INCREASING THE PAY-LOAD
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TN a recent issue of this journal we
dealt with The transportation of bulky goods and the conversion of some popular types oE four-wheeled chassis 430 that they will afford larger platform space and carry heavier loads. One of the vehicles illustrated in the article was a Ford 1929 model 30-cwt. lorry, to which the Twin-Six, conversion set had been successfully applied, and we are here able to give some details of the method which is employed for this adaptation.
The company which markets the Twin-Six conversion is the Truck and Tractor Appliance Co. (Manchester), Ltd., and the arrangement is suitable for the Ford 30-cwt, and the Chevrolet six-cylinder chassis, as well as for older models of these two makes.
To utilize the Twin-Six system the propeller shaft and driving axle arc not altered, but an additional trailing axle is introduced and twin, inverted semielliptic springs are fitted in place of the existing springs. Each pair of springs is mounted centrally on A stationary pivot tube bracketed to the frame, and this is provided with a large bronze bush, so giving a bogie system of suspension which ettables the wheels to conform freely with the inequalities of the ground over which the vehicle is passing. To present any twisting of
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the springs when the axles move out of the horizontal, the spring shackles are mounted on spherical bearings.
In the case of the new Ford and Chevrolet models mentioned previously, the converted chassis measures 14 ft. 6 ins, from the dash to the end of the frame, so that a platform body 12 ft. to 13 ft. long may be mounted. The load capacity in each case is 3 tons, and, as the total weight of the converted chassis is approximately 1 ton 7 cwt., a complete vehicle can be produced which is within the 2-ton limit of unladen weight, for which the tax is 125 per annum. The cost of the conversion is £55, which, together with a
fitting charge of £3 I5s. and the cost of extra wheels, tyres and tubes, brings the total outlay to about £82. Considering the service for which the vehicle is rendered suitable by the adaptation, the expenditure is often well worth while.
• It is always interesting to learn what actual users have to say about conversion sets of this kind after they have had experience with them. We have recently received some tyremileage figures from a bus-operating concern which has 14 Chevrolet chassis converted on this system, to which 21)seater bus bodies have been fitted, and the figuresafford valuable information in this respect. This company is obtaining, on the average, 29,000 miles of service from tyres on the front wheels and 24,600 miles from tyres on the driving and trailing wheels of the bogie
unit. "