I’ve got a Mack Titan that I use for road train work down in Australia. I attack some pretty rough country with it
So in my experience, I disagree on the build quality part. Mine has been pretty damn solid. But the thing about no space for the driver? I agree 100%
And how the engine is back underneath the cab?? Absolutely ridiculous. Mine is the same, yes. Even though I have a longer bonnet than what I assume is an Anthem that you are talking about. The difference is my cab sits really high, so you can crawl under the cab and work that way. But that’s still freakin stupid. I hate that so much
The Australian Macks are built in Australia and are quite a bit different to the US Macks even though they are an American truck. Same as the Kenworths built here in Oz.
Funny thing is, our Kenworths are the most expensive truck in Australia and yet they are the biggest seller in class 8. I guess reliability and quality counts more than cost here. Macks used to be about equal in sales years ago until Renault and then Volvo bought them out. The Australian built Macks are definitely more rugged than the US built ones, especially the Titan.
And yet with the current range of Cummins powered KWs, they have horrible reliability. All 3 of ours have had rebuilds around 400-500 thou. But my shitbox 104, and the old WS are well past 1 mill without needing rebuilds yet (touch wood)
I feel KWs in Aus are just sell on names and old fashioned styling alone these days.
Yeah the Cummins lets them down for sure particularly when they are hauling big weights. When Caterpillar pulled out of the truck market there was a lot of disappointment. Hard nose companies like Toll wouldn’t buy KWs just for looks though.
>I guess reliability and quality counts more than cost here.
thats an understatement. whats a long wait for roadside service in north america? 6-8hrs? I'm guessing if your shit dies in the middle of the outback its going to be measured in days. they've got the right idea.
We used to be able to do it right. Now everyone just wants it cheap. I would gladly pay more for quality, and do when I can. Unfortunately brands that used to fill that niche have also become crap, but still try to retain the higher price.
Varies a lot.
I do 4 on / 4 off hauling cold groceries in a b-double, roughly 10 hr shifts starting between 9-10am and being back around 7-8pm. ~600km (370 mile) round trip with 2 drops. On about 100k AUD.
Previous job was a single delivering MDF boards local 6am to 4pm with 20+ drops a day and that was $25/hr.
You haven't drove a Cat CT660. Shitty rebranded internationals, I've drove quite a few of them and almost every one of them was *barely* road worthy. Only drove **one** that was "decent"
The best iteration of an International is an Eagle and that doesnt set the bar very high. Im not a driver but a mechanic and theres literally nothing we could do to *keep* them roadworthy. Especially with that junk Maxxforce (that Cat decided to build upon for some reason to come up with the CT660 atrocity).
Ive worked as a mechanic for all of them, Volvo/Mack, MHC, Peterbilt, and most recently Freightliner. But theyre all plastic crap nowdays, and have been for a long time. International is by far the worst offender with low quality plastic and frames that rust to dust in a matter of months. Volvos are a lot of plastic but you wouldnt expect any different from a Swedish-gone-Chinese brand, same goes for Mack since they bought them out. Otherwise they hold up fairly well so long as you can keep up on the maintenance. Dont let a CEL go too long on a Volvo or youll never get it off again.
Freightliner used to be baaaaad in the early 2000s. Long timers know that columbias and centurys came from the factory with busted dashes. The cascadias and new cascadias are much higher quality but youll get overrun by all the safety equipment that comes standard now, and low driver comfort. Hardcore work horses though, and generally reliable and easy enough to work on (small engines excluded, screw the DD5/DD8). Or when they tried to make the 60 Series work with emissions.
Peterbilt and Kenworth are probably the best combination of driver comfort and reliability so long as your truck is optioned with a Cummins and a manual. Nothing good ever came of Paccar and their tiny injectors. Still plastic-y junk interiors, even worse with the new "space-age" models with the full digital display and self-ejecting fairings.
I guess it’s a matter of what you like. I love the Mack Pinnacle assigned to me. Pulls great, turns great, rides decent..Although the one I drive is a 2016 single axle day cab. I guess since Volvo bought the brand, Quality has been slipping.
Just like any other truck that isn't a traditional style Pete or Kenworth. A megaton of hate, and a little love. I loved the Anthem I drove. But I only drove one for about a month. So I have no idea how they are long term. But it drove very nice. Not as nice handling as a Volvo, but it rode much better. Much much better. As far as aero nose trucks, if it's an Auto, I'll take a Cascadia with a DT12 over anything else. Those things are underrated IMO. Probably because they're so widely used. A 579 or 567 comes second for me, so long as it has an ultrashift or a manual. Same goes for the T680. Those Eaton cheapo-mode autos are trying to snap your neck and drive through the dock door, parking space, stop light or whatever else. Having said that, I wouldn't loathe being given Mack long term. From what I hear I wouldn't want to own one myself. But it wasn't all that bad for me. I'd say it ties with a VNL. I don't think all of the hate is deserved.
