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How hard is it to get parts for trucks that are over 20 years old now? 
I’m looking at buying a 99 rd688 dump truck amd want to make sure when I need to get parts it’s something I’ll be able to get. 
the other question I have is what is the lodge expectancy of a 99 with a e7? One I’m looking at has a little over 450K miles on it 

thanks 

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Mack R series kinda wrote the book on vocational trucks. The E7 was designed as a low RPM engine. They are not race cars. They will haul dirt/sand/aggregate/whatever through things other dumps just will not. Most R series do not have a 'diff-lock' per say, but they have a centrifugally activated 'peanut' setup that really works. They will last forever. I also have an International, which started life as a dump and the rear diff housing has been welded many times. Asking the rearend guy why? He replies 'It's not a Mack'

On 1/1/2021 at 4:56 PM, Miami Cossack said:

You won't be on the side of the road with that  "de-rate", "won't regen"/ DEF drama. 

That’s for sure! It’s a 2 owner truck. Looks to be in good shape for its age, I do know it’s 20 years old, and has almost half a mil on it. And it’s been used to haul asphalt it’s whole life, but for me to just start out in the industry I think it’ll work alright, miles do scare me a bit though 

On 1/3/2021 at 7:24 AM, terry said:

You might have a set of bearings and oil pump put in it, and run the balls off it!! :MackLogo:

How reliable are the older trucks with higher mileage though? I was talking with the dispatcher for one of the local asphalt company’s and he said they don’t have age limits on trucks but don’t want you to be breaking down with a load of hot mix in the bed. That statement has me a bit worried with the amount of miles I know anything is questionable 

Nevermind the miles, how many hours are on it ?  Old truck up over 20000 hours ?  If nothing was ever done to it, it's at the point anything could happen....and that includes rub'n like a Swiss watch a while longer.  Personally, I don't think there's a black or white answer to your question.

I don’t think we have a mixer with less than 20K hrs on it.   All E7’s.   We try to run them a season, then do rod and main bearings and an oil pump.   Then run the dick off of them.  

Edited by storkmack
  • Like 2
1 hour ago, Offroadingrlife said:

How reliable are the older trucks with higher mileage though? I was talking with the dispatcher for one of the local asphalt company’s and he said they don’t have age limits on trucks but don’t want you to be breaking down with a load of hot mix in the bed. That statement has me a bit worried with the amount of miles I know anything is questionable 

I would trust an older well maintained truck before these newer ones with all the emission junk.   terry:MackLogo:

  • Like 2

Dad had a 97’ CH he bought new.  400 and a Mack 13 sp. one of the best damn trucks we ever owned.  When we got rid of it it had 1.5 mil miles and 47000 hrs.  If it was a dog, you would have taken it out back and shot it ,then cried.  

  • Like 1

I drove one of those too, it was an 18 speed, however it out pulled a lot of non-Macks. I pulled a tri axle framed dump trailer, and we were loaded heavy... and this truck got it done, on and off the road... If I went back to owning another one... I would look for one like it, anyway.. This era of Macks were TOUGH.. Jojo

17 hours ago, Mark T said:

That's my point, they run indefinitely if taken care of and little stuff doesn't snowball.  But without being familiar with the trucks history ?   

I’m waiting to get the hours, I don’t know the history but it does appear that it was well taken care of. I was talking to someone locally and they said to watch out for the frame separating? Not sure what he meant?

2 hours ago, alex g said:

The frame will spread where it is double framed. Its called rust jacking. 

How can I tell if this is happening? The truck I’m looking at is from the rust belt, although the frame has very little rust on it. Just want to make sure it won’t be an issue 

Crawl underneath and look at edges of frame where it's double framed or any place where it's bolted together like crossmembers. It's a older truck and being from rust belt there's no doubt there's some rust jacking. There are limits to how much spread in frame for safeties so you'll want to check this out. 

  • Like 1
14 hours ago, alex g said:

Crawl underneath and look at edges of frame where it's double framed or any place where it's bolted together like crossmembers. It's a older truck and being from rust belt there's no doubt there's some rust jacking. There are limits to how much spread in frame for safeties so you'll want to check this out. 

I haven’t went to look at the truck, it’s about 10 hours away from me. I need to gather as much as I can before I go to look at it.

4098E36F-2710-49F5-8EF6-F1F15382F508.png

Edited by Offroadingrlife

Yup there's your frame spread I've seen worse but unfortunately it doesn't go away it just gets worse. I'd show that to whoever you plan on getting a safety from and get there opinion. 10 hours is quite a journey any reason why your going that far I'm sure you could find something alot closer

  • Like 1
33 minutes ago, alex g said:

Yup there's your frame spread I've seen worse but unfortunately it doesn't go away it just gets worse. I'd show that to whoever you plan on getting a safety from and get there opinion. 10 hours is quite a journey any reason why your going that far I'm sure you could find something alot closer

There’s not much local to me that isn’t completely destroyed or asking so much for clapped out junk. I’ll travel if it’s worth it you know, but if it’s not worth it I wont. I guess I should look for a few more trucks to have a backup plan 

So I ended up passing on the truck. I’ve been looking at TruckPaper non stop trying to find some other ones that fit what I’m looking for, issue is everything in my price range has high miles. I’m hoping to find something soon

I have a friend who sent me an ad for a truck he found. It’s a 99 688s, has 800k on it, motor hasn’t been touched besides normal pms, it was running everyday up until end of asphalt season. The price seems like it’s a good deal but again miles concerns me. I need something that’ll make it through the season without breaking down every week. This ones about 5-6 hours away. What do you’ll think? If it’s cheap enough buy it and put money aside for when it breaks? Ideally would like to be able to get a new truck in a year or 2 and then have this as a spare 

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