Mack Maxidyne

[electra225]

This video made my heart rate increase. Actually a pretty good narrative on one of my favorite topics. Lots of nice Macks in this video. A B-75 like I started driving in 1968 is seen pulling a tanker. This video shows all the good Mack features, the engine, Maxitorque transmission, Camelback suspension, all the toys and goodies you could get on a Mack. The best part was an over-the-hood view of a red R-model, like I started driving in 1972. Most of the information was accurate. The statement that you could climb a 5% grade and only drop one gear was misleading. That depended on how quick you got to 5%. If it came really quick, then maybe that would work. If it came more gradually, nothing pulled the fire out of a diesel quicker than pulling a grade you couldn't see. The Maxidyne was the first high-torque-rise diesel engine. All modern truck diesels utilize a version of Maxidyne technology. A Mack was slow. "Big truck" drivers wouldn't be seen dead in one. A Mack driver wouldn't consider anything else. Mack and International were the only two truck manufactures who actually built all the parts of their trucks. Even International used proprietary transmissions and rear ends. Mack built the engine, transmission, suspension and rear ends. Switzer built the turbo, Bosch the injection pumps. You could buy 1 1/2 "big trucks" for what a single Mack would cost.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhyDMACanx0

When I was hauling for Continental Grain, there were ten of us who had grain contracts with Continental. I had the only Mack. All the other trucks were Petes and KW's with Cummins and Detroit power, 13-speed transmissions, "big" trucks. They would take off headed to the river, then blow my doors off on the flats. Come to Grismore Hill, better have that big truck in the right lane, here came the "puppy dog". I'd go around them like they were on jacks, but about a mile south of the hill, here they came, hammer down, Georgia overdrive, about 78 mph. The pistons swapped holes on my Mack at 72 mph. On Saturdays, when we got out settlement checks, I had run six more loads than anyone else. The slowest truck in the fleet got the most loads. Plus, my fuel bill was about 10% less then theirs. Why? I didn't spend three hours a day in a truck stop. I kept moving. I packed a bucket, ate while I was loading or unloading. This video sure brought back a lot of pleasant memories.......

[danrclem]

My youngest son drives a truck for Gordon's Food Service. He drives a Volvo that has an automatic transmission. When he first got the auto, he didn't like it, but I think it's grown on him since then.

[electra225]

I have a friend, Ted, who bought my Mack when I sold it. He is still driving and he's a year older than I am. He just ordered a new Pinnacle with a "manu-matic" 12-speed transmission. I think the same transmission the Volvo your son drives has in it. I don't know. You can still buy a 12-speed manual in a Mack. What would you do if you didn't have to shift gears? I think I'd fall asleep at the wheel.....

[stbasil]

Loved the video and the stories--the tale of a true underdog! Yet another example of good ole Yankee ingenuity lost on most of us, if it weren't for such videos and recollections. Thanks for sharing!

[electra225]

Mack drivers were like Harley riders. Fanatically dedicated to the brand in most cases. The lady who let me start driving the B-75, actually her husband's truck, was a died-in-the wool fanatical Mack owner. She wouldn't even consider anything else. She didn't believe in fancy things on a truck. She never had any chrome goodies on her Macks. Her husband, Bill, was just the opposite. He liked chrome "geegaws" as Mildred used to say. A Mack was a "component" truck. If you bent the frame, just put a new frame under it, then go on. If you jack-knifed and bent the cab, you could get new cab corners or you could buy a new cab. The components and wiring were "modular" designed to be easily serviced. Macks came from the factory with a straight exhaust pipe. A muffler was an option. If I have any regret in my life, it was getting out of the trucking business. I still have the dog hood ornament from my '78 Mack along with the "made especially for" sign in the steering wheel center.