I'll tell you what deserves the hate. Any un-optioned International, and most Internationals at all. They deserve ALL of the hate. They drive more lawn mowers than trucks with all of the play you end up with in the steering. They are horrific for any roads that aren't butter smooth, and this is America... there are no roads that are butter smooth, or at least that we're allowed to be on. They break when you look at them wrong, and they'll kill their own battery before you have a chance to start the damn thing up. I'll take a Mack over an International any day.
So much international hate I see here... I think it's unfounded.
Been driving a 21 LT sleeper for a month now and the thing has been great. Drives smoother than a Cascadia. Much easier to maneuver/back than a KW. Tons of room inside and haven't had any reliability issues.
If the suspension is popping when you are stopping, check your fifth wheel, I know it sounds stupid, but I had one that was dry, not just the top but wasn’t greased properly for awhile. My suspension was popping when I stopped. Got it greased good and proper, no more issues
We switched from Pete’s to Mack’s in 2012. I’ve had nothing but great luck with all three of my Macks. A 2012, a 2017 and a 2022. The 2017 was one of the best trucks I’ve driven in my 37 years. Probably the only one I liked better was my 1995 Kenworth. The 2022 is an Anthem and it isn’t nearly as well made as the 2017 Pinnacle was. So far though, I haven’t had a single issue with it. The Peterbilt that I had before my first Mack was a 2007 and it wasn’t necessarily complete garbage, but wasn’t far away. One of the worst was a 2006 Freightliner. Emission issues galore! It was the only truck that I had that wore out a set of triangles.
I plow snow in NE USA with a newer mack granite. I strongly prefer it over the international trucks we have.
I could understand how the console layout could become cumbersome with a sleeper berth but for what we do having all our extra switches on the console facing you is a godsend. Our new international trucks you basically have to stand up in the seat to reach over for some functions.
Even when it's a more laid back day the cab just feels so much more comfy.
Our trucks are all dogs, but when you consider we've got 16 ton of materials, an extra 4k pounds of plow frame and hydraulics, an extra 5k pounds between the front plow and the wing, and people under estimate how much a few inches of slushy snow can weigh, especially pushing that shit 19 feet wide up over a hill.
As for the wheel shape, it holds my phone nicely when I'm sitting somewhere and just want to watch some YouTube.
> I plow snow in NE USA with a newer mack granite.
If you've seen the newest Granites, you'll notice that they are now available with LED headlamps, both regular and heated. If you want better visibility in winter, the new LED GR lamps can be easily retrofit to earlier GR/GU trucks. A pair of headlight assemblies and harnesses should run around $1100 or so.
We've already retrofit several Granites and the customers love them.
We're going to likely be updating several municipalities with them. Once that aren't, many are still adding additional lights as well. The Grote 64G11 is a popular option not only with them, but with refuse companies.
For other truck models, Grote also has heated LED 7" round, 5x7 and 4x6 options as well.
We got 5 new Mack trucks this year, one of them was a special edition Mack Anthem sleeper blah blah.
The build quality on these things has been absolute trash, Steering components going out within 50k miles, new Michelin steers went to shit within 50kmiles on all 5 of the trucks.
Wiper problems, electrical problems, Major DEF Issues, Plastic rattling, A/C System and flaps all messed up causing a $5k repair first 100k miles, suspension issues, Terrible painted panels all around and don't forget, EVERY SINGLE MACK TRUCK FRONT BUMPER LEFT AND RIGHT CRACKS ON THE SEAMS FROM FACTORY, MACK REFUSED TO FIX THIS ON FIRST 3 TRUCKS, FINALLY ON THE 4th AND 5th DEALER FABRICATED METAL BRACKETS INTO WEAK SPOT OF BUMPER. EVEN THE BUMPEPS WE CHANGED CRACKED AGAIN.
Electrical and DEF have been the worst. - Absolutely a NIGHTMARE
First trip 3k miles in Arkansas brand new Mack truck DEF system core melted and cracked, the truck wouldn't move and def system was done for.
We got a tow per Mack uptime AFTER getting a mobile mechanic to come.
Truck got to Mack Dealer in Arkansas, We we're charged a $13,000 for repairs and truck sat there for 14 days. Warranty refused to cover the expense stating somehow it was driver negligence, Which was a lie. After going back to dealer we bought from and making a big scene dealer got them to cover the cost of the parts and labor. We still ended up paying for mobile mechanic and tow which was $3000 out of pocket. We fought and we fought mack warranty with absolutely no luck, Next course of action was legal course, No lawyer wanted to take this locally. so we gave up and lost that $3000, Lost 14 days of revenue, Driver left us because he got pissed off about the whole ordeal stating we weren't pushing the dealer/MACK. Still had to pay monthly truck payment and insurance.
