Mack Air Ride locking rears?

Discussion in 'Heavy Duty Diesel Truck Mechanics Forum' started by Dino soar, Mar 19, 2025.

  1. Dino soar

    Dino soar Road Train Member

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    I'm looking at a 2001 Mack dump truck that has air ride on the tandems.

    The owner seems pretty straightforward and he said when he has been off the road with the truck he has locked the rears and not had to get pulled out of anywhere.

    He said that he thought that was an interaxle lock, not a full locking differential switch.

    Does anyone know how the air ride is set up on those years of trucks?

    Did the dump trucks come from the factory with fully locking rears?

    I find it hard to believe Mack could build an air ride without full lockers, but I'm still learning about a lot of the things that Mack does.
     
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  3. wore out

    wore out Numbered Classic

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    What rears does it have? The true MACK top loader bull gear type with the peanut style power divider or Eaton? My bet is on air ride it’s just Eaton 404’s with a simple power divider
     
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  4. Dino soar

    Dino soar Road Train Member

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    These are original Mack Air Ride Rears.

    They are genuine Mack rears.

    Do you know if they come from the factory with lockers or not?

    I always thought that all air ride dump trucks came with lockers from the factory.
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2025
  5. wore out

    wore out Numbered Classic

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    The only air operated power divider I have personally seen on a MACK were only on tri drives. MACK ran a power cage or something similar in name that automatically distributed 75 percent of the power to the axle with the most power. (We refer to them as a peanut around here) most likely anything air operated on a tandem MACK is gonna be a locker.

    They make all kinds of odd ball #### every day from every manufacturer. There is no such thing as a blanket type spec. So the best thing you can do is get model number off the rears etc.

    A genuine MACK set up will pull itself where very few others will. I also know that around the 00 time frame camel backs and true MACK diffs started to decline tremendously in popularity.
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2025
  6. Dino soar

    Dino soar Road Train Member

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    Well that's good because he's hitting an air switch and he says it takes him everywhere it has to take him.

    I'm a big fan of the Camelback and the Mack Rears.

    I wasn't really looking for air ride but I'm not planning on going off the road much anyway and since it's genuine Mack that's probably better.

    Hopefully the air ride will make it a comfortable ride, if I buy it.
     
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