How are Mack Pinnacles?

I drove a 98 ch613 e7 a few years ago. it had power for days, but the ride left much to be desired. that engine seemed to have a lot more low end pull than the mp7 I'm in now.

 

My first impression after driving a Mack - "this dashboard is ####ing huge"

 

I drive a 2014 Mack with 377,xxx miles hauling tanker loads. We average right around 75k, but I have loads right at 80k sometimes. Our 2014 Pinnacles are mid-roof sleepers with 445hp MP8s paired with 13spds. They are governed at 65mph and run around 1375 rpms topped out, if that gives anybody a clue what the gear ratios are.

Previously, I hauled pig feed in bulk auger tankers with a 2014 Freightliner Coronado Glider. It had a 500hp Series 60 w/ no governor. I do miss that a lot, but being governed right at the speed limit has kept me out of more trouble than I care to admit...

Besides the Coronado, I ran a wore out 2007 Western Star 4900 daycab with the 425hp Mercedes. I've also ran Columbia and Volvo sleepers for a brief time OTR, but that was years ago.

Compared to the Coronado, the Mack is WAY quieter going up and down the road, but the Freightshaker was only a daycab with two bellowing stacks right behind my head. You can definitely tell a huge difference in interior build quality. The Mack rides very nice and feels very car-like, especially bobtailing. It is easily the quietest, best-riding truck I have ever driven.

As far as how the MP8 pulls, to me it seems like a very hard pulling motor. I run US20 to US151, going between Waterloo, IA, to Jefferson, WI on a daily basis. There are a few steep hills in WI, and I rarely get passed going up. If I do, it's usually somebody smoking by with a much lighter load or way too much horsepower under the hood. I can't tell you the last time somebody with a heavy load has crept past. If it weren't for the governor, I don't think too many trucks could pass us. I can't tell you how many vans I've ran with that are faster trucks, but they can't pull the hills as hard and I leave them behind in the grades. We have 2015 Macks with 405hp MP8 or MP7s (?) and they don't pull near as hard on the hills. The 2015s have the 12spd auto. I wish they would have put 500hp MP8s in them. I think that would be an awesome combo.

All of this said, we have the same electronic/emissions trouble as everything else. As much as I like my Mack, I think my company is stupid for buying them. I miss my old Coronado, and I would take a flat-top glider in front of my tank in a heartbeat, even with the rougher ride and cheap interior.

 

I didn't know that was possible...

 

True...

 

Our fleet of Macks doesn't seem to be aging well; this winter has taken its toll already. We have had trucks dropping like flies. The weeks before Christmas were bad. My dispatcher had 11 of her 25 trucks break down or go to the shop for major repairs in one week. My truck had to go to the shop 3 times in a row for the same problem. Ended up being some bare wiring in the harness that was giving the truck fits whenever it got wet. It's no fun having both speedometers go out and then having a motor that seriously derates and won't rev over 1400rpms. Makes getting up and down the hills on Hwy151 in Wisconsin mighty fun, especially when you are trying to make it home in a snowstorm.

The loaner Mack I have been running isn't much better off. It is using 1/3 tank of DEF per day. They are so power short that they couldn't get it down to the main shops at Jacksonville to work on it yet. My truck is finally fixed, AGAIN, so hopefully this other one can get some love now. Our newer Pinnacles are all getting close to 400K or higher, and I wonder if we are going to see a lot more breakdowns as they age. I really, really hope we have new power coming soon. Supposedly, we have a bunch of Peterbilt 579 day cabs coming. Landes was bought out by Kenan Advantage group recently. I guess they are all big on Petes. It sounds like maybe our Mack buying days are over. Hate to say it, but I don't feel too sad about that.

 

The 2012 i drove had 15k worth of work done. Needs another 5 to 12k to get running again. 600k on the clock.

 

I keep hearing that when you get the new Tier 4 trucks up to around 400-600k that you better get rid of them fast. That's when EGR, injectors, sensors, electronics, etc. all starts taking a major dive, if it hasn't already. Doesn't seem to matter on the brand, either. They just don't build them like they used to...