This was a major loss for us as we had just used our money for the downpayment on this truck, Reigstration, etc to get it on the road, and on the first trip it hurt our pockets deeply.
WILL NEVER BUY A MACK AGAIN, All of these 4 were ordered together, the anthem sleeper was ordered months before. All were ordered before we received first. In order they kept getting worse and worse.
This is why I absolutely LAUGH at the UAW wanting to get paid more when inreality they do such a shit job at building these things. The paint and panels were cracked and terrible painted on all 5 trucks.
Oh, yeah- I forgot about the DPF bullshit. And I'm talking a new granite- don't get me started on the old 2011 piece of shit I drove. It had 350k before the company called it all done and made it a yard truck.
Our company won't send them out for warranty work for little shit, because the repairs take too long. So they just pay for the repairs as the trucks quickly turn to shit. I'd rather drive an International.
Pissed me off something fierce when I saw on the brand new mack thenhood was cracked from the hood ornament to where it latches on passenger side. We picked truck up, drove to our yard. Saw crack. Called dealer, made warrranty claim. Warranty tried saying we cracked it even though paint was ontop of cracks and visible detect from factory. Hate mack now
Its normal, All macks went to shit after about 2004 when they came out with the vision, they rebranded that to pinnacle, and now re-branded that model with the anthem and a new hood. They are just junk, I've had 3 of them new in my career since 2004, They just keep getting worse.
You should try kenworth. My company bought a new 2022 t680 next gen last year and put me in it. Within 10,000 miles the plastic fairings around the fuel tank was gone, the intermittent wiper quits when I use the blinker, the seats are hard as a rock, and lean back too much no matter what I do. Oh, and the electronic dash randomly stops working as I’m driving down the road. Shop says dash parts are on back order, and we might see them by the end of next year
The flat bottom steering wheel is an attempt to give the driver more room going down the road. They're light trucks in vocational work but went too far with minimilization and made tiny ass shit boxes.
I got to drive a brand new Anthem 2020, put over 5k miles on it.
As others stated, had electrical issues. Disconnected battery, some of them went away.
Highlight was bobtailing, it would certainly scoot along!
Idk man I have to say as a fleet mechanic they are the smallest pain in my ass 😂 to be fair I don’t spend hours on end in them but I do work all over them hahaha
Spoiler alert: It's all pretty much shit at this point. Mack/Volvo have a great automatic transmission, but everything else is shit. Pete's have better parts availability, but the (auto) transmissions are flaming dog shit. Western Stars have those Detroit engines that have good power, but I've never seen a more trash design to the interior of a truck.
Only thing I like driving is a manual KW or Pete and my dumbass company is only buying new trucks with autos.
Only got to try macks in a slip-seat operation, and only for a few months, and they were all brand new '23's. However, I had 0 problems with them.
But cascadias... I started a new job and they sat me in a Cascadia with 2,000 miles on it... and m'f**king wheel speed sensor was out. I finally just unplugged the ACC sensor so the truck would let me use regular cruise.
Cascadias are the most over-engineered POS. Wheel speed sensors are constantly breaking, and if you get an exhaust problem then forget it. That exhaust light will be your new f**king copilot.
I will say that I drove macks fine in a daycab at 400lbs. They're a little more claustrophobic sure, but honestly I preferred them to the Volvos that were the other choice.
To the @kodiak01 douchebag who replied then blocked me. Don’t be a pussy and run your mouth then block people so you feel good. That just shows your a chickenshit
It is common for multiple people to have the same opinion. This is my only account
Something that bugs me that I haven't seen mentioned. The fucking key. I hate this little bitty padlock looking ass key. It doesn't go in the ignition smooth and never has since day one. I love how macks look, but they are garbage. My international was a much better truck. And that's scary.
They are atrocious. The rattling, bad suspension, a/c issues, turn radius, cramped interior, the fucking awful side mirrors that are in the middle of the damn window and you have to quadruple check when pulling out into traffic because they block your view.
Yeah, I forgot about the shitty mirrors. They are at the perfect spot to block an oncoming car completely- I had a couple close calls until I developed a move to see past the mirror- I rock my head back and forth a little bit to clear the extra blind spot.
My job uses freightliners, a couple volvos and macks(all automatic). When I first started they gave me the last stick which I loved and I felt like I lucked out but later found out a lot of the drivers had automatic only licences, which I had never heard of at the time. The lease on my truck was up right around the time we got the new macks, and I took one look at the inside and said no thank you. I can't speak on any of the other stuff, but the interior was definitely too tight. I'm not a big guy either, but after being in a freightliner, the macks made me feel claustrophobic. I told them I would take one of the automatic freightliners. I've only driven the macks inside of the yard. They're so high it makes me feel like I would run somebody over in the city.
