Different Superliner hood

[Vladislav]

The talk is only about Australian RW and only RW II.

Being watching a picture of Superliner with a bullbar I noted that the head lights looked some "cunning".

Or better to say more cunning than usual.

I looked over many other images and found out interesting fact.

Notice the heigth of head light units on the first pictures and the last ones in relation to the fender lower edge.

The last style seems to me the same as American but Aussies have both of them.

[mrsmackpaul]

Dunno Vlad they all look the same to me except for the yanky one but I might not be looking at the right thing

The blue and white one has stainless skirts screwed on around the bottom that makes the look a bit longer bellow the lights but as I said I may not be looking at the right thing

Paul

[Dirtymilkman]

Notice the side marker lights in the fenders of the last pics too.

What is that cabover sitting next to that white MH?

[mrsmackpaul]

thats a Cruise Liner some pure porn in Australia they came after the FR model and the FR is a F model on a R chassis

[Swishy]

Can I add my 2 cents worth

LOL

cya

§wishy

[Outbehindthebarn]

The down under super's look sooo damn heavy. They're like a Superliner and a half.

Vlad, is the headlight thing an optical illusion?

[Whiskymack]

Hi Vlad,

I can see just what you mean. You can also see that the trucks with the headlamps lower down ride a lot higher than those with the higher headlamps. Compare the gap between tyres and fenders and also the gap between diesel tanks and the bottom of the cab-it's much greater on the trucks with lower headlamps. I'm fairly sure that the ride height on Australian RW1's was lower than RW2's but I thought RW1's always had the round headlights. I'm no expert on this but is it possible that they made some RW1's with square headlamps? Presumably the height of the headlamps from the ground was decided by regulations and I suppose the increased ride height was to do with cooling higher horsepower engines.

Here's an RW1 brochure. I'll dig out the RW2 one tonight.

[Vladislav]

Ok guys and blokes, look at this two pics:

Green lines - distance between the headlight bucket lower edge and fender reinforcement strip upper edge.

Red line - wheel arch lower edge related to the headlight bucket position.

Hope now you can see - that's not illusion.

I'm sure both styles are Superliner II. Doubt there was a square headlight hood before Superliner II production start.

There are no side marker's on the "low loght" hoods indeed.

So any suggestions?

Just one more Aussie hood option?

Or early production style?

[james j neiweem]

The blue fender looks slightly more aerodynamic.

[Vladislav]

Swishy,

Your 2 cents are very appreciated.

Those 50th annyversary green giants are absolutely looks stoppers!

[Vladislav]

Whiskymack,

On 10/9/2015 at 3:20 PM, Whiskymack said:

Hi Vlad,

I can see just what you mean. You can also see that the trucks with the headlamps lower down ride a lot higher than those with the higher headlamps. Compare the gap between tyres and fenders and also the gap between diesel tanks and the bottom of the cab-it's much greater on the trucks with lower headlamps. I'm fairly sure that the ride height on Australian RW1's was lower than RW2's but I thought RW1's always had the round headlights. I'm no expert on this but is it possible that they made some RW1's with square headlamps? Presumably the height of the headlamps from the ground was decided by regulations and I suppose the increased ride height was to do with cooling higher horsepower engines.

Here's an RW1 brochure. I'll dig out the RW2 one tonight.

Hmm, I agree.

Those with higher lights, I'd say American style hood looks sitting lower.

But they all look RWII. Any chassis difference?

I don't count it as a shame but I still can't figure out completely what chassis style Australian RW's were used.

 

Edited July 24, 2021 by Vladislav

[mrsmackpaul]

dunno Vlad when the super liner 2 came out one of the features I was lead to believe was the fact that the cab was lifted up I think it was 2 1/2 inches or maybe it was 3 1/2 inches to try and keep the cab cooler

When you are pulling hard all day in the older R model the cab floor gets so hot you cant touch any of it with bare skin it burns the bahjeebers out of you

So maybe when the cab was lifted they made the mud guards hang down a bit further and the headlights to comply as well dunno all a guess from me

Paul

[Timmyb]

Ok guys and blokes, look at this two pics:

Green lines - distance between the headlight bucket lower edge and fender reinforcement strip upper edge.

