The military lorries dressed in 'civvies'
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There is a growing civilian demand for the "go anywhere" vehicles favoured by the military forces so CM sent Steve Gray and Bill Brock to test drive the Bedford MK and TK lorries
/FORD has had a long and inguished history of supplyspecialist vehicles to armed :es both at home and abroad, s involvement with the miiigoes back virtually to the Ipany's inception. Few who ght with the British army durthe last war could forget the which brought everything n bully beef to bullets to al most every theatre of conflict be it in Africa or the Ardennes.
A staggering 50,000 of these little heroes rolled off the production lines to take part in the war.
And where's the middle aged man unable to look back to the days when he learnt to drive an R or S type while a guest of Her Majesty during his National Service?
Today the British army's requirements are more exacting than ever and with the various spending cuts over the years its vehicles often have to perform a multiplicity of roles. Bedford has remained in the forefront as a supplier, with both TK, and its four wheel drive variant, the MK. Now Bedford has gained MoD approval for its TM 4x4 which broadens the scope, both here and in other countries which will only buy if the British army does.
While military forces are an obvious outlet for "go anywhere" vehicles, there is a growing civilian demand especially in developing countries. What is often needed is something between the Land Rover (or as seems more and more the case these days, the Toyota Land Cruiser) and massive all wheel drive dump trucks.
And home too, construction companies and certain municipal authorities — such as gas boards and electricity boards — have a use for such vehicles.
One private concern with a definite requirement is John Laing the civil engineering conglomerate which builds everything from motorways to pipelines. Laings have been users oi the MK for some years now bul just recently have been trying E TM 4x4 — courtesy of Bedford — on a variety of jobs.
To see just how both the Mk and TM work out in "civvies' CM, with the kind permission a Laings, borrowed a couple anc set about putting them througt their paces. We decided to talc( them down to our normal tippe test site at a military provim ground but to use a stiffer roac course which includes some 1 ii 3 gradients.
The TM turned out to be a "lel hooker" and was in fact a proto type vehicle, which might ex plain some of the minor prot lems we had. Most noticeabl about the TM's appearance i the narrow cab which in this ap plication sits high up in the air.
Fortunately neither the arm nor, presumably, civilia operators of this kind of vehicl are over worried about fuel cor sumption for the TM presents large frontal area to the wind.
Before we got the vehicIE completely covered in mud, w decided to take some deta shots. The TM's cab tilts hydral lically but you must remembi to unscrew the gear lever firE There is no problem of forge ting this however, as the lgei lever doubles as tilting purr operating bar.
Once tilted — to 62° — acce: to the turbocharged 500 serii engine is excellent. In fact ti turbo version was developed f, the military and gives a healti 153kW (205bhp) net at 250Orpr The six cylinder unit has a cap city of 8.2Iit and a maximum tc
of 682Nm at 1600rpm. As said, access to the engine the cab tilted seems good, most daily checks of oil, er, etc. can in fact be accomhed without the need to tilt. ) front opening panels — the er top one lifting upwards — provided for this purpose.
lur test TM came with tileaf springs — favoured it ris in developing countries :re they like to see lots of 'es before grossly overloadthe vehicle. Tapered leaf ngs are likely to be the norm he UK however.
'e had decided before testing er vehicle that fuel mearnents would be difficult to nge and also of academic rest only. Nor, we thought, was there much need to take the vehicles on the open road.
The first problem with the TM was actually getting into the cab. A tubular metal step is attached to the front bumper to serve as a first foot hold and then the standard TM step comes next.
But it is also at the front of the cab and is just impossible to use. Without the wheel step ring it would be an extremely difficult vehicle to get in.
Entry to the UK drive side is slightly easier although not much. Getting out is such a palaver that I found it easier to ignore the steps and jump.
I wonder how many squaddies — or for that matter civilian drivers — will injure themselves doing just that.
Once in the driver's seat I found the almost horizontal steering wheel rather too far away from me, although the seat was just right for easy pedal operation. The TM started quickly and easily from cold, using the preheater switch.
A fairly large engine hump makes cross cab access poor, but houses the park brake lever, stop control, gear shift and four wheel drive selector switch.
The park brake and stop control are so arranged that the latter cannot be operated until the former is engaged — a neat safety feature. What is not so neat is having a separate key start/steering column lock which could be dangerous.
Our test vehicle was fitted with an all steel, 24cum Edbro body which contained about 8. tons of muddy top soil. This seemed to have little effect on the Bedford which pulled happily away in the second of its six forward speeds.
The gearbox is a Turner M647026 with all forward ratios synchromesh. There is a choice of two wheel drive, four wheei high and four wheel low ratios.
A large knurled know — only to be engaged with the clutch depressed — gives one the option to select one of these, or the pto. Connected to a buzzer, it is almost impossible to slip up with it.
I selected four wheel high and the air selector on the Rockwell transfer box got to work, simultaneously lighting up an orange light on the dash.
Although I found the Turner box easy enough to use, it has a slightly imprecise gate. Sprung to the centre position — third and fourth — first and second are obtained by pulling against a
?tent spring. As this is also the rection in which reverse lays, iainst a further detent, some re is needed.