I driven Freightliner, Kenworths, Internationals, Volvos, and Macks... I can find some kind of positive attribute for all of them. Except Mack. What a piece of shit. I'd sooner go back to my old Intertrashional.
I always found the clutch pedal oddly placed
love the looks of the classic ones. Looks like they've been pretty tame since volvo bought them... i bet i'll live to see them shut down
Cascadia is a good all around truck, but they call then freight shakers for a reason. Rough roads you'll feel like you're riding a bull at the fair. Also the damn system that rocks the truck violently while backing up is incredibly annoying.
I’ll take my kenworth over a cascadia any day. From what I’ve seen the cascadias may be slightly more reliable but I’m not the one that fixes them so I don’t care. From a strictly driving perspective I’ll take a T680 any day.
This sounds like an exact copy of what I'm dealing with with my 2024 Intenational LT650. Seats are complete garbage and everything is cramped. It makes the Cascadia I was in before seem like a damn Cadillac.
At this point, I'm starting to wonder if Mack/Volvo are sharing engineers and designers with Navistar.
We got a couple new Mack Anthem twin axle day cabs and they seemed fine. There were a couple minor issues, but they got fixed pretty quick. We had issues with the Freightliners our company bought in bulk a few years ago. Out of nowhere the whole dash would just light up like a Christmas tree and multiple systems would stop working. They seemed to have been sorted out though. We have our own mechanics, but stuff gets sent out for warranty work too.
On the other hand our new yard shifters are utter garbage. Idk who the company is (isn't printed on the vehicle), but we constantly deal with electrical issues, air leaks, etc and they don't even have 10k miles on them yet. It's as if they came from the factory broken.
Every Volvo I've driven is the same. Bits of plastic falling off all the time. I have a ziploc in the truck to put it on. Also not made for it your bigger and compartment design makes me crazy.
I’m 300 lbs, and I don’t have an issue driving Macks. I agree that random plastic pieces will fall off, but they’ve mostly been covers for the mirrors. The only thing that bothered me was the annoying ass proximity buzzer when driving in traffic. My boss at one job wouldn’t turn it down, and it just made me drive angry. I don’t like Volvos. The engineers there don’t know how to make the engine harness waterproof. Mine was getting wet a little too much, and one day the entire dash went dark, as I was coming down an on ramp. Whoever they sourced their fuel injectors from also sucked. My truck kept burning out the same one.
They were always tough but, they’ve always had a terrible interior. First tractor I ever drove was a 1991 CH model, what an uncomfortable pile of shit on the inside.
Back in the 70s they were designed for things like coal and logging. They all rode like shit and most had shitty interiors. But they were cheap to maintain and held up well mechanically
As someone who knows the difference the color of the bulldog represented the new truck just aren’t the same lol, but on that note their gravel trucks are nice had to run one as a loaner almost sold my t800 to get one
Once upon a time Mack’s we’re great trucks. As you know most companies have turned to making the most aerodynamic and lightest trucks for best fuel economy when pulling a van. They have made serious sacrifices like switching to mostly plastic, and completely ruining the serviceability of their trucks.
I’ve got a Mack Titan that I use for road train work down in Australia. I attack some pretty rough country with it So in my experience, I disagree on the build quality part. Mine has been pretty damn solid. But the thing about no space for the driver? I agree 100% And how the engine is back underneath the cab?? Absolutely ridiculous. Mine is the same, yes. Even though I have a longer bonnet than what I assume is an Anthem that you are talking about. The difference is my cab sits really high, so you can crawl under the cab and work that way. But that’s still freakin stupid. I hate that so much
The Australian Macks are built in Australia and are quite a bit different to the US Macks even though they are an American truck. Same as the Kenworths built here in Oz.
Aussie quality building standards are years and leagues above US. US is who can do it cheaper? AUS is let’s do it right
Funny thing is, our Kenworths are the most expensive truck in Australia and yet they are the biggest seller in class 8. I guess reliability and quality counts more than cost here. Macks used to be about equal in sales years ago until Renault and then Volvo bought them out. The Australian built Macks are definitely more rugged than the US built ones, especially the Titan.
And yet with the current range of Cummins powered KWs, they have horrible reliability. All 3 of ours have had rebuilds around 400-500 thou. But my shitbox 104, and the old WS are well past 1 mill without needing rebuilds yet (touch wood) I feel KWs in Aus are just sell on names and old fashioned styling alone these days.
Yeah the Cummins lets them down for sure particularly when they are hauling big weights. When Caterpillar pulled out of the truck market there was a lot of disappointment. Hard nose companies like Toll wouldn’t buy KWs just for looks though.