 

Mine seems to go in fits. I started driving it in Oct 2015 with about 260K on it. It did great for a long time, but then it got to be where it barely wanted to start. They checked it over a few times but could never figure out the problem. Finally, it ended up being a busted battery cable. Basically, the truck was trying to start and run off one battery. Unfortunately, it didn't stop there. Since the alternator had been working crazy overtime trying to keep the one battery going, it burned out shortly after they fixed the battery cable. And since the starter had been trying to start with low voltage, it gave up just a few weeks after the alternator. All of that because of a broken battery cable they missed the first few times. None of this is any major design flaw or reliability problem Mack caused, just shows how minor problems can quickly lead to big ones if you don't catch them soon enough.

I also had the dump valve in the air suspension go out one time when I was picking up a load. I dumped the air and then it wouldn't come back up. Wiggling the leveling rod did nothing. It was a minor fix, but it cost me a run that day. Again, not the end of the world.

After that rough stretch, the truck did awesome again. It did have a nagging vibration whenever I was going downhill with the jakebrake on that they never seemed to figure out, but it seems to have quit doing that.

Other than that, the truck did great until the last few weeks when the electrical issues started. I have never had any problems with injectors, egr, dpf, etc yet. The truck will turn over 400k here next week, so I am interested to see if this was just another rough patch and things will be good for awhile, or if she is going to turn into a shop queen.

Whoever came up with the black handles that lock the step fairings into place needs fired. That design is complete and total junk. We are replacing those left and right on our Macks. I have had to have them replaced over and over again since I started with Landes. The handles never want to stay locked in, then you have to worry about loose fairings. I have had to resort to zip-ties on occasion just to make sure they don't come loose when I am driving. It is a real faulty design, which is a pain in the rear for the mechanics to change out. Plus, some guys don't carry them in stock, so you have to wait for them to get parts before you can get them fixed. Mack needs to completely redesign the locks for those fairings.

 

I wanted to give an update for any Mack enthusiasts out there. I got out of my Pinnacle shortly after I posted last, due to chronic front end problems. The guy that had the truck before me had hit something very hard and torqued the whole front end way out of alignment. In the 1.5 years I drove the truck, it was aligned three times and went through three sets of steer tires. The last set was ruined in 6 months. I got sick of dealing with it and called my terminal manager and politely threw a fit. He decided to put me in a different truck, which ended up being a 2012 Cascadia with 550k. Coming out of a 2014 Mack with just over 400K, the last thing in the world I wanted was to get into a beater Freightliner. But it was supposed to just be temporary, so I took it.

This Cascadia was the first one I have ever driven. Considering all of the horror stories I have heard about them, I was expecting it to be a bad truck. However, it surprised me in some ways. The ride quality wasn't bad at all, and the truck drove nice as far as steering, brakes, etc. Honestly, it was a nice driving, riding truck that was fairly quiet, and wasn't really a beat up rattle trap that I expected. However, the engine/tranny combo was terrible. The DD13 was rated at 500hp according to the sticker on the motor, backed up by a 10spd auto. All I can say is either it was downgraded sometime after it was built, or the DD13 is absolutely a gutless motor. The 10spd auto didn't help much, as it either shifts at 1500 or flies right up to 2100 and hesitates like it is trying to figure out what to do. Compared to the Volvo I-shift/ Mack m-drive, this transmission is no good. It feels like the transmission is doing its own thing while you hang on for the ride. I am not even sure what brand it was, maybe Eaton Fuller. Its the kind that sticks out of the side of the steering column like a big paddle with a little slider gear selector on the end.

Anyway, my time in the Freightliner was mercifully short. The second night I ran it, it left me stranded on the side of the road, due to a faulty fuel gauge sensor. It also decided to blow an injector at the same time, so that was the end of our time together.

After that, I was put into a 2017 Peterbilt 579 day cab. I got it with just 55k on the clock. This was my 3rd truck in a weeks time, which tells you what kind of week I was having. The Peterbilt was an awesome truck, but super singles and a short wheel base made for a rough ride. It also had a 10spd manual, while my old Mack had a 13. I'll take a 13 any day of the week over a 10. I kept the little Pete until just a few weeks ago, nearly getting her up to 100k before I was able to trade it back for another Mack Pinnacle just like the one I gave up.

I am so happy to be back in a Mack. The ride quality versus the Peterbilt day cab is night and day different. I love having a 13spd again, and the Mack pulls way harder with a 445hp MP8 than a 455hp MX-13. The Mack would walk all over the Pete on a hill. I would take a 505hp MP8 with a 13spd against any stock 12 or 13L motor out there. I think it would out pull them all.

All I can say is I went full circle in the last 6 months and ended up right where I started, but I am so happy to be staring at a dog's butt again lol.