Lightweight demountable to make debut at Earls Court
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A form of lightweight construction for small aluminium boxvans in which preformed vertical sheets lock into one another to form pillars on the inside is being introduced by B. Walker and Son Ltd, Gammon Lane, Watford. The body, called Walkaloy, is to be shown at the Commercial Motor Show in September and was seen by dealers last week. The panels are riveted together, but the rivets are concealed behind a capping channel. The panels are riveted to a perimeter frame and are reinforced by tie rails on the inside and by rub rails at floor and waist level on the outside. The roof is onepiece translucent plastics, with bonded-in alloy roof sticks incorporating drip mouldings.
Below the full-depth roller shutter at the rear is a skirt incorporating a shallow step and protection for rear lights and number plate. An 1 1 .8 cu m (420 cu ft) Walkaloy body will be shown at Earls Court on a new 1-ton Leyland chassis to be announced shortly.
This Walkaloy construe tion is also being used for a new demountable box body being introduced by Walker. This system is a development of the Suntrekker demountable caravan, which has been acquired by Walker.
The Walker demountable system is intended to appeal to vehicle hire companies, who can then have a number of different bodies for each flat truck. It is not a true demountable system in the sense that loaded bodies can be taken on and off — simply a body-interchange facility. Manual screw jacks engage with corner post fittings for demounting, while the body is held down by angled chains with turnbuckle tensioning.