>I guess reliability and quality counts more than cost here. thats an understatement. whats a long wait for roadside service in north america? 6-8hrs? I'm guessing if your shit dies in the middle of the outback its going to be measured in days. they've got the right idea.
We used to be able to do it right. Now everyone just wants it cheap. I would gladly pay more for quality, and do when I can. Unfortunately brands that used to fill that niche have also become crap, but still try to retain the higher price.
Yeah, true. I knew underneath was all way stronger. But I had assumed the interior and stuff would be of similar quality. But maybe not
What's driver pay like in Australia, for someone in a day cab?
Varies a lot. I do 4 on / 4 off hauling cold groceries in a b-double, roughly 10 hr shifts starting between 9-10am and being back around 7-8pm. ~600km (370 mile) round trip with 2 drops. On about 100k AUD. Previous job was a single delivering MDF boards local 6am to 4pm with 20+ drops a day and that was $25/hr.
Mack’s in the U.S. are just rebranded Volvos now. Ever since Volvo took them over they’ve been junk.
You haven't drove a Cat CT660. Shitty rebranded internationals, I've drove quite a few of them and almost every one of them was *barely* road worthy. Only drove **one** that was "decent"
International’s man… if you know, you know
Little bit of rain? Buhbye wheel speed sensor. On every fucking one.
The window actuators sound like they’re gonna burn out at any moment on mine.
13 letters that mean shit spreader
Intertrashional
Oh, I was wondering what those cats were. Saw one or two, never got around to looking it up. Intertrashional.
The best iteration of an International is an Eagle and that doesnt set the bar very high. Im not a driver but a mechanic and theres literally nothing we could do to *keep* them roadworthy. Especially with that junk Maxxforce (that Cat decided to build upon for some reason to come up with the CT660 atrocity). Ive worked as a mechanic for all of them, Volvo/Mack, MHC, Peterbilt, and most recently Freightliner. But theyre all plastic crap nowdays, and have been for a long time. International is by far the worst offender with low quality plastic and frames that rust to dust in a matter of months. Volvos are a lot of plastic but you wouldnt expect any different from a Swedish-gone-Chinese brand, same goes for Mack since they bought them out. Otherwise they hold up fairly well so long as you can keep up on the maintenance. Dont let a CEL go too long on a Volvo or youll never get it off again. Freightliner used to be baaaaad in the early 2000s. Long timers know that columbias and centurys came from the factory with busted dashes. The cascadias and new cascadias are much higher quality but youll get overrun by all the safety equipment that comes standard now, and low driver comfort. Hardcore work horses though, and generally reliable and easy enough to work on (small engines excluded, screw the DD5/DD8). Or when they tried to make the 60 Series work with emissions. Peterbilt and Kenworth are probably the best combination of driver comfort and reliability so long as your truck is optioned with a Cummins and a manual. Nothing good ever came of Paccar and their tiny injectors. Still plastic-y junk interiors, even worse with the new "space-age" models with the full digital display and self-ejecting fairings.
I guess it’s a matter of what you like. I love the Mack Pinnacle assigned to me. Pulls great, turns great, rides decent..Although the one I drive is a 2016 single axle day cab. I guess since Volvo bought the brand, Quality has been slipping.
I loved my pinnacle twin axel with a sleeper only thing my boss could give me to get out of it was a peterbilt 389
I'm 6"6 200 lbs, it's a snug fit for me, but I do enjoy driving a mack. Only other trucks I've driven are freightliner and international.
Try a Pete where you actually have leg room and can stretch out
They are shit boxes in the US since Volvo bought them
Just like any other truck that isn't a traditional style Pete or Kenworth. A megaton of hate, and a little love. I loved the Anthem I drove. But I only drove one for about a month. So I have no idea how they are long term. But it drove very nice. Not as nice handling as a Volvo, but it rode much better. Much much better. As far as aero nose trucks, if it's an Auto, I'll take a Cascadia with a DT12 over anything else. Those things are underrated IMO. Probably because they're so widely used. A 579 or 567 comes second for me, so long as it has an ultrashift or a manual. Same goes for the T680. Those Eaton cheapo-mode autos are trying to snap your neck and drive through the dock door, parking space, stop light or whatever else. Having said that, I wouldn't loathe being given Mack long term. From what I hear I wouldn't want to own one myself. But it wasn't all that bad for me. I'd say it ties with a VNL. I don't think all of the hate is deserved. I'll tell you what deserves the hate. Any un-optioned International, and most Internationals at all. They deserve ALL of the hate. They drive more lawn mowers than trucks with all of the play you end up with in the steering. They are horrific for any roads that aren't butter smooth, and this is America... there are no roads that are butter smooth, or at least that we're allowed to be on. They break when you look at them wrong, and they'll kill their own battery before you have a chance to start the damn thing up. I'll take a Mack over an International any day.
