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DRIVING
Marshall SPV's Bedford MT13-18 and Mercedes-Benz's 1318 are head to head in the four-wheel-drive truck sector—we've been assessing their merits on and off the road.
Adecade ago the UK civilian fourwheel-drive truck market was dominated by the likes of Bedford, Leyland and Karrier Dodge.
The recession has reduced the size of this market niche, which now includes contenders from Iveco, MAN, Mercedes-Benz, Renault and Volvo.
MercedesBenz's four-wheel-drive line-up is an impressive one, ranging from the 1718AK 17-tonner and 7.5-12-tonne Unimogs down to the most recent 6.0/7.0-tonne U1401..s. A smaller U1001,, rated at 5.0 or 5.5 tonnes, is expected soon. It will be targeted at farmers and other users who currently overload their Land Rovers!
Bedford and Leyland, two of the UK's biggest 4x4 truck makers, have been through a vicious spiral of corporate surgery but both names survive today. Leyland merged in April 1987 with Daf Trucks only to fall victim last year to the receiver's scalpel: the newly emerged Leyland Trucks has taken over the military four.tonner contract for 5,350 vehicles.
Li also supplies Leyland Daf with an 1L6tonne civilian version that sells to UK utilities and local authorities at the rate of around 25 a year.
In roughly the same period Bedford has been sold and bought twice. Although it survives, it is no longer in the 4x4 Premier division. Nearly eight years ago General Motors sold Bedford Truck and Bus to David JB Brown who continued building under the brand name of AWE). In October 1992 it fell victim to the recession and was sold on to Marshall SPV which moved the designs and production to its Cambridge site. For the present only 4x4 and 6x6 truck chassis are built here for UK users and overseas markets.
Marshall also has rights to the Bedford name and the global parts business—with over half a million I3edfords running world wide, the potential remains considerable—but Bedford has no intention of returning to the commercial end of the market.
Instead, says sales and marketing director Richard Mahan, it is concentrating its efforts on a small area in which Bedford's presence was always strong with 4x4s and 6x6s; mainly for the municipal, construction and utilities sectors.
Since the MT13-18 was launched last October it has won orders from Cheshire, Gloucester, Bournemouth and Harrow councils and South West Water. Marshall has sold 25 MT 13 tonners into the UK and a number of 15-18s were among over 500 114Ts sold worldwide.
• CONTENDERS From the multi-national group of 4x4 suppliers Commercial Motor has been able to lay its hands on two 4x4 trucks; a flat-bodied military clone of the Bedford MT13-17 and a Mercedes 1317AK in civilian garb with side tipper body with bucket loader. Both are 13-tonners and available in either gritter or tipper specification.
To try to sort man from boy we drove them around a severe, rather sticky military proving ground in Surrey. Their performance only served to bolster our faith in the big Beddie's boundless ability but showed that the Merc is no slouch either.
BEDFORD MT13-18
• PROFILE The Bedford MT series, of which 70,000 have been sold worldwide, centres around a sturdy yet torsionally flexible chassis that has stood the test of time and conflict.
Beefy, multi-leaf semi-elliptic springing with rear helper springs and double-acting dampers give an impressive if unsophisticated ride. The MT has the Motor Panels walk through day cab with 50° hydraulic tilt and a more appealing level of trim than the sparse military version.
Two models are available, both fitted with Perkins' Euro-1 Phaser engine. The 17-tonner has the waste-gated 210hp (156kW) Phaser 6.210Ti diesel, Eaton six-speeder, Rockwell SVI transfer box and two Rockwell axles: the 13-tonner takes the standard charge-cooled 180hp (134kW) engine.
A front-mount PTO option will suit gritters and snow ploughs.
With the 180Ti Phaser goes Spicer's fivespeed T5C 4292 box with its choice of side mounting PT-Os. It also has Bedford's own two-speed transfer box with pneumatic selection; its high mounting requires a two-piece front prop shaft to traverse the gearbox.