Red line - wheel arch lower edge related to the headlight bucket position.

Hope now you can see - that's not illusion.

I'm sure both styles are Superliner II. Doubt there was a square headlight hood before Superliner II production start.

There are no side marker's on the "low loght" hoods indeed.

So any suggestions?

Just one more Aussie hood option?

Or early production style?

Is it just me, or is the angle on the front of theblue fender more laid back than the yellow one?

To me, the change is so small it would have to of been done for a reason. Like it was said here earlier, maybe the headlights needed to be a certain height from the ground?

[Whiskymack]

Vlad,

Paul is right. The cab on the Australian Super Liner 2 was raised up higher than on the mark 1 version, according to the brochure to keep the cab cooler and quieter,

which accounts for the higher ride height seen in some of your pictures. So the headlights were moved down presumably to comply with some regulation.

Now, here's my theory! The pictures showing the higher headlamp position all look like New Zealand trucks to me and if you do a google images search for 'Mack Superliner New Zealand' you get mostly lower riding trucks with the higher headlamps but if you search for 'Mack Superliner Australia you get higher riding trucks with lower headlamps. Could it be that, New Zealand having a more temperate climate, it wasn't necessary to raise the cab up for that market so Mack continued to Market the older, lower riding Mark 1 design updated to a Superliner 2 with new square headlight hood and new cab interior package? The headlamps remained in the higher position. Just a thought. Someone somewhere must know a bit about the history of Mack Trucks in Australia and New Zealand.

From a visual perspective, I think the lower ride height made for a more handsome truck. To my eyes the Australian Superliner 2 looks a bit ill proportioned.

As regards chassis it's my understanding that all the Australian/NZ models of this era used the R series frame unlike US models which had different frames for each model. Australian Superliners were a bit like an R700 with a big radiator and Superliner hood.

Superliner 2 brochure attached. Sorry there's so much of it but it's all great stuff.

[Vladislav]

Is it just me, or is the angle on the front of theblue fender more laid back than the yellow one?

To me, the change is so small it would have to of been done for a reason. Like it was said here earlier, maybe the headlights needed to be a certain height from the ground?

I'm not absolutely sure about that angle but it seems too possible since the hood has differences in its shape.

Hadlight heigth from the ground make sence indeed. Too probably that's the reason.

[Vladislav]

Vlad,

Paul is right. The cab on the Australian Super Liner 2 was raised up higher than on the mark 1 version, according to the brochure to keep the cab cooler and quieter,

which accounts for the higher ride height seen in some of your pictures. So the headlights were moved down presumably to comply with some regulation.

Now, here's my theory! The pictures showing the higher headlamp position all look like New Zealand trucks to me and if you do a google images search for 'Mack Superliner New Zealand' you get mostly lower riding trucks with the higher headlamps but if you search for 'Mack Superliner Australia you get higher riding trucks with lower headlamps. Could it be that, New Zealand having a more temperate climate, it wasn't necessary to raise the cab up for that market so Mack continued to Market the older, lower riding Mark 1 design updated to a Superliner 2 with new square headlight hood and new cab interior package? The headlamps remained in the higher position. Just a thought. Someone somewhere must know a bit about the history of Mack Trucks in Australia and New Zealand.

From a visual perspective, I think the lower ride height made for a more handsome truck. To my eyes the Australian Superliner 2 looks a bit ill proportioned.

As regards chassis it's my understanding that all the Australian/NZ models of this era used the R series frame unlike US models which had different frames for each model. Australian Superliners were a bit like an R700 with a big radiator and Superliner hood.

Superliner 2 brochure attached. Sorry there's so much of it but it's all great stuff.

Wow! That sounds as a great idea!

I haven't thought that Australian and NZ Macks might be different.

That means though they must have different cab mounting brackets either.