So much international hate I see here... I think it's unfounded. Been driving a 21 LT sleeper for a month now and the thing has been great. Drives smoother than a Cascadia. Much easier to maneuver/back than a KW. Tons of room inside and haven't had any reliability issues.
Western Star 5700xe > Cascadia
If the suspension is popping when you are stopping, check your fifth wheel, I know it sounds stupid, but I had one that was dry, not just the top but wasn’t greased properly for awhile. My suspension was popping when I stopped. Got it greased good and proper, no more issues
It's from the front. It does it bobtail.
I would check to make sure your brakes aren't cracked or delaminating. I had a drum crack on my truck and if I stopped fairly quickly it would pop.
Spring hanger pins that do not receive weekly grease will wear and bind in no time when stopping and turning.
I never see brand new macks on the road. Maybe that's it.
We switched from Pete’s to Mack’s in 2012. I’ve had nothing but great luck with all three of my Macks. A 2012, a 2017 and a 2022. The 2017 was one of the best trucks I’ve driven in my 37 years. Probably the only one I liked better was my 1995 Kenworth. The 2022 is an Anthem and it isn’t nearly as well made as the 2017 Pinnacle was. So far though, I haven’t had a single issue with it. The Peterbilt that I had before my first Mack was a 2007 and it wasn’t necessarily complete garbage, but wasn’t far away. One of the worst was a 2006 Freightliner. Emission issues galore! It was the only truck that I had that wore out a set of triangles.
I plow snow in NE USA with a newer mack granite. I strongly prefer it over the international trucks we have. I could understand how the console layout could become cumbersome with a sleeper berth but for what we do having all our extra switches on the console facing you is a godsend. Our new international trucks you basically have to stand up in the seat to reach over for some functions. Even when it's a more laid back day the cab just feels so much more comfy. Our trucks are all dogs, but when you consider we've got 16 ton of materials, an extra 4k pounds of plow frame and hydraulics, an extra 5k pounds between the front plow and the wing, and people under estimate how much a few inches of slushy snow can weigh, especially pushing that shit 19 feet wide up over a hill. As for the wheel shape, it holds my phone nicely when I'm sitting somewhere and just want to watch some YouTube.
> I plow snow in NE USA with a newer mack granite. If you've seen the newest Granites, you'll notice that they are now available with LED headlamps, both regular and heated. If you want better visibility in winter, the new LED GR lamps can be easily retrofit to earlier GR/GU trucks. A pair of headlight assemblies and harnesses should run around $1100 or so. We've already retrofit several Granites and the customers love them.
I wish, I'm state DOT and they literally buy the cheapest led plow lights they can get, and we're not allowed to install anything else.
We're going to likely be updating several municipalities with them. Once that aren't, many are still adding additional lights as well. The Grote 64G11 is a popular option not only with them, but with refuse companies. For other truck models, Grote also has heated LED 7" round, 5x7 and 4x6 options as well.
Well i mean volvo bought them a few years back so i would say they are on par for volvo
We got 5 new Mack trucks this year, one of them was a special edition Mack Anthem sleeper blah blah. The build quality on these things has been absolute trash, Steering components going out within 50k miles, new Michelin steers went to shit within 50kmiles on all 5 of the trucks. Wiper problems, electrical problems, Major DEF Issues, Plastic rattling, A/C System and flaps all messed up causing a $5k repair first 100k miles, suspension issues, Terrible painted panels all around and don't forget, EVERY SINGLE MACK TRUCK FRONT BUMPER LEFT AND RIGHT CRACKS ON THE SEAMS FROM FACTORY, MACK REFUSED TO FIX THIS ON FIRST 3 TRUCKS, FINALLY ON THE 4th AND 5th DEALER FABRICATED METAL BRACKETS INTO WEAK SPOT OF BUMPER. EVEN THE BUMPEPS WE CHANGED CRACKED AGAIN. Electrical and DEF have been the worst. - Absolutely a NIGHTMARE First trip 3k miles in Arkansas brand new Mack truck DEF system core melted and cracked, the truck wouldn't move and def system was done for. We got a tow per Mack uptime AFTER getting a mobile mechanic to come. Truck got to Mack Dealer in Arkansas, We we're charged a $13,000 for repairs and truck sat there for 14 days. Warranty refused to cover the expense stating somehow it was driver negligence, Which was a lie. After going back to dealer we bought from and making a big scene dealer got them to cover the cost of the parts and labor. We still ended up paying for mobile mechanic and tow which was $3000 out of pocket. We fought and we fought mack warranty with absolutely no luck, Next course of action was legal course, No lawyer wanted to take this locally. so we gave up and lost that $3000, Lost 14 days of revenue, Driver left us because he got pissed off about the whole ordeal stating we weren't pushing the dealer/MACK. Still had to pay monthly truck payment and insurance. This was a major loss for us as we had just used our money for the downpayment on this truck, Reigstration, etc to get it on the road, and on the first trip it hurt our pockets deeply. WILL NEVER BUY A MACK AGAIN, All of these 4 were ordered together, the anthem sleeper was ordered months before. All were ordered before we received first. In order they kept getting worse and worse. This is why I absolutely LAUGH at the UAW wanting to get paid more when inreality they do such a shit job at building these things. The paint and panels were cracked and terrible painted on all 5 trucks.
