market preference).

[607t1173]

I've bought several DM400's and one R400 with Scania engines and we always replaced the no horse power Scania engines with 237 Maxidyne engines backed by 8LL transmissions to compensate for the low ratio rears,these dumptrucks would only run 48 MPH. At one time the Scania powered Macks sold for about 60% of the value of a pedigreed Mack. At auction, it was difficult to sell what otherwise were good selling dumptrucks, because they were Scania powered.

[2stacksuperdog]

All the ones around here either burned or broke down. One company bought about 10 and 8 burned. There were two tri-axles but those finally fell apart. our town had a R-400 with a scania motor and well that burned 2 years ago

[kscarbel]

On 2/25/2013 at 6:33 PM, 607t1173 said:

I've bought several DM400's and one R400 with Scania engines and we always replaced the no horse power Scania engines with 237 Maxidyne engines backed by 8LL transmissions to compensate for the low ratio rears,these dumptrucks would only run 48 MPH. At one time the Scania powered Macks sold for about 60% of the value of a pedigreed Mack. At auction, it was difficult to sell what otherwise were good selling dumptrucks, because they were Scania powered.

The Scania DS8 (Mack ENDT475, ET477, E4-210) was a turbocharged 6-cylinder 7.8-liter (475 cu.in.) engine. When spec'd for the application it was intended, it performed superbly.

Morgan Millwork ran several hundred Scania-powered Mack R-487P box trucks on the east coast and was thrilled with their reliability and fuel economy.

However, whenever the 7.8-liter Mack-Scania engine was spec'd to get the sell price down in an application that actually needed the larger 11-liter (672 cu.in.) 237 Maxidyne, naturally like any overworked engine, it didn't meet expectations. I recall a municipal-owned 6x4 MB front-end loader garbage truck that blew up every 2 years. That was to be expected (and that truck should have never been built).

[bulldogboy]

I remember several local "R" and "MB" model fire engines that had Scania engines. I assume that Mack offered these as a lower cost option to help win municipal bids. Did Mack find this more cost effective than building its own smaller diesel?

bulldogboy

[607t1173]

I am a COE enthusiast and the examples in the above pic's sure make me nostalgic for the good old days when cabovers ruled the interstates. I have no doubt that COE's will one day make a comeback in America.

I agree that to many city and county governments under spec'd trucks taking for granted that they were saving on their initial investment and not knowing or even caring about the long term durability or eventual resale value.

I know that in the late 90's that I was ordering 10 new RD's and that the salesman tried to talk me into buying DM's cause I could get 11 DM's for the same investment. I still bought the RD's inspite of the salesmans logic of save now and don't worry about thedurability and resale

[2stacksuperdog]

I am a COE enthusiast and the examples in the above pic's sure make me nostalgic for the good old days when cabovers ruled the interstates. I have no doubt that COE's will one day make a comeback in America.

I agree that to many city and county governments under spec'd trucks taking for granted that they were saving on their initial investment and not knowing or even caring about the long term durability or eventual resale value.

I know that in the late 90's that I was ordering 10 new RD's and that the salesman tried to talk me into buying DM's cause I could get 11 DM's for the same investment. I still bought the RD's inspite of the salesmans logic of save now and don't worry about thedurability and resale

Whats the matter with a DM?

[theakerstwo]

On 2/26/2013 at 7:54 AM, kscarbel said:

The Scania DS8 (Mack ENDT475, ET477, E4-210) was a turbocharged 6-cylinder 7.8-liter (475 cu.in.) engine. When spec'd for the application it was intended, it performed superbly.

Morgan Millwork ran several hundred Scania-powered Mack R-487P box trucks on the east coast and was thrilled with their reliability and fuel economy.

However, whenever the 7.8-liter Mack-Scania engine was spec'd to get the sell price down in an application that actually needed the larger 11-liter (672 cu.in.) 237 Maxidyne, naturally like any overworked engine, it didn't meet expectations. I recall a municipal-owned 6x4 MB front-end loader garbage that blew up every 2 years. That was to be expected (and that truck should have never been built).

That is due to a stupid and greedy truck salesman in most cases.

[daveigou]

ET477, never knew there was such a thing. I knew the 400 series chassis used an END475 (6 cyl n.a.) @ 140 hp. Never saw a ET477 6 cyl.

A guy I worked for had a 475 in an R400 ten wheeler dump. At the time I was running an International R190 tandem, The 450 cubic inch gasser would run circles around the 475 Scania.