The jointed steer/drive front axle is also Bedford; at the rear is a Rockwell P140E twin' wheeled drive axle with cliff-lock as standard. Tyres are 10 R 22.5s. When using wide-single rear wheels with 1300 R20s, as with our test vehicle. Bedford fits its own axle—all three types are fully floating hypoid units For stopping power the MT13-18 has a dual-circuit, full-air braking system with Girling air wedge actuation. Drums are 360mm-diameter but wide shoes bring the lining area up to an impressive 4,700m2.
Bedford continues to use the Spanish-made TRW power-assisted recirculating ball steering which, on its 3.94m wheelbase, gives a kerb-to-kerb turning circle of 18m.
For this appraisal the MT13-17 was supplied in semi-military trim with single wheels and a Marshall military flat-pack body. Unadorned, the single-wheeled Bedford 4x4 chassis cab tares out at 4,76 tonnes leaving a theoretical body/payload limit of 8.42 tonnes.
• CAB COMFORT On big single wheels the lack of a lower cab step ensures a clear 44° approach angle but does make getting into the driver's seat difficult.
It's easy enough for six-footers but somewhat hazardous for the shorter drivers.
Only a ballet-dancing beanpole can reach the hand rail on the B-post (the one on the Apost is easy); the trick then is to get your left foot on the wheel's tread ring while trying to hop into the stirrup-like lower step. With smaller wheels the cab is two inches lower making a step up easier.
Once inside the driving position is comfortable with all controls in easy reach. With wrap-around rear corner windows all-round visibility is very good. Behind the seats are the usual deep storage ledges and cross cabaccess is easy. The civilian version of the MT cab dispenses with the electric circuitry cut-out switch, rifle clips over the back and the machine gunner's port-hole. It's also properly trimmed out with blue-grey cloth seats that are fully adjustable. Optional heavy-duty vinyl seat and floor coverings are both durable and washable.
PERFORMANCE The MT13-17 is geared for a 65mph (105km/h) top speed. On normal roads in high ratio/rearwheel drive it drives easily with impressive acceleration and quickly reaches its 60mph governed limit.
To select either low ratio or four wheel drive the vehicle has to be stopped. The clutch has to be depressed and the switch on the cab's rear turned to the indicated position.
It takes a fairly steep gradient to worry a driver into using the low ratio, let alone engaging four wheel drive. In 3rd gear/4x4 the unladen Bedford soon polished off the loose surfaced 40% woodland gradients with plenty in hand, leaving little doubt about its 49% (1-in-21 restart gracleability.
Its only foible was a weak gearbox detent which allowed 5th gear to be selected instead of 3rd, resulting in a stall when attacking a steep hill. Descending such drops showed how well the engine held the vehicle back with no need to use the foot brake.
In low ratio the MT13-17 traversed deep mire and steep banks with equal gusto, tempting the driver to cross over-deep ruts that eventually grounded the transfer box and spare wheel.
Crossing rough terrain quickly without a load on the back means a slow careful crawl as there's little in the way of compensation from the suspension. To tame it simply put a couple of tonnes on the back and it becomes extremely manageable.
MERCEDES 1 3 1 7AK
• PROFILE At the heavier end of its 4x4 range Mercedes has been selling the 917AF and 1124AF 4x4s into the fire brigades for several years. It recently developed 1317AK and 1718AK models for the utilities and local authorities. So far, it has only sold six but evaluation trials are still going on.
All 4x4s are built on line at its factory in Worth, Germany From there they are sent via Mercedes' Wentworth Park base in West Yorkshire to the bodybuilder for fitting out to customer requirements.
Our test vehicle, a well run.in 1317AK demonstrator, had a \Velford steel side tipping body and Pesci SL60/1 St/in loader with Kinshofer rotating bucket loader.
Under the manually tilting day cab a Euro-1 turbocharged 6.0-litre 0M366A also churns cut 165hp (121kW) at the same engine speed as the Phaser.11 its a glitter you're after you can also have a front mount PTO with hydraulic pump. • An all-Mercedes driveline begins with the familiar G3/55-6/8.5 synchromesh six-speed gearbox, driving through to the pneumatically selected VG550 two-speed transfer box. The 1317Ali has permanent drive to the front wheels and an inter-axle diff lock as standard to go with those on the front and rear drive axles.