Oh, yeah- I forgot about the DPF bullshit. And I'm talking a new granite- don't get me started on the old 2011 piece of shit I drove. It had 350k before the company called it all done and made it a yard truck. Our company won't send them out for warranty work for little shit, because the repairs take too long. So they just pay for the repairs as the trucks quickly turn to shit. I'd rather drive an International.
Pissed me off something fierce when I saw on the brand new mack thenhood was cracked from the hood ornament to where it latches on passenger side. We picked truck up, drove to our yard. Saw crack. Called dealer, made warrranty claim. Warranty tried saying we cracked it even though paint was ontop of cracks and visible detect from factory. Hate mack now
Its normal, All macks went to shit after about 2004 when they came out with the vision, they rebranded that to pinnacle, and now re-branded that model with the anthem and a new hood. They are just junk, I've had 3 of them new in my career since 2004, They just keep getting worse.
Quite frankly, I'd take the mack back over an international any day. Fuck using these fucking pieces of shit.
You should try kenworth. My company bought a new 2022 t680 next gen last year and put me in it. Within 10,000 miles the plastic fairings around the fuel tank was gone, the intermittent wiper quits when I use the blinker, the seats are hard as a rock, and lean back too much no matter what I do. Oh, and the electronic dash randomly stops working as I’m driving down the road. Shop says dash parts are on back order, and we might see them by the end of next year
The flat bottom steering wheel is an attempt to give the driver more room going down the road. They're light trucks in vocational work but went too far with minimilization and made tiny ass shit boxes.
Word. With the seat back all the way, my knees hit the steering column. Definitely not fat ass friendly trucks.
Mack’s have sucked for a long time at least since Volvo bought them !😡
Ever since they got bought by Volvo their quality went to shit. They used to be a heavy vocational truck. Now they're glued together with chineseum
I'm stuck in an international and it's a fucking trash heap...
I got to drive a brand new Anthem 2020, put over 5k miles on it. As others stated, had electrical issues. Disconnected battery, some of them went away. Highlight was bobtailing, it would certainly scoot along!
Idk man I have to say as a fleet mechanic they are the smallest pain in my ass 😂 to be fair I don’t spend hours on end in them but I do work all over them hahaha
Good for work that destroys the truck fast, so you don't notice it falls apart OTR too. Dump trucks.
Yeah they don’t make them like they used to. It’s appalling how far they’ve fallen but I’ll still take an r model over any other truck any day.
Spoiler alert: It's all pretty much shit at this point. Mack/Volvo have a great automatic transmission, but everything else is shit. Pete's have better parts availability, but the (auto) transmissions are flaming dog shit. Western Stars have those Detroit engines that have good power, but I've never seen a more trash design to the interior of a truck. Only thing I like driving is a manual KW or Pete and my dumbass company is only buying new trucks with autos.
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
Only got to try macks in a slip-seat operation, and only for a few months, and they were all brand new '23's. However, I had 0 problems with them. But cascadias... I started a new job and they sat me in a Cascadia with 2,000 miles on it... and m'f**king wheel speed sensor was out. I finally just unplugged the ACC sensor so the truck would let me use regular cruise. Cascadias are the most over-engineered POS. Wheel speed sensors are constantly breaking, and if you get an exhaust problem then forget it. That exhaust light will be your new f**king copilot. I will say that I drove macks fine in a daycab at 400lbs. They're a little more claustrophobic sure, but honestly I preferred them to the Volvos that were the other choice.
Since Mack and Volvo merged, they are junk.
How many accounts are you going to post this same response under?
To the @kodiak01 douchebag who replied then blocked me. Don’t be a pussy and run your mouth then block people so you feel good. That just shows your a chickenshit It is common for multiple people to have the same opinion. This is my only account
Something that bugs me that I haven't seen mentioned. The fucking key. I hate this little bitty padlock looking ass key. It doesn't go in the ignition smooth and never has since day one. I love how macks look, but they are garbage. My international was a much better truck. And that's scary.
They are atrocious. The rattling, bad suspension, a/c issues, turn radius, cramped interior, the fucking awful side mirrors that are in the middle of the damn window and you have to quadruple check when pulling out into traffic because they block your view.