I could not fault the power aering which, for the type of ;hide, is excellent. It gave just e right amount of assistance hile making you well aware of e fact that you were in cornand.
The Kirkstall front axle (its rkstall at the back too) gave the )dford what seemed to be an credibly tight lock. I set off und the test route which, after ro days of rain, had become ore like an assault course.
The Bedford coped admirably it it was necessary to go down e box quickly and into low tio 4 wheel drive when the 1 in and 1 in 3 gradients came roarg up.
Some of the down changes were snatchy and brought forth complaints from the synchronisers. Another slightly disturbing feature was the ease with which the clutch seemed to "flare" or slip for a few seconds on fast down shifts.
The Vauxhall/Bedford engineer told me it was a Borg & Beck clutch on this peototype which has been changed on later vehicles.
With one exception the Bedford handled the course easily. That exception was a very steep down gradient, reached after a climb and sharp right hander. Rain had made the surface particularly treacherous — bearing out a warning given earlier by the track controller — and using the brakes was impossible.
Even allowing the vehicle to coast down with the engine braking alone, the steering developed a mind of its own and disaster loomed very near.
On the muddy test sections where rain puddles looked more like lakes the high ground clearance of the TM came into its own. There is 352mm (13.9in) clearance beneath the axles and 470mm (18.5in) at the centre. Putting this to the test a.nd the 41° and 38° angles of approach and departure by taking it over what seemed to be a suitable hump. I managed to squash the fuel tank.
A quick check with the man from Laings brought forth the comment that the Bedford fuel tanks were certainly too low on MKs as he had found to his cost.
Bedford says the TM 4x4 is a medium mobility vehicle and it seemed to be proving itself just that until I got it stuck. The old maxim of keeping your foot down and keeping the vehicle going is a good one but failure to do so brought us to a halt in what seemed to be fairly hard ground.
In fact the truck disappeared up to its rear axle casing during extensive efforts to remove it even using the diff lock which operates on the rear axle only.
Only when a wrecker was summoned (Bill Brock tried to use the MK to extract it, failed and then went on to get stuck himself) and a winch attached, could the Bedford be moved.
Even then it came out, rolled forward a few feet and th disappeared in another more this time with mud covering I whole right hand rear wheel.
We eventually got the vehi out and later inspection show both rear hub seals leakii probably due to grit and wa ingressing during the wh spinning in the mud.
All in all though, the Bedft behaved well and seems ci able of sturdy service worthy its illustrious predecessors.
BEDFORD's 4x4 M-type is ral at 11.18 tonnes gvw when fiti with twin wheels, Lai ngs lent a short-wheeled versi equipped with single re wheels down rated for operati at 9.5 tonnes gross. In other r pects, the two models are most identical.
A choice of power units elude a 4.9-litre, six-cylinder trol engine, a naturally aspirai 5.4-litre diesel rated at 73kW (98bhp) and a mild turbocharged version of the same engine giving an increase of around 10 per cent in power and torque.
Laings specified the naturally aspirated diesel unit matched to a four-speed wide-ratio gearbox incorporating synchromesh on the top three ratios. The constant-mesh transfer box caters for two or four-wheel drive in high or low ratio and includes a pto point at the rear.
Front and rear axle differentials and hypoid gear assemblies are interchangeable.
Large 1200x20 14 ply rating tyres are used where the single rear-wheel option is taken up, but multi-leaf semi-elliptic springs with rubber-bushed eyes are fitted with either wheel configuration.
Equipped with a Boughton scow-end body and Autolift tipping gear, the M-type took a payload of about 4 tons.
The cab uses the same shell as he TK of which 600,000 have Deen produced and are still beng sold alongside the later TL. I 'ound it small, basic and mounted high above the ground.
A small wheel-step gives an ntermediate purchase on the Nay to a larger footplate located )etween the bumper and wheel lrch. Entry could be hazardous .specially if wearing muddy )oots. Pvc covers the seats and a hick rubber mat fits the floor, which makes for easy cleaning )ut would be better if the floor inished flush at the door )pening to allow a straight ;weep out.
Once in the driving seat the 'ear stick to the left and park make to the right, fall easily to land. Three levers operating the various functions of the transfer box are located conveniently alongside the tipping gear controls, housed between the seats.
A low roof height limits the size of the front screen, restricting the eye line, but extends down to waist level to give a good sighting of ground conditions close to the front bumper.
On the move I quickly came to appreciate the dimensions of the steering wheel which, had it been any smaller, in the absence of any power assistance, would have made slow, tight manoeuvring almost impossible.
On the rough track maximum speed was restricted to about 20mph by the stiff springs and the confines of cab roof height. Initially,! started out in high ratio but the first steep hill bought the vehicle to a standstill.
Still unfamiliar with the controls I was not quick enough to engage low ratio while on the move. The spring actuated park brake, working on the rear wheels, was insufficient to hold the vehicle stationary on a 1 in 3 gradient without further assistance from the service brakes, but for low and four wheel drive allowed the vehicle to pull away without hesitation on the loose crumbling surface.
It gave the impression of being able to climb a vertical wall but Bedford only claim a gradeability of 1 in 2. Equally long and steep downward slopes could be taken in the same gear with only minimal assistