10-4 Magazine April 2023

10-4 Magazine / April 2023 65 F-Model cabover to replace the tired B-61. Equipped with a 5-speed and a Mack 237 Maxidyne, Harold worked it hard, with Stephen telling us, “During that time, you could load and unload coal 24 hours a day.” So, at a young age, Stephen learned how to begin wrenching on his dad’s trucks. “He’d come home at night, tired and worn out from a long day, and the truck would need some maintenance, and I’d be the one to do it,” Stephen said. After graduating high school in 1990, Stephen got into dairy farming like his father, and also began working at a local truck and diesel repair shop. But eight years later, the trucking bug finally got the best of him, and he began driving a 1982 E9-powered Super-Liner for his dad. Purchasing his first truck in 1999, it was a 1985 Super-Liner with Canadian specs, including a 60” spread on the drives. The truck was powered by a 440-hp E9 with a Mack 12-speed transmission and had a 60” sleeper. It was also the 12th Super-Liner II ever built, but Stephen said he had no love for that particular truck – in fact, he really hated it. With that in mind, an opportunity struck in 2002. A company near Mack’s former world headquarters in Allentown, PA had a pair of E9-powered Macks for sale – a 1993 Mack Elite CL600 and a 1990 Mack RW613 Super-Liner with a custom 68” sleeper. Painted dark blue and black with a pink stripe, the Super-Liner had all of its Mack badging removed and the truck’s iconic bulldog had been painted pink, as well. Stephen said, “It was one of the ugliest paint schemes I had ever seen!” While not exactly pretty to look at, the truck, which had about 700K miles on it, had been well cared for. So, a deal was made, and Stephen purchased the Super-Liner and his father bought the CL600. After Stephen got the Super-Liner home and in his shop he went to work on it, removing the sleeper and shortening the frame, along with doing a restoration. Once it was done, the Super-Liner rolled out of his shop two years later sporting a beautiful Dupont Imron Bright Teal Metallic paint scheme and wearing all its proper Mack badging. Equipped with a 500-hp E9 V8 mated to a Mack T2180 18-speed transmission, pushing power to 3.58 Meritor rears, and riding on a 230” wheelbase, the Mack also had an air-ride suspension, Alcoa aluminum, and 22.5 tall rubber. In order to pull his MAC frameless dump trailer, Stephen set the truck up with a wet line, as well. Affectionately named “Blue” by Stephen’s wife Mindy, the Super-Liner now has nearly 1.8 million miles on its odometer and has been through one complete engine change and one full rebuild. “Blue is a fun truck to drive, as I have the fuel pump cranked up and it’s pushing nearly 680-hp, but with all that torque, you have to be really careful. I was laying under it one time with the oil pan off and couldn’t believe what I saw – the block had stress cracks all over it!” Stephen said, in a serious yet fun tone, “These E9s have a lot of power and you have to know how to drive them in order to make them last,” continuing with, “If you’ve never heard a E9 when it’s pulling and lugging a heavy load in that 1400-1500 rpm range, it’s very unique, and one of the coolest sounds you’ll ever hear from a diesel engine!” While telling me about what it’s like to drive an E9-powered Mack, Stephen mentioned his cousinAndy, who operates an E9-powered Elite CL600. “We used to load a lot of bulk material in New York going to Pennsylvania, and we’d be running heavy. Andy used to like to show-off with his V8, which was really turned up, and a lot of times he’d follow a guy who had a big KW or Pete for miles and miles running the flat land of New York, knowing the guy he was following had a big CAT or Cummins under the hood. And when they finally would get to the hills of Pennsylvania, Andy would step out in the left lane and pass the guy while going up a hill!” While Stephen has owned and worked on several other Super-Liners over the years, he had always wanted a 1985 Magnum edition. “My dad was looking at buying one years ago, he even test drove one, and I always thought those rigs were wicked cool. He ended up passing on buying that Magnum, though, as it had low oil pressure.” But, as Stephen continued, “About 10 years ago, my wife’s stepdad kept telling me that there was ‘one of those trucks you like’ parked out back at the construction company he worked for in New Jersey. I told him on several occasions I wasn’t interested, but he kept bugging me about it. I jokingly told him one time, in order to get him off my case, that the only way I’d be interested in the truck was if it was black with a red interior and had the word Magnum on the hood.” And, to Stephen’s surprise, his wife’s stepdad said that was exactly what it was! The 1985 Magnum that Stephen now owns was in pretty rough shape when he bought it, as it was literally