R&L | Trucks falling apart

I think all them tensioner pulleys were only good for a little over 60k seems like every 60,000 miles mine gets changed. Other than normal stuff mines been real good. I've been lucky I'm at 400,000 now and some others are on 2nd turbos , 2nd trannys, multiple rearends... Its all in how ya drive 'em..

Most guys are telling me they spool them up to 1800 but I shift it at 1550-1600 seems to run a lot better and a lot cooler in the summer.
 
Most guys are telling me they spool them up to 1800 but I shift it at 1550-1600 seems to run a lot better and a lot cooler in the summer.
1800? What idiot told you that?

These engines perform best between 1100(most torque) and 1500(most horsepower). You can lug it down to around 1100 before you need to downshift.
 
No doubt. I think thats why some have burned up more than one turbo. One dude told me he shifts it when it stops pulling.. OMG!! Ya think thats why is oil pressure is always around 30 psi now?
 
No doubt. I think thats why some have burned up more than one turbo. One dude told me he shifts it when it stops pulling.. OMG!! Ya think thats why is oil pressure is always around 30 psi now?
The old REAL MACKS would handle that with no problem ,I'd take one of the OLD Macks(90's) any day over these Vol i mean Macks of today the only thing they have over the old ones is ride
 
We have so many trucks down they can't even keep up with regular pm's. Several of our trucks are using alot of water everyday,but we are told to run them and take water with us because they don't have the time to fix them. Is anybody else having this probelm?

This should cover the general line of Mack cooling system issues in the past few posts.
The overflow tank for the radiator has a seam leak, where it is not visible. The seam leaks when the system is very hot and when very cold. There seems (no pun intended) to be a dead temp gap between the two where it does not leak. I would assume yours have this problem.
 
I've got so many visible leaks I keep checking to see if its a Detroit under the hood...

Just keep her full of oil and water and I hope she'll keep running for another 400k
 
as long as you don't own it and cover yourself by checking fluids and writing it up when it needs repairs and they say run you are covered when it blows up.it use to be that way here until we got the new building and shop
 
You have it made too driver,we all have it made.. Haven't seen Buster brown run that equipment in a long time.... When i'm old and broken down I can tell all the young guys how rough we had it in the old days.....Even ten years from now who knows what kind of trucks will be on the road.........
It’s been eleven years since, looks like things are a bit different for sure. Almost all automatics the last few years for LTL’s.
 
It’s been eleven years since, looks like things are a bit different for sure. Almost all automatics the last few years for LTL’s.
We still have half of our Tractors are 2005's Tractors. But are kept up by our shop. The problem they have is Hiring Mechanics. We have one Mechanic now. We had 3. One fired and one promoted. Problem is starting pay and can not fine DOT certify Mechanics. Our one Mechanic has over 30 units and about 45 plus Trailers in the yard at given time. They won't even talk to a Mechanic without DOT. Our one Mechanic is a long time employee and it a Great one. The one that was Promoted is in the shop turning wrenches. Others who had the job would not get dirty. They were just corrupt and were fired.
 
Is it the truck or the driver? All winter long I have yet to see a R&L truck make it over a snow covered hill. Everynight there are 3 or 4 R&L trucks lined up on vail pass, or the climb to the eisenhower tunnel waiting for a tow truck to pull them up the hill. One night a R&L truck wasnt even 50 yards up the first pull, simple momentum would have gotten it up further. Are the drivers doing the "i'm going to teach the company a lesson, they can pay tow bills untill i get the equipment i want" bit?
I lived & worked for 4 seasons @ Copper Mountain, CO. I know that stretch of I-70 very well. Going west Silverthorn / A Basin is the first exit. In the winter it can kill you quick. In the summer not so much. Going east Silver Plume is the first off ramp. Just as bad. Other Mountains in the country more dangerous, but not many. Used to pick up guests @ Stapleton with a air cooled 1981 Volkswagen Mini bus. We rebuilt the brakes every spring & fall. Ran that bus in to the ground, but it did perform. von.
 
My terminal was ranked 2nd to bottom in maintenance. And I still got in trouble for taking truck to another shop to get it fixed the right way. The mechanics even had the nerve to bitch. haha
 
With the trucks set at 68mph they really need to be set at 70. I hardly ever see 68 its usually 66. Maybe if they set them at 70 I'll see 68 hahaha. Also in all the years I've been driving never heard of so many drive shaft failures on a new truck. The old trucks rarely dropped a drive shaft. Could it be since we're running the trucks at maximum torque all day and night it could have something to do with it? Does anybody not know the old saying "torque gets you moving and horsepower keeps you moving"? There's a fine line with fuel mileage and drivability but we're know where close. A few more hundred rpm isn't going to kill the fleets mileage just saying.
 
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