What’s one of the most versatile vehicles ever made? A Mack truck.
It didn’t make your list, right?
At the helm of the 13,000-pound Mackvader, Mike Morgan has entered his 1998 Mack CH in several forms of motorsports: road racing, autocross, drag racing, oval track racing, top speed challenges and even drifting.
“It’s like an old muscle car,” Mike says. …
If you race on the same course as this guy, the old phrase "..hit by a Mack truck.." might be appropriate.
On a serious note, it's sad that unlike in Europe and Down Under we've never embraced truck racing in this country. Sure there were some attempts in the '70s and again I think in the '90s on oval tracks but it never really took off. My guess would be that track insurance makes it too expensive.
I read an article in the '90s or early '00s where they came out with a "formula" to turn a Series 60 Detroit up to 1500 hp. They wanted that much to make the racing series exciting for the fans. They then approached Penske (the owner of Detroit Diesel at the time) and inquired about the validity of their formula. The response was quite negative and read something like ...are you nuts? If you run that much boost and that much fuel, you won't get more than 50,000 miles out of it....
They were looking for 500 miles.
Trucks aren't cars. 
I love watching truck drags. A 120k lb vehicle that can lift a front wheel is true torque.
A 401 CJ said:If you race on the same course as this guy, the old phrase "..hit by a Mack truck.." might be appropriate.
On a serious note, it's sad that unlike in Europe and Down Under we've never embraced truck racing in this country. Sure there were some attempts in the '70s and again I think in the '90s on oval tracks but it never really took off. My guess would be that track insurance makes it too expensive.
I read an article in the '90s or early '00s where they came out with a "formula" to turn a Series 60 Detroit up to 1500 hp. They wanted that much to make the racing series exciting for the fans. They then approached Penske (the owner of Detroit Diesel at the time) and inquired about the validity of their formula. The response was quite negative and read something like ...are you nuts? If you run that much boost and that much fuel, you won't get more than 50,000 miles out of it....
They were looking for 500.
There is still truck racing at the short track level on both dirt and asphalt. Plus the odd truck drag racing.
I heard that one thing that killed truck racing over here was the track pavement got ripped up - it wasn't designed for something that weighte six tons pulling one G.
In reply to A 401 CJ :
The guy I drove for some, got back to only one truck, and took a bit of time off from that. When he went back in it, he rebuilt the entire truck, plus detroit 60 driveline. Started at about 600 hp. Every mod since has gotten a bit better mpg, and they are up to at least 1200 hp. With longevity.
The bean counters that those folks approached, just didn't want to fool with it, 'cause it's doable. (And provable)
03Panther said:In reply to A 401 CJ :
The guy I drove for some, got back to only one truck, and took a bit of time off from that. When he went back in it, he rebuilt the entire truck, plus detroit 60 driveline. Started at about 600 hp. Every mod since has gotten a bit better mpg, and they are up to at least 1200 hp. With longevity.
The bean counters that those folks approached, just didn't want to fool with it, 'cause it's doable. (And provable)
... and that 1200hp is generated at about 2000 rpms. Makes me wonder how many torques are at the flywheel.
...and our local autocross group won't allow SUV's or trucks with 4wd. I should show them this. =P
Love the ingenuity on display here. Truly remarkable, when you consider that *each* slug that thing is spinning weighs about 40-50 lbs between the rod and piston.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:03Panther said:In reply to A 401 CJ :
The guy I drove for some, got back to only one truck, and took a bit of time off from that. When he went back in it, he rebuilt the entire truck, plus detroit 60 driveline. Started at about 600 hp. Every mod since has gotten a bit better mpg, and they are up to at least 1200 hp. With longevity.
The bean counters that those folks approached, just didn't want to fool with it, 'cause it's doable. (And provable)... and that 1200hp is generated at about 2000 rpms. Makes me wonder how many torques are at the flywheel.
You can math it out for that 2000 rpm point but the short answer is - a lot more than 1200 torques :-)
I wish it made more sense to own a single axle day cab. A little truck with a pickup bed and a class 5 hitch would be such a fun tow rig and runabout(for how little I drive in the summer). And really look down at the brodozers
buzzboy said:I wish it made more sense to own a single axle day cab. A little truck with a pickup bed and a class 5 hitch would be such a fun tow rig and runabout(for how little I drive in the summer). And really look down at the brodozers
My former next door neighbor had exactly that but medium duty instead of class 8. Still pretty impressive. Freightliner cab, dually pickup bed. I'm thinking it was a 9 or 10 liter Cummins. Souped up. He told me it had been a beer truck in it's former life. Wish I had a picture of it. It turned out really nice being the homemade version of that one Navistar made for awhile to sell to the 'mine's bigger' crowd.
In reply to A 401 CJ :
Likely an 8.3, big brother to the 5.9 everyone loves. The FL-50 through 80 came with a 5.9 Cummins, (ISB), 8.3 (ISC) or 7.2 Cat. (3126)
Mine was a Cat. Pulled our 35' triple slide 5'er (13.5K lbs) all over US. Got it above 80 in the flatlands out west.
In reply to 03Panther :
In later years they offered them with the Series 50
I'm more an International man myself. I blame that on riding in the cab of an International Fleetstar at an impressionable young age. We went up through the gorge between Rome and Booneville with a loaded trailer, the Detroit 2-stroke screaming away. The sound would peel the ears off your head.
In reply to No Time :
The Detroit 50 is one seriously nice 4 cyl. ! But it is such a tall engine, that the only MD truck I ever saw one in was a FL 108. Bigger truck than the FL 50, 60, 70 and 80. Those 4 were basicly the same truck with slightly heavier chassis/suspension/railings.
My FL 50, was made with a 50 vin number, but had 70 spec. Equipment. The 3126 kitty cat, was almost too tall!!!
Some FL 50s were actually made with a dodge 360 magnum! Although I never saw one in the wild.
In reply to NickD :
The IH MD trucks with the DT466 are great trucks!
In reply to 03Panther :
This had the 6-71 with a manual trans. Sounded amazing and fun to ride in. The owner said it got 15mpg rattling around with an empty trailer. Before that he had had a B-Model Mack, which he said was great-looking but a miserable bitch in every other regard. He followed the Fleetstar up with a Peterbilt cabover of some flavor, which he said was as much an improvement over the Fleetstar as the Fleetstar was over the B-Model.
According to Bus Grease Monkey the marine 6-71 made 475 hp. Its injectors are HUGE compared to a land based engine. I just wonder how many laps (how much time)you could get with a marine spec 6-71 before it got too hot. Seems logical that you could race it unladen for awhile.
In reply to 03Panther :
My father had a single axle day cab with the Series 50, but I don't recall the model so you are probably right that it was larger than an FL 70
What folks tend to not think about it that they are designed to perform a task. And with medium duties (up to a 650 or 6500 series, 26000 GVW that task is usually payload. As such the tires are 19.5's with lots of steel in the sidewalls and run 80lbs of pressure. The chassis and springs are likewise designed for weight -on- the truck. So going for a ride with meemaw on sunday afternoon is going to be right unpleasant. Air bags help as do airbags on the cab. But unloaded or lightly loaded you are going to want to make sure those fillings are glued in real well before you leave. I once delivered a short (109) wheelbase 4500 that was still a cab chassis, 40 miles up the local concrete mountain highway and the guy driving chase me asked if I noticed that at least one corner of the truck was off the ground at -every- expansion strip. And yes, I noticed. 0 0
I got to see Mackvader a couple of weeks ago. He's back to oval-track racing it. However, Mike told me he's working on a new truck as Mackvader has been through a lot over the years.
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