Question about Mack truck

[posw]

Hello Rawze,

My name's Kenny. the guys who wants to buy a Mack truck.

1. Please tell me why you don't recommend buying a Mack truck.
2. Is it because Mack trucks break down a lot and not reliable?
3. Is it true that Mack and Volvo are built by the same company?

[Magard]

I’m not a Rawze but I do drive a Volvo so yes Volvo and Mack are same company. Same base engine different programs in ecm. We all run Cummins here because it’s more conducive to a owner operator mechanic type guy. It’s kinda like the Chevy v8 for the shade tree mechanic guys, a lot of support from Cummins as far as free engine manuals on the quickserv. And easy to get computer set up like dealer has. Cummins has its problems. Maybe more than some. But we know them and that’s what we have so hope that helps some.

[Rawze]

(06-22-2019 )posw Wrote:  Hello Rawze,

My name's Kenny. the guys who wants to buy a Mack truck.

1. Please tell me why you don't recommend buying a Mack truck.
2. Is it because Mack trucks break down a lot and not reliable?
3. Is it true that Mack and Volvo are built by the same company?

I will sum this up...

I would say that it depends on your needs.

-- If you never plan on working on it, or plan on making it into a great engine setup by customizing it, your going to model your business around relying on carreer-ending truck warranties, never plan on owning something for a million miles+, .. and plan on getting rid of it by the time it gets 300k - 400k miles on it,.. then go buy a mack, Volvo, or any brand of engine based solely on your truck color and interior preference just like the rest of the idiots on social medai, and follow what they all say like the rest of the sheep.

- If your trucking business model involves running off to the stealershit and getting rid of it before the warranty is out,.. then ALL ENGINES AND TRUCKS ARE THE ESSENTIALLY SAME!, and you can claim whatever you like about how well whatever type and brand of engine works for you, because you can be just like all the other 85% struggle-mode O/O's out there who have never had an engine apart and don't want to learn how to invest in themselves or what they know about their equipment. - if this is your trucking business model, like most people these days, then I would say get whatever the hell the droves social media idiots who have never torn an engine down themselves have convinced you of.

-- HOWEVER...


-- if your one who Wants to learn how to own a truck long term, and is willing to go the extra mile(s) to invest in yourself and your equipment, your willing to actually take control of your problems and turn a wrench, eventually learning everything about your truck and engine instead of getting wallet-rapped by every shop/stealersh$t out there, Willing to throw the warranty in the trash becasue you can clearly see it is nothing but going to keep you in the poor-house most of the time with lost revenue while chasing repeating unsolvable "free" repairs, you want to mold your equipment into something that actually fits your needs because you want to be the one guy who actually wants to make decent money by doing all the non-driving stuff themselves instead of just driving it and complaining about every problem you will ever have ...

-- then there is only one engine brand to own... - A CUMMINS, specifically these days, typically an ISX!... WHY?... Because it is the only brand of engine that has those resources available to it. Believe me, i would not be a fan of these red cry-babies at all if not for this fact alone. From the factory, they are as problematic as any other brand of engine out there and are no better at all. They will keep you in the poor-house and broke down with repeating check engine lights and shutdown codes as equally well as anything else nowadays and they have issues like the repeating "fuel pump of total engine destruction without warning" problems and more.

Realistically, there is only one reason to own such a normally problematic red cry-baby, they are really no better than anything else, all brands of engines seem to have serious issues these days of various different types ...

but...

and that is a VERY BIG BUTT... <- (lol)


It is the one brand of engine left that a person can still mold into something better... Red ISX = Piece of play-do,... that can be shaped into something very reliable. Something that can be custom set decent power, or for super-high efficiency for its engine class that cannot be touched by any other brand of engine out there. Simply because someone is willing to go the extra mile and fix/chase after its factory-infused woes, customize it and turn it into something very nice. This is because all the manuals, including the re-build manuals are on the engine makers website for free. the software can be had easily enough to work on it yourself, and for those who want to take it to the extremes and custom tune their own engines computer completely, well that can be had for free too, its on plenty of software trading sites out there.

ITS ONLY ADVANTAGE, and its high popularity these days seems solely reliant on the fact that there is a ton of information on these engines out there, both by the engine maker themselves for free + the software, including diag. and even the engineering software is all over the Internet for free in shady places, or from china and that is its advantage. - Those red engines are a diamond waiting to be turned into something glorious, but they come factory, sniffing their own farts to hell and beyond the point of tearing themselves up just like every other brand of engine out there. In their factory state, all engines these days are problematic , soot-sucking, beasts covered in engine eating carbon buildup on their insides. At least with the red engine, it can be Polished up, custom tuned, modded for better reliability than what the factory is allowed to do, and like other have said "a O/O + slef-made shade-tree mechanics profit-making dream".

Of course, that is the red engine's downside too...

Because there are so many people who become O/O's out there, and are NOT willing to turn a wrench, or take matters into their own hands, learn for themselves to become self-reliant, that it has opened up an entire industry of BAD REPAIR SHOPS, BAD DELETE SHOPS, BAD CUSTOM TUNING AND MOD SHOPS, and LOTS OF BAD PEOPLE THAT WANT TO EXPLOIT YOU in droves who have no clue how a modern engine works, yet they seem to all be experts on how to solve your truck and engine problems, or experts on "deletes and/or custom mods and engine tuning" ... all for the low price of a few thousand bucks + a destroyed, butchered up engine after a while.

--- It is a plague and a curse these days that is very far out of control. So for out of control that in fact, that alone is the biggest enemy of the red engines these days. -- Shops willing to tear up your equipment in return for making the check engine and regen lights go out, and they are literally around every street corner, all with fancy websites, big names for themselves, testimonials and all the other fake million-dollar alligator smiles to suck you in.

