Mack Value-Liner remembered: From the Classies

When Mack was still Mack the R-Series replaced the venerable B-Series back in 1965. The new model came with a tilting fibreglass mudguard/bonnet moulding or with steel walk-on mudguards and steel ‘butterfly’ bonnet panels for engine access.

The steel-bonnet model quickly became known as the ‘Flintstone’, after the enormously popular TV cartoon series, The Flintstones. Truck people obviously theorised that if the hero of the series, Fred Flintstone, owned a truck it would be this model Mack.

Over its 20-year lifespan the R-Series was developed to suit changing power and payload demands. The final iteration, before the introduction of the CH and CL Series, was the Value-Liner range that was launched in Australia in 1986.

Mack Value-Liner variants had set-back front axles that dictated curved front bumpers or bull bars. Positioning the steer axle slightly aft meant that more payload weight could transfer to the front axle and take advantage of the then-new six-tonne legal front axle load. Ride quality also improved, thanks to the use of longer front springs.

In 1989 Mack slotted the E9 V8 diesel into the Value-Liner and a year later an integrated sleeper box was available. That’s the model that caught our attention, among the nearly 500 Macks listed at Trucksales.

The truck in question was a popular specification at the time: optional 12-speed Mack box, optional Mack SS441 20t tandem, Neway air suspension, double-rail chassis, 915mm integrated high-rise Mack sleeper and Bocar bull bar.

The E9 500 V8 engine had claimed outputs of 375kW at 1900rpm, with peak torque of 2250Nm at 1350rpm. In 1990 that was as good as it got!

The standard box for this truck was Mack’s T2090 nine-speed, but most buyers opted for the 12-speed. Both boxes were Mack-designed and built, triple-countershaft transmissions, but the 12-speed offered more flexibility and resale value.

Shift pattern familiarity also favoured the 12-speed that had a simple five-speed pattern, with half-gear button splits in each gear slot. Low range button selections gave market-leading deep reduction and reverse.

The nine-speed, in contrast, had a three-speed low-range pattern, followed by a five-speed high-range pattern and unfamiliar drivers needed individual instruction on this box. Spicer faced similar fleet-driver issues with its button and gear patterns.

I can remember driving a Value-Liner in early 1990 for a magazine review. The truck was similar in specification to the Trucksales-listed machine and performance, ride and handling were class-leading for the time.

Unlike Fuller’s 13-speed and 18-speed Roadrangers the Mack 12-speed didn’t encourage splitter pre-selection, so the trick was to split during transition through neutral, with the fall-back being a lever shift without split action, followed by a split once in the new gear slot.

The integrated sleeper was a unitised, walk-through design, available in three sizes: 915mm, 1050mm and 1200mm. All were sub-frame mounted on air bellows and shock absorbers, suspended in unison with the cab structure.

A plus from the full-width opening into the sleeper was increased seat travel, giving drivers more ‘belly’ room.

The sleeper box option came with aerodynamic roof deflector and side panels that Mack claimed reduced fuel consumption by up to 14-percent.

I can remember interviewing Mack’s then director of Far East Engineering Operations, Max Evans, in February 1990: “The R700 Value-Liner gives the most comfortable ride of any Mack truck to date,” said Mr Evans.

“A study of the market proved that to compete successfully in the long-haul business the truck must be able to meet demanding inter-city schedules, protect fragile payloads from damage caused by Australia’s interstate highway system, exhibit good handling capabilities, keep tight schedules by maintaining maximum legal speeds and provide good fuel consumption and whole-of-life costs.

“In addition, we wanted to increase comfort and ride, to improve the driver’s environment.”

The Value-Liner range did those tasks pretty well, until replaced by the CHR and CLR models in the early 1990s.

The Value-Liner was released in a period when Mack was suffering financial difficulties and faced the double whammy of new-model development costs and, because Mack manufactured its own engines, the price of compliance with demanding EPA emissions laws.

Renault Vehicles Industriels’ shareholding had increased to 45-per cent of Mack Trucks by 1983, and in 1990 RVI assumed total ownership. In Australia, mid-range Renault Trucks badged ‘Mack’ made some inroads and the Qantum COE prime mover was a COE Renault cab on a Mack chassis.

However, in 2000, Volvo acquired both RVI and Mack and all future products featured a growing integration of Volvo components in Mack-branded trucks.

As a nod to Mack’s acceptance in the bonneted truck market, Volvo discontinued its NH bonneted truck range in favour of the Mack brand.

Today Mack still sits in the Volvo stable as its only bonneted truck and still finds favour with those who prefer an American-style truck to the European style of the Volvo or the Japanese UDs.