Cruiseliner

[h67st]

In Huntington WV, $9,500. The ad says it has a 300 Mack with 13 speed. Looks like it's currently being used on the road.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/columbus/search/?query=mack&vertical=C2C&sort=BEST_MATCH

Edited April 28, 2020 by h67st
Forgot to ad link

[kscarbel2]

Wow. Just.....wow.

[Vladislav]

Looks really well-cared.

BTW does anybody know the higth of Cruiseliner measuring over the cab's  top?

[j hancock]

17 hours ago, Vladislav said:

 the higth of Cruiseliner measuring over the cab's  top?

Depending on tire size, loaded or unloaded, the height ranges between 116.5 and 121.5 inches from a 1976 WS brochure.

[Vladislav]

7 hours ago, j hancock said:

Depending on tire size, loaded or unloaded, the height ranges between 116.5 and 121.5 inches from a 1976 WS brochure.

Thanks for the figures. It happened that I didn't find any of WS brochures to check out.

[james j neiweem]

KS: I have heard that the early Cruiseliners had problems with windshields and dashes. Is this why they never caught on as did the F model. Or was there just too much competition from Paccar White IH and Freightliner.

[kscarbel2]

6 hours ago, james j neiweem said:

KS: I have heard that the early Cruiseliners had problems with windshields and dashes. Is this why they never caught on as did the F model. Or was there just too much competition from Paccar White IH and Freightliner.

Jim, the Cruise-Liner was a big step forward for Mack, and the Mack Western division's chance to prove itself. It was the result of west coast truck engineers that Mack had hired. In theory, they could give us a leap forward with a true west coast design.

In the eyes of most Mack people hwever, the original Hayward designed/produced Cruise-Liner was an engineering disaster. The freedom given the west coast engineers was revoked, and the 2nd gen Cruise-Liner was designed/built in Allentown, fixing many of the shortcomings.

But it was the superb, still class-leading MH Ultra-Liner that restored Mack's reputation as a designer of cutting edge COEs.

I never had a problem with the windshields, 9QT59301 (RH) and 9QT59302 (LH), or the driver's instrument panel.

The axle-mounted steering arrangement was a huge mistake. We sold far more steering gears than normal. The average customer replaced the steering gears three times over the life of the truck.

The telescoping steering shaft, between the floor board bottom and the axle-mounted steering gear, wore out prematurely. Again, we sold thousands of replacement units, averaging 2-3 over the life of a truck. We sold thousands of pitman arms which wallowed out prematurely. (the output shaft splines and pitman arm splines were constantly wallowed out owing to the nature of the stupid design).

The disconnecting (ball and socket) shift linkage, specifically the gears, rails, bushings and seals in the tower, also had unacceptably short life (the average truck's shift tower was rebuilt at least 3 times over its life). It was a terrible design, whereas the shift linkage on the MH Ultra-Liner was superb.

And the frame rail did not use Mack's superb "body-bound bolts", which led to frame rail fastener headaches.

I did prefer the original first generation Cruise-Liner instrument panel over the simplified second generation, as it looked sharper. However the 1st generation center console didn't hold up. The 2nd gen design eliminated it. The 1st gen center console was excessively large restricting bunk access, and the top (with the vents) frequently cracked and required replacement, a problem resolved with the second generation (It's pretty embarrassing when west coast Mack dealers have console covers hanging in their parts lobby because they're such strong sellers).

And then you had those expensive rubber riv-nuts that retained the grille constantly falling out. Here it is year 2016 and I couldn't possibly forget the part number, 68RU29301P5, because it was a hot issue.

The Trico pantograph windshield wiper arms and their transmissions didn't hold up.

All of these issues were covered in Mack Service Bulletins.............there were more service bulletins on the WS/WL Cruise-Liner than any other single model in the history of Mack Trucks.

I found the cab was "beat" less with the 10,500lb front suspension. But dealers were accustomed to ordering the 12,000 front suspension, as they had for years with the heavier steel-cabbed F-model.

The work ethic of the people at the Hayward plant was terrible. They were "California casual" about showing up for work......one never knew how many people were coming in. The Allentown people sent out there were in constant frustration. The workers would install cab screws with their power tools until the threads were stripped. They didn't care.

The idea of setting up a west coast plant for west coast truck production was logical. However, there was a people problem. This is all why the plant was closed, and the 2nd gen Cruise-Liner was built at Macungie.......with significantly better quality.

[yarnall]

You can thank the Pennsylvania Dutch work ethic 

[david wild]

Al Wheeler was a Mack dealer in Las Vegas he told horror stories of trucks coming from CA. he said some did not even have oil in the rears, he had a yard full of  west coast F models when he died they scrapped them all, very sad day not only losing AL but the F cabs too, I was able to get his inventory log for Mack Western dated August 12 1975 which has orig. paperwork for the Cruiseliner and all the Mack Western trucks available that day, book has pages and pages of unsold inventory build sheets. just looked at book and it has all the Western Macks located in the US not sold. paper works say's it was sent out by Garner L. Davis.

[jettertrucks]

back in the day before we length the frame and air ride it

[wingman]

That trailer looks familiar Jerry! Do you still have the cruise liner?

[Outbehindthebarn]

On 5/1/2020 at 2:19 PM, kscarbel2 said:

The axle-mounted steering arrangement was a huge mistake. We sold far more steering gears than normal. The average customer replaced the steering gears three times over the life of the truck.

 

Was this also true for the Western Superliner's?

[kscarbel2]

1 hour ago, Outbehindthebarn said:

Was this also true for the Western Superliner's?

Yes.

[Zebo]

Looking for passenger windshield for cruise liner. 9QT59301

[kscarbel2]

1 hour ago, Zebo said:

Looking for passenger windshield for cruise liner. 9QT59301

https://www.wattstruckcenter.com/portal/cab/windshields/

http://chicagomackinfo.tripod.com/windshields.htm

[ws721]

1 hour ago, Zebo said:

Looking for passenger windshield for cruise liner. 9QT59301

I was able to get one from Manchester Glass in N.H.  603 622 6737

[Outbehindthebarn]

What year was Hayward closed? And what was the production # of trucks produced there from its beginnings? Its curious to me that there were Macks being built there, but today you don't see ANY Macks in California.. or very few. I remember talking to a guy from the Bay are who bought a brand new Superliner in '81(?) He owned it for 35 years.. even he said he had the only one around..

[j hancock]

23 hours ago, Outbehindthebarn said:

What year was Hayward closed? And what was the production # of trucks produced there from its beginnings? Its curious to me that there were Macks being built there, but today you don't see ANY Macks in California.. or very few. I remember talking to a guy from the Bay are who bought a brand new Superliner in '81(?) He owned it for 35 years.. even he said he had the only one around..

Hayward was closed in 1981.  I don't have the production numbers for just CA built trucks.  Some Hayward models continued to be made in Macungie.

 

[Zebo]

I am looking for a passenger windshield for a cruiseliner.  Does anyone here m ow where I could find one?

[h67st]

On 11/12/2021 at 10:26 PM, Zebo said:

I am looking for a passenger windshield for a cruiseliner.  Does anyone here m ow where I could find one?

You tried the sources that kscarbel and ws721 posted above?