UPS MH 6122927, All Wheel Drive, 4X4

[Rifleman]

A few week ago MH Fred sent me a email of a discussion going on of MH 4X4s that UPS had used. We were on the road for 5 weeks. I was a 30 year Feeder driver now retired and always liked the MH the best, only saw one in Wyoming back in 89. He had came out of Jackson Wy. going over Togwotee pass headed for Riverton Wy. on his nightly run. On snow covered roads he wasn't stopping to chain up. Wish I could remember his name. Heard a rumor that it was his truck pictured in our 1994 Calender, see pic. I heard the wheel base was two feet longer to accommodate the transfer case. They used them all over the West but never made it to the East. I sure could have used one on them Vermont runs and pulling double bottoms in I90, Rifleman

[Green Dash]

Nice! I'm from the east myself and never knew of these until now. Thanks for the additional photos and info.

[MHfred]

Rifleman, thanks for posting those pictures. Very interesting. My Mack production numbers show that 12 MH 6122 were built between 1987 and 1990. Superdog posted in the other thread he knows where one is located. Rare dog.

[farmer52]

Thanks Rifleman for the info. I see the headlights are mounted in the bumper and not in the grille. Interesting...

[Vladislav]

Thank you for posting that interesting stuff.

And the beautiful picture is with the transfer case firs in the background.

Vlad

[Green Dash]

Thanks Rifleman for the info. I see the headlights are mounted in the bumper and not in the grille. Interesting...

They do seem a bit lower than a traditional MH, but I guess this was the best option to compensate for the additional height

[39 Baby Mack]

Great pictures, Steve!

Thanks for posting

Ron

[farmer52]

I just noticed, the bottom pic looks like it was taken at the Mack Engineering Center.

[Rifleman]

The headlights had to go in the bumper to comply with DOT or highway something, could only be a certain height off the ground, and yes Ken, pics were taken at MEC. herd of a couple around but no leeds, Like to have one, maybe I could modify my MH

[Quickfarms]

The headlights had to go in the bumper to comply with DOT or highway something, could only be a certain height off the ground, and yes Ken, pics were taken at MEC. herd of a couple around but no leeds, Like to have one, maybe I could modify my MH

The center of the headlights have to be 54" or less so that is not the reason.

Nice custom frame jog. This does not look like the typical plates.

You could have Tulsa equipment build one for you

[farmer52]

My comment about the headlights was aimed (no pun) at the grille. I would like to know if the lower grille sections were "modified" or new moulds to replace the normal headlamp pieces.

[Green Dash]

Looks like they might have trimmed the top piece and flipped it upside down?? Seems like the cheapest way out since there was such a limited production run.

[farmer52]

The trim angle of the upper outer sections is different than the lower headlamp sections. But anything is possible. I sent a note to the Mack Museum to find out if they have any information.

[mowerman]

interesting,,,been out here 35 years,,never seen one...bob

[farmer52]

Okay girls and boys...here is what Dr. Don S at the Mack Museum has to say:

The UPS 4x4 MH tractors were built to be used to shuttle trailers over mountain passes such as Donner Pass on I-80 in California. Without doing a lot of research, I found 13 chassis record cards on two different GSO’s. The headlights were installed in the bumpers to comply with the 54” maximum height limitation. The normal grille openings for the headlights were filled with covers cut from a standard grille. You can see two of the cover attaching screws for the left cover panel on the MH612-003 photo.

Thanks for another GREAT job by Don and the Museum.

[Rifleman]

You are the man Ken, so is Don. I am waiting for a call from a retired Buster Brown from Washington state that I met on face book, Golden Years or Trucking. He ran a MH 4X4 for several years from Spokane to Missoula, then we can realty get the scoop, Rifleman

[james j neiweem]

Did any companies other than ups use these.

[Green Dash]

Okay girls and boys...here is what Dr. Don S at the Mack Museum has to say:

The UPS 4x4 MH tractors were built to be used to shuttle trailers over mountain passes such as Donner Pass on I-80 in California. Without doing a lot of research, I found 13 chassis record cards on two different GSO’s. The headlights were installed in the bumpers to comply with the 54” maximum height limitation. The normal grille openings for the headlights were filled with covers cut from a standard grille. You can see two of the cover attaching screws for the left cover panel on the MH612-003 photo.

Thanks for another GREAT job by Don and the Museum.

Excellent. Thanks for researching this.

[vision386]

Having never seen one,and knowing nothing about these particular trucks,i was curious were these manual trans. or automatics? thanks for looking into these Ken,some very interesting trucks!.............................................Mark

[57 bcr]

That bottom picture Rifleman posted was the one our local MACK dealer had in the hallway,at one time. They remodeled and the pictures whereabouts are unknown. I mentioned this a couple years ago in a thread,but came up empty handed with the pic itself. Good job guys! Sure is interesting what the REAL Mack Trucks,Inc.,would tackle back then. Talented individuals filled that beautiful building at 2100 Mack Blvd,! Al

[farmer52]

Dr. Don and the Museum comes thru again! A BIG thanks!

1. As best I can tell we did not sell all-wheel drive MH’s to anyone except UPS. This was a specific application; the purpose of the trucks was to shuttle doubles over the western mountain passes in winter weather. There were two GSO’s.

2. Engine: EM6-300 (300 HP @ 2100 rpm), Transmission: TRDL1070 (10 speed), Transfer Case: TCS15, Front Axle: SDA16 (Fabco 16K, 4.62 Ratio), Rear Axle: R170 (Rockwell 23K, 4.63 Ratio)

3. The specs are somewhat ambiguous as to whether they had a manual lock-up for the front wheel drive. I’m also not sure what the S stands for in TCS15; I’ll do some more checking on that and get back to you.

Guys - remember the Museum in your donations.

[One Dog]

I always wanted to make my1989 MH612 4 wheel Dr. Now that I see the pictures I might just do it thanks for the inspiration.

[MHfred]

One Dog, I sent you a PM. Click on the red thingy on the top right that is on the envelope looking icon.

[Mark Fetty]

I just found this thread.  I was the engineer at the test tab that was in charge of running the prototype build. 
While another person did the "heavy lifting" (concept, drivetrain), me, and the mechanics I worked with, had to work out the majority of the details.  

 

[Mark Fetty]

On 3/8/2015 at 6:55 AM, farmer52 said:

My comment about the headlights was aimed (no pun) at the grille. I would like to know if the lower grille sections were "modified" or new moulds to replace the normal headlamp pieces.

The lower center section was an upper center section turned upside down.  That why, in the photo looking straight-on, this section is darker.  The chrome bars are normally tilted back slightly to reflect the bright sky.  With that lower section, it is reflecting the darker ground.