Truck review: Mack Anthem daycab and 70" sleeper

So, I know this is an old review, but I drive an anthem. The wife rides. The biggest thing I have noticed, coming from the oilfield and running a 98 379 with a cat motor and 18 speed, this thing has a tighter turning radius than a carnival cruise ship. Barely.

but I’ve got 70k on it, run Seattle to Denver, generally around 65-70k gross governed at 72 and I routinely get 9-10mpg. With duals.

it needs that cabinet on the back wall to wrap around, and maybe a little more overhead cabinets.

 

How do you Anthem drivers find the seats being so close to the door panels? You can't even get your hand down between the seat and door.
I talked to a few drivers using them for heavy haul here and they like the engines (MP8 505's) but they all said they hate the seats and they hate how close they are to the doors.

I can't get into them. I like the previous dash and interiors better. And while I like the grill (I think it would be nicer on a Granite vocational truck) I detest those hood mirrors, the headlight shape and whoever the designer was that thought up those screen doors for hood side vents, well he should be fired immediately.

On the plus side, it is no longer the world's ugliest truck. The new W990 Kenworth just took that title, LOL

I don't know, I used to be DIEHARD Mack, but now they are the one truck make I would NOT consider. I lost all respect when they ignored their former heavy haul and logging customers and failed miserably to market the Titan and MP10 engines.

 

^^^I dunno. The W990 looks pretty good when they're spec'd right (big steer tires, low sleeper roof and winch deck).

 

Again, as with the Mack, hate the headlights and the hood vents. If they changed the headlights and put real breathers on it, I'd like it a lot better. But I'd still rather take a W900 narrow cab.

Just personal preference. Not insulting anyone that has one.

I think the Australian's did a lot better job making the new wide cab look like a classic truck.

 

I think had they put a hood that looked more like a W900L, it might have worked. I mean Pete has it with the 579 set forward. The grill almost looks like a 389 and so do the fenders. But that grill! Yuch!

 

Here's how they should have put the wide cab on a classic. Just make the hood longer for over here.

 

the answer is yes. we got 7 of them since that post. they replaced my manual 10 spd pinnacle with a 12 spd auto anthem. i’ve put about 12k miles on so far. day cab mp7.

much to my surprise, the one i got runs very well. i’m still not crazy about the auto. i run a lot of hills and it must be used in manual mode to get the most out of it. if left in auto: operating with performance mode on certainly helps, but engine braking gets tricky. i know the road & how to use every bit of it to my advantage, the automatic shifting really takes away from that.

i like:

even with the little motor, the truck is strong and pulls well. engine brake works well. the mp7 is a small motor and needs rpm to brake. it will pull surprisingly well from 1150 rpm to about 1800.

the addition of steering wheel controls.

i do not like:

smaller mirrors and the adjustment control is not responsive at all. very sluggish

distance & lane departure activation completely killing the radio

the truck has had several rattles and squeaks since new

the seat doesn’t go back far enough, i’m 6’ and i feel like my knees are in the steering wheel. the seat bottom sucks, despite the seat having several adjustment properties. this is the cheap fleet truck seat, so no real surprises there

the high beam headlights point up too far. they’re pretty much useless on my truck. i can see a dark space between the 2 at night. they’d be much better served if they were aimed down a touch to fill in the gap.

i don’t like how the dash won’t dim very much. i drive 100% at night and value a dark cab. i think it could be argued that it doesn’t matter bc the headlights are so bright. not being a soft halogen light, it is more prone to bounce off of wet roads, fog and anything remotely reflective. honestly a real pain, sometimes. the roads i run are desolate, pitch dark, 2 lane state roads. i prefer the older headlights despite the newer ones being “better”.

air release for the 5th wheel doesn’t work when it’s under about 25*. which is a waste bc that’s the only time i was looking forward to using it. simply to avoid the snow etc when dropping a trailer.

overall i think it’ll be a good truck. we are getting 1 mil+ miles out of all the mp7 pinnacles, i imagine these will be no different in that regard. i hope mack has the dpf stuff figured out this go round. EVERY MP7 pinnacle we had (50 of them..?) suffered from incessant dpf and def issues around 500k. after several trips to the shop they eventually came out of it.

i can’t comment on storage. everything seems to be about the same as the pinnacle, except a pocket in the doors now. i am happy i can bring a bigger cooler bc no shifter in the way.

 

My husband drives a Mack Anthem 2020 . I ride with him since I'm retired and kids are grown and gone . The truck is nice, as far as looks go on the inside .However this is by far the worst truck ever to be a rider in . It would not be a good truck to have if you are a team driver. Trust me you will not get any sleep while that truck is in motion .You will feel every bump and crack in the road. When it's carrying a full load, you will pretty much fly off the bed if the truck hits a small bump. It's very uncomfortable. Over the years I have been in a Volvo, Frieghtliner, Peterbuilt, and International. Did not have this issuse in those trucks . This is a downgrade from what a Mack used to be. I am currently having to make a heart breaking choice to come off the road with my loving husband due to way my body can not take the beat downs from this truck anymore. These should only be day can trucks and nothing more . I am sad Mack went down the way they have.

 

Had Mack Anthem assigned to me in November. Would not get in it, only 1 adjustable armrest.WTF,,fine if confined to city garbage truck.... Waited 2 months for a Freightliner.