It has a ladder-type high-tensile steel frame with fairly tame looking parabolic four-leaf spring suspension; the rear set is dual rated. Spring ends have rubber inserts. Extra stability is gained from anti-roll bars and dampers front and rear which is just as well with the Pesci loader raising its centre of gravity somewhat Merc's own power-assisted steering helps achieve a 52.5ft wall-to-wall turning circle on its 3.64m wheelbase. Standard final drive is 4.75:1 and it runs on lOR 22.5 tyres. Like its road-going counterparts the 1317AK has a dualcircuit, full-air braking system with self-adjusting wedge brakes. As with Bedford's MT an air dryer comes as standard and there's load sensing on the rear axle. Payload depends on the type of body and fittings but a bare chassis-cab is 4.64 tonnes giving a body/payload margin of 8.36 tonnes.
• CAB COMFORT The familiar LN2 day cab is equipped and trimmed out pretty much like any other road going Mercedes middleweight. It sits a little lower than the Bedford and although the two lower steps are too close together it's still easier to gain entry and there's room to move over to the passenger seat. Beneath it there's space to store tools, ropes and the like.
Extensive work in muddy sites will make the seats and upper cab trim look grubby but the rubber floor and door trims will easily wash clean. The cloth-clad seats are comfortable and there are wide views, although not quite as wide as the MT. Rear windows and a set of three mirrors on the nearside help in this department.
Instruments and control layout are all familiar, apart from the large high/low ratio twist switch behind the gear lever.
The Mercedes cab is also the quieter of the two, thanks to better sound insulation, but it makes more use of plastic than the Bedford in the cab panels, front grill and fuel tank. This might not fare so well after a few harsh winters in an agricultural environment whereas the malleable steel MT will parry the knocks. • PERFORMANCE Mercedes deceptive 1317AK has a performance that is much closer to the Bedford than one would imagine, despite looking more like a roadster that shouldn't be so much at home on rough sites.
It too was unladen but with Pesci crane and tipper body sat easier than on the Bedford and, apart from its slightly lower ground clearance, it tackled the same terrain, running smoothly in four wheel drive with plenty of traction.
Low ratio is engaged by depressing the clutch and turning the large switch behind the gear lever to the indicated position.
The steering became noticeably heavier, but ploughing along through a deep wallow had a surreal charm about it, the Merc's quiet cab filling to the sound of Italian opera on Classic FM.
It surged up the steepest climbs without any fuss and in crawler it took off on a very respectable 40% (1-in-2,5) gradient. On the reverse side, with 2nd gear engaged, it took heavy foot brakes to hold it in check: the exhaust brake had no effect in high revs.
Over roads or good off-road terrain both 4x4s perform well, the Mercedes running comfortably in its permanent four-wheel drive and the Bedford covering the ground easily in its high-ratio/rear wheel drive.
Small switches on the engine cover for the rear diff, inter-axle diff locks and PT-0 are not marked clearly enough.
• SUMMARY
One of the major complaints about earlier offroad machines was their poor on-road performance— both the Mercedes and Bedford rise well above such criticisms.
With most other EC countries still in the grip of recession Mercedes is looking hard for niche markets like the on/off-road sector to take up the slack.
Unlike Marshall, Mercedes can mass produce a variety of 4x4s simply by changing components on line and with little fuss. The 1317AK is a capable little off-roader with a good payload but it carries a premium price tag.
The Bedford marque, having been almost squeezed out of existence by its original owner, remains something of a fallen giant but Marshall is building on the AWD revival and, having secured the name and parts business, is trying to breath life into it.
There are still huge numbers of Bedfords in service around the world and the marque's export potential to developing countries is still high. As far as the UK goes it remains an interesting proposition. In on/off-road guise the Bedford is a rugged workhorse with a good payload, and it's £7,000 cheaper than the Mercedes. In a recession that could just give it the edge when the going gets rough.
I— by Bryan
Jarvis