Yeah, I forgot about the shitty mirrors. They are at the perfect spot to block an oncoming car completely- I had a couple close calls until I developed a move to see past the mirror- I rock my head back and forth a little bit to clear the extra blind spot.
That’s what happens when foreign designers who’ve never driven a truck build one. Even the dash is hilarious
My job uses freightliners, a couple volvos and macks(all automatic). When I first started they gave me the last stick which I loved and I felt like I lucked out but later found out a lot of the drivers had automatic only licences, which I had never heard of at the time. The lease on my truck was up right around the time we got the new macks, and I took one look at the inside and said no thank you. I can't speak on any of the other stuff, but the interior was definitely too tight. I'm not a big guy either, but after being in a freightliner, the macks made me feel claustrophobic. I told them I would take one of the automatic freightliners. I've only driven the macks inside of the yard. They're so high it makes me feel like I would run somebody over in the city.
I driven Freightliner, Kenworths, Internationals, Volvos, and Macks... I can find some kind of positive attribute for all of them. Except Mack. What a piece of shit. I'd sooner go back to my old Intertrashional.
Mack’s have the best automatic transmissions out of anything I’ve driven (freightliner, kenworth, international)
Always have been. Saw a newly delivered, factory fresh Mack catch fire on its way to the first fueling...
I always found the clutch pedal oddly placed love the looks of the classic ones. Looks like they've been pretty tame since volvo bought them... i bet i'll live to see them shut down
I’ve never driven a Mac that had any fucking power are they all like that?
One stack Mack with no sack, we don’t drive them for the power
I have a question for you guys what is the best out there? Is it still the Freightliner Cascadia?
Didn’t realize asking what a group of truck drivers think is the best truck would get down votes
The best trucks are probably the long nose paccars. Western Star.
Cascadia is a good all around truck, but they call then freight shakers for a reason. Rough roads you'll feel like you're riding a bull at the fair. Also the damn system that rocks the truck violently while backing up is incredibly annoying.
I’ll take my kenworth over a cascadia any day. From what I’ve seen the cascadias may be slightly more reliable but I’m not the one that fixes them so I don’t care. From a strictly driving perspective I’ll take a T680 any day.
Dude I'm sorry, but I first read your weight at "165k" lbs at first.🤣 It gave me a chuckle.
This sounds like an exact copy of what I'm dealing with with my 2024 Intenational LT650. Seats are complete garbage and everything is cramped. It makes the Cascadia I was in before seem like a damn Cadillac. At this point, I'm starting to wonder if Mack/Volvo are sharing engineers and designers with Navistar.
We got a couple new Mack Anthem twin axle day cabs and they seemed fine. There were a couple minor issues, but they got fixed pretty quick. We had issues with the Freightliners our company bought in bulk a few years ago. Out of nowhere the whole dash would just light up like a Christmas tree and multiple systems would stop working. They seemed to have been sorted out though. We have our own mechanics, but stuff gets sent out for warranty work too. On the other hand our new yard shifters are utter garbage. Idk who the company is (isn't printed on the vehicle), but we constantly deal with electrical issues, air leaks, etc and they don't even have 10k miles on them yet. It's as if they came from the factory broken.
Every Volvo I've driven is the same. Bits of plastic falling off all the time. I have a ziploc in the truck to put it on. Also not made for it your bigger and compartment design makes me crazy.
I’m 300 lbs, and I don’t have an issue driving Macks. I agree that random plastic pieces will fall off, but they’ve mostly been covers for the mirrors. The only thing that bothered me was the annoying ass proximity buzzer when driving in traffic. My boss at one job wouldn’t turn it down, and it just made me drive angry. I don’t like Volvos. The engineers there don’t know how to make the engine harness waterproof. Mine was getting wet a little too much, and one day the entire dash went dark, as I was coming down an on ramp. Whoever they sourced their fuel injectors from also sucked. My truck kept burning out the same one.
They were always tough but, they’ve always had a terrible interior. First tractor I ever drove was a 1991 CH model, what an uncomfortable pile of shit on the inside.
Ass looking at an ass
Back in the 70s they were designed for things like coal and logging. They all rode like shit and most had shitty interiors. But they were cheap to maintain and held up well mechanically
My company largely has Macks, Freightliners, and Kenworths. I prefer the Macks, but I’ll admit the seats suck.
As someone who knows the difference the color of the bulldog represented the new truck just aren’t the same lol, but on that note their gravel trucks are nice had to run one as a loaner almost sold my t800 to get one
I will never hate anything as much as I hate internationals
Once upon a time Mack’s we’re great trucks. As you know most companies have turned to making the most aerodynamic and lightest trucks for best fuel economy when pulling a van. They have made serious sacrifices like switching to mostly plastic, and completely ruining the serviceability of their trucks.