DM600 questions

[landman]

I just got a DM600 which I plan to use as a base for a B61. Reading the instructions I see two shift levers in front of the doghouse and maybe a third one between the seats. Yet it doesn't appear to have an auxiliary transmission. What are they? PTO?

[guitarsam326]

I too wanted to use the DM 600 as a base for the b model, but I was told it wouldn't work because the frame flares out at the front, maybe the dm800 would be better?

As for the shift levers, I'm not sure but I think Mack had some single trans units that used two sticks

Edited May 5, 2015 by guitarsam326

[lapazleo]

Correct Macks two stick trannys were all in one housing. The dm800 frame is like the dm600

[landman]

Thanks guys. I'll have to rethink this. The DM600 is a whole lot cheaper than a complete B61 kit.

[Bennyg]

I've seen pictures in a book on b model macks and they have so many variants in chassis rails. Some b61 macks had a dm600 style chassis.

Ben

[37 caddy]

another thing might be to narrow the front of the frame so it does not flare out?,Another thing is the rear suspension,not sure if they used the camelback setup that old,a lot of the b61's were single axle with a tag axle if they were tandem.ask over on Hanks Truck Forum,someone there can tell you exactly how they were. Harvey

[lapazleo]

another thing might be to narrow the front of the frame so it does not flare out?,Another thing is the rear suspension,not sure if they used the camelback setup that old,a lot of the b61's were single axle with a tag axle if they were tandem.ask over on Hanks Truck Forum,someone there can tell you exactly how they were. HarveyM

Many a b61 used the camel back suspension although very few used the heavy 55000 pound one found in the dm 600 kit. The lighter highway version found in AMTs cruiseliner and r600 would be more common. Same for the front axle.

[guitarsam326]

Dave at AITM carries the resin 34000 tandem suspension I believe

[mistermodel]

I think its a fine base kit for the conversion.the third stick is a handle for the tans, mounted parking brake.the trans. is a duplex

[Bennyg]

I believe the frame is accurate for some versions of mack b61. The chassis appears to flare a bit at the front as per the pics I've seen. The first her b61 mack chassis flares also.

Ben

[guitarsam326]

I'm about to order a b67 from AITM, and believe me, I will be trying it!

[B-onefan]

Maybe they were thinking it should have a tri plex transmission.

[Superpeterbilt]

I thought the 3rd one was for an ejector seat?

[landman]

OK, I'll use the DM 600 chassis with front rail mods if required.

Benny, thanks for the shifter info.

It'll get to pull my new detachable gooseneck lowboy.

[Chuck Most]

Ejector seats, you say?

[Superpeterbilt]

Ejector seats, you say?

Chuck! That's too funny man! I just about died laughing

[Superpeterbilt]

Only on certain model years. I believe it was 1967 thru 1970 that the ejector seat was available, this kit represents a 1971, thus the ejector seat was not available. However the 300 series Brockway continued to offer the "Huskie Eject" until 1974. The "Huskie Eject" was Brockway's version of the same, much like "Maxi Drive" versus "Huskie Drive". Trucks equiped with "Maxi Drive" and "Huskie Drive" were easy to identifiy as they had two hood ornaments, hence the name "Double Dawgs"- not to be confused with Devil Dogs which were made by Drakes Cakes and were not only delicious but cost less than 25 cents at the time......

This is hilarious Anthony!

[Chuck Most]

The biggest problem was that Mack was way too far ahead of the game. If they'd waited another decade or so for T-tops to become popular, they may have had a bit more success with ejector seats. As it stands, the ill-fated ejector seat (and the problems of severe cranial bruising reported by its users) is but a dim sidebar in the annals of trucking history.

[Truck parts]

Cool looking truck

[Superpeterbilt]

This is not the first time that Mack was too far ahead of the times. The rag top B model was a complete failure. Not one single unit sold and the legend goes every single rag top cab was replaced with a standard "hard top" cab. Rumor has it the rag top cabs, or "panarama cabs" as they were called were all sold to France for use in the car market. The front wheel drive F model cabover never went into production. Modeled for use in the northern snow states, with its tranverse mounted V8 couldnt even get a 20,000lb load off the ground. The absence of rear axles lowered the GVW substantially, but almost every road test ended in a jacknife. The DM600 ejector seat caused so many skull fractures, that Mack almost went bankrupt. The whole project was scrapped and Mack would not recover until the realease of the Superliner. According to some former assembly line workers, the first Superliner off the line mistakenly had the ejector option installed. All who worked on that truck were fired.

[Superpeterbilt]

Chuck and Anthony, I seriously almost choked to death reading these updates. This is too dam funny!

[Superpeterbilt]

Ive been to that sight before. I first learned of the Brockway Superliner many years ago. It was a whole conspiracy to squash Brockway and steal their design because Mack hadn't had anything new in years. It's the whole reason that there's an R700 in convoy. If you ask me, once they started using Mack cabs on the Brocks, it was the final nail in the coffin. Brockway was such an awesome truck manufacturer , they never should have had to live in the shadow of Mack. But financial troubles have killed many great companies.

P.S. Some of those pics are of the revamped tilt hood 761. If you have a straight on shot of the Brockway Superliner it had different headlights on each side during the design process.

Edited May 10, 2015 by Superpeterbilt

[Chuck Most]

The first photo was the straw that broke the camels back...

Not sure if that choice of words was intentional or not, but either way... nice.

[Superpeterbilt]

Not sure if that choice of words was intentional or not, but either way... nice.

There should be a few more numbers in there pointing to oil leaks. Even the leaf springs leak oil.

[Bennyg]

We never had Brockways in Australia. Australian Mack superliners had r series chassis rails with an extra drop down section at the front. The same rails were on the mack titan. Australia kept the r series chassis rails until the mack trident, hence chr and clr indicating the chassis rails. The mack b61 and superliner are probably Mack's most successful trucks in Australia. Did Brockways share many components with Mack apart from the obvious cab? Cheers.

Ben