There's a question to our down under Mack specialists - were Australian and NZ Superliners produces at the same factory or there were different locations?

Thanks the great for those Superliner brochures you posted.

I have never put my eye on any of before.

[mrsmackpaul]

phew I dunno much about all this Series 1 Superliners are a much better looking truck I feel

I wonder if NZ had different headlight requirements than Australia some of the cool power R models were different than Aussie ones and had the bonnet scoops unlike the Aussie ones that had 2 aircleaners

I am not sure all NZ Macks came from Australia Im fairly sure a few came from the US direct as did other makes as well so maybe at different times Mack NZ could get better deals from the US than Australia

a lot of maybes and guesses here

most are likely to be wrong LOL

Paul

[Vladislav]

Paul,

Any guess or suggestion on that matter from your locaion has better chances to be true than from other parts of the globe.

Looking the pics above NZ RW's don't look built in the US since have bumper mounting bolts pattern similar to a R-model. American R-model though. So seems like R-model frames were used.

[Swishy]

me guess n the ozzy superliner cabs were raised to get rid of the hot air th@ the big power plants were producing way back when

most big ozzy truck builders did the same like KW SAR raised cab for better full flow air flow

think n they din worry bout creature comforts like how hot the cab got way back wen

also notice the bottom of the fender @ front iz roughly in line with top of steer tyre

compared to other V:

The Kiwis got there trucks from Australia until they were able to make there own, they even came out with a rare V:

Mack RB to fill in B tween the R Model till the CH V arrived

But there again

WaddaEyeKno

LOL

cya

§wishy

[Vladislav]

Swishy, that's a good point the fender bottom line is about clear up the tyre.

So hood together with cab seats higher for sure.

Would be nice to see the cab mounting brackets.

Many thanks for telling about RB model.

I figured for a long while what those trucks were.

Were NZ only produced 'em?

I mean with that hood style. Looks good on my taste.

[Timothy Maikshilo]

Ok guys and blokes, look at this two pics:

Green lines - distance between the headlight bucket lower edge and fender reinforcement strip upper edge.

Red line - wheel arch lower edge related to the headlight bucket position.

Hope now you can see - that's not illusion.

I'm sure both styles are Superliner II. Doubt there was a square headlight hood before Superliner II production start.

There are no side marker's on the "low loght" hoods indeed.

So any suggestions?

Just one more Aussie hood option?

Or early production style?

Good eye Vlad! Never really noticed this. Both these trucks are in the southern hemisphere.

[mrsmackpaul]

me guess n the ozzy superliner cabs were raised to get rid of the hot air th@ the big power plants were producing way back when

most big ozzy truck builders did the same like KW SAR raised cab for better full flow air flow

think n they din worry bout creature comforts like how hot the cab got way back wen

also notice the bottom of the fender @ front iz roughly in line with top of steer tyre

compared to other V:

The Kiwis got there trucks from Australia until they were able to make there own, they even came out with a rare V:

Mack RB to fill in B tween the R Model till the CH V arrived

But there again

WaddaEyeKno

LOL

cya

§wishy

so Swishy does NZ have its own Mack plant ??? I didnt know that might explain some things I have wondered about NZ Macks

Paul

[Swishy]

Mrs

Gudday M8

http://mtd.co.nz/about/

1972

A franchise agreement with Mack Trucks Inc USA was obtained and that year production started in Palmerston North with the first Mack FR model truck to be assembled in New Zealand.

[Whiskymack]

So if Macks were being assembled in New Zealand until 2000, perhaps the Kiwi Superliners were all put together there. I wonder where the parts were imported from.

Was it the US or Australia or both? My guess is that the NZ Superliner was probably closer to the Australian design than the US one but without getting a look at the frame it's hard to tell.

Another interesting link on the topic:

http://www.roadtransporthalloffame.co.nz/inductees/2012-inductee-showcase/ron-carpenter.4

[Vladislav]

Swishy M8,

Looking the link U posted I'd say th@ bloke knows the correct answer 4 sure