[607t1173]

Drivers didn't like them and a satisfied driver is one of the best investments that you can make, also they were 300 powered with six speeds and the trucks I bought were 350 13 spd with all aluminum wheels chrome bumpers and sunvisors. What I was responding to was the remark about under spec'd trucks and trying to save a few bucks initially. Salesmen are usually at the root of under spec'd trucks and ordering Mack DM's and R's as dumptrucks with Scania engines is a prime example.Mack was wrong to ever allow them to be offered for heavy duty trucks. You could also get a 3208 Cat in a Mack and you wouldn't believe what that did to the value. Eventual resale, operating costs and dependability are very good things to consider when you make such a large investment. If you look for the best overall outcome "OVER SPEC"and it will pay off in the end. Scania has been known as one of the best, if not the best, trucks on the road in Europe for many years.

[kscarbel]

On 2/26/2013 at 9:13 AM, 607t1173 said:

Drivers didn't like them and a satisfied driver is one of the best investments that you can make, also they were 300 powered with six speeds and the trucks I bought were 350 13 spd with all aluminum wheels chrome bumpers and sunvisors. What I was responding to was the remark about under spec'd trucks and trying to save a few bucks initially. Salesmen are usually at the root of under spec'd trucks and ordering Mack DM's and R's as dumptrucks with Scania four cylinder engines is a prime example.Mack was wrong to ever allow them to be offered for heavy duty trucks. You could also get a 3208 Cat in a Mack and you wouldn't believe what that did to the value. Eventual resale, operating costs and dependability are very good things to consider when you make such a large investment. If you look for the best overall outcome "OVER SPEC"and it will pay off in the end. Scania has been known as one of the best, if not the best, trucks on the road in Europe for many years.

Mack sold Caterpillar 3208-powered DM-492S 6x4 chassis to the U.S. Air Force for fuel trucks. That's the engine they wanted. And because the rear axle ratio was spec'd low (high numerically), it all worked out. In the application for which it was intended, the turbocharged Scania DS8 was a great engine. Trucks have to be spec'd right for the application.

The normally aspirated 140 horsepower END475 goes back a long time to the launch of the MB in the early 1960s. That engine was replaced by the turbocharged ET477 and ETZ477B, and finally the E4-210 (in the 1980s).

Scania-Vabis-powered models were designated Mack 400 series (e.g. R-487P).

The non-turbo 140hp END475 was the Scania D8. The turbocharged ENDT475 and subsequent ET477 and E4-210 were the Scania DS8.

[farmer52]

Hmmm, a CAT 3208 powered R....

Was the the 3208 NA or T?

When I was a Clatterpillar...had a 3208 overspeed in the test cell. It sounded GOOD at 4000 rpm.

[Enck762]

Guy in my town bought 4 of them brand new and still runs three. They have held up well and you are right, parts have to come thru guy in New Jersey. Good friend of mine who has been the mechanic told me if he could have a truck to owner operate he would go with one. The tranny shifts like a new pickup. I have driven one for him a couple times. You feel like you drove your pickup all day. I almost bought one but they are just too much an oddball anymore. These trucks I know of hauled 30 ton of blacktop for 20+ years, pretty good in my book.

[Green Dash]

I really enjoyed the room in the flat floor IH cabover I drove for the Great Pumpkin, but I would've love to have an interior like the Scania COE pictured above. I remember seeing several of the conventionals running around the northeast in the 80's.

[30yearoldjunk]

In the 70's and early '80's, Case 4890 farm tractors had Scania engines. Good performers, but they had a centrifugal oil filter, and farmers being, well, farmers, "Had never done it that way before," and didn't clean them. So when the crank went, it was only case-hardened and couldn't be ground and re-used...

[kscarbel]

Scania has been known as one of the best, if not the best, trucks on the road in Europe for many years.

Guy in my town bought 4 of them brand new and still runs three. They have held up well and you are right, parts have to come thru guy in nj. Good friend of mine who has been the mechanic told me if he could have a truck to owner operate he would go with one. The tranny shifts like a new pickup. I have driven one for him a couple times. You feel like you drove your pickup all day. I almost bought one but they are just too much an oddball anymore. These trucks i know of hauled 30 ton of blacktop for 20+ years,pretty good in my book.

I agree. Scania trucks have always been a pleasure to drive, with cutting edge engineering that offers extremely low operating cost with the most comfortable cab environment. Scania is today a leader in global truck design, and I feel, superior to Volvo in every respect. It's no surprise to me that Mack Trucks and Scania cooperated for such a long time.

If you even have a chance to visit Sweden and tour the impressive Scania museum in Sodertalje, you'll see a four-foot tall gold Mack bulldog, awarded by Mack Trucks to Scania for quality excellence.