That is why this forum exists,.. it is my little corner of the Internet that I made so that I can rant against all this money-hungry fake bulls#it. SO I can rant against all the lies and mis-information, and help others see that they need to stay far away from all this false garbage that has ruined so many thousands of O/O's lives and businesses, that it is not even funny.

-- Owning a red engine = Finally walking away from all the false promises of that mostly-fake truck warranty that costs most people a lot more than they could have saved in lost revenue, down-time waiting on warranty claims and "free half-arssed repairs" and all the repeating headaches if they had just fixed things themselves.

-- Owning a red engine = Having the tools, information, and resources to make a decent profit that does not involve giving it back to every repair shop you drive past.

-- Owning a red engine = Taking control back for those exact things O/O's fear the most these days. --> The all-mighty check-engine / shutdown/ derate light that seems to do nothing but keep you broke down and in a shop somewhere, wasting all your money and time while you slowly die and/or struggle as a trucking business.

-- Owning a red engine = having the ability to really make something of your truck, its engine, and your trucking career instead of sitting behind the steering wheel like other 85% of all the other idiot O/O's these days, complaining about everything and everybody else instead of looking in the mirror and taking responsibility by the horns to overcome, all by yourself, what woes you like a smart small-business owner should do.

-- Owning a red engine is not the easy road at all. If you want easy because your business plan is centered mostly around no efforts beyond driving the piss out of something like the rest of the fools these days, then you should stay away from red engines. -- Buy something you can trade in every 300,000 miles and NEVER OWN IT,.. or go back to being a company driver. You will have more money for the non-effort, laziness that you have planned your trucking career around.

I think that sums it up quite well, so the only thing you need to ask yourself is "should I still buy that truck with a mac, or volvo, or paccar, or other non-cummins engine",.. vs something you have the ability to work on yourself so you can keep it out of the repair shops and eventually make into something truly nice that fits your business needs by working hard at learning it.

That is an easy one to answer at this point because everything I just said is just the unfiltered facts. That answer should already be there in front of you,.. Just ask yourself,.. do you own any tools and do you work on your own cars, etc. at least to some medium degree like replacing an alternator or fixing the brakes? - A yes or no is all you need to answer your original question. if you hate that kind of thing, then you will hate owning a red engine. Otherwise, your learning curb has just begun and you should now be asking the next question "what year/model red cry-baby and truck should I start out with"?.

[Waterloo]

Everything Rawze stated above is the honest to God truth, listen to him. Me and Rawze in framed my motor in his driveway, after the dealer in framed it and installed all of the wrong internal parts for $38,000. I am now getting 9 mpg in my 2008 mid roof ProStar pulling a 53' Dry Van.

All of the work I did, was accomplished with my iPhone and a bag of tools I brought from the house here in Detroit. Cummins has step by step instructions on how to in frame this motor for free on their Quickserve web site, along with Rawze's in frame video series. Mack offers no such service, nor does Volvo, Detroit or Paccar. Nor do they have a Rawze out there that sacrifices his own time and helps many folks here for free. I owe the man quite a bit.

The truck is running a Rawze tune. I was one of the first to run his original tune when it was floating around out here on the internet. I am so confident in this truck, that I reinstated my operating authority.

My moto in regards to trucks, I don't care what it looks like, as long as it makes me money and I can work on it. The ProStar, far from perfect, checks off all of those boxes. Especially now as it is finally sipping fuel like after that first Rawze tune.

Me, I would find an older truck with a CM-871 or CM-870 that needs an in frame, an Aero Truck, buy it cheap. Take to Mr Hagg and let him in frame it. Go make money and fix the rest of the little crap as you make REAL money going down the road. The last ting I would want to be strapped with out here is a huge truck payment. Rates have not done anything in thirty years, at least the thirty I have been out here. They cannot support a truck and insurance payment of the amounts I am seeing out here, unless you like living in a truck 24/7 and have no life. That is not owning a business, that is indentured servitude to a bank or finance company, and pray that thing down't break down or freight drys up.

I have seen this many times, the reason I keep my old ProStar, it is paid for. The economy gets rolling and everyone and his brother jumps in to trucking, they're all going to get rich. Well, rates drop from all of the new and inexperienced folks, everyone blames the president and the brokers, as they slowly go bankrupt. Seeing it all around me right now. Another reason I turned my old authority back on. The herd is being thinned...

Buy used, fix and or repair, keep expenses very low, as low as possible, check your ego at the door as Rawze stated. You can make an old piece of equipment look brand new. You want fuel mileage and reliability. I would not own anything other than a Cummins, and I keep my Cummins diagnostic gear with me in the truck along with my laptop. I am the technician.

On a side note...

If you purchase new, Mack will install a Cummins in a factory order unit. Mack is no longer, Mack.

[Magard]

I believe you can get Cummins in all the truck manufacturers. Freight liners are really into there engine but I think you can order Cummins. Waterloo is right about insurance and payments. Supporting a new truck is gonna be tough to make driver wages. A couple years down the road and tires and other little repairs. It’s game over.

[HES]

Guy I work with has a Mack with the MP8 in it. He bought it used and I think it's been good to him so far. He's had a little trouble with the injector cups but other than that he says its been a solid used truck. When mack was mack before volvo bought them out they were always known as a tough as nails truck, built solid. If you can get one with red paint under the hood I wouldn't turn my nose up at it but otherwise your at the mercy of the leaches that want you to embrace learned helplessness.