Add-on axle for rigids
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A M1D-AXLE conversion — the JRE 3 — for two-axled rigid vehicles has been developed by JR Engineering of Bury St Edmunds. Suftblk. It is suitable for all makes of chassis, including municipal vehicles.
It uses single wheels and 11x22.5 tyres, which adds around 750kg to the kerb weight, but increases the gross vehicle weight between 3.1 and 6.1 tonnes, depending on the type of tyre used.
The conversion which requires an extra chassis cross member consists of fabricated front brackets attached to quarter elliptical parabolic springs.
An eight-tonne design weight axle is mounted on them with extension brackets to the rear for the air bags.
Constant proportional loading of the third axle is maintained according to the amount of deflection of the drive axle's suspension.
The air supply is taken from the vehicle's system with an additional reservoir providing the extra capacity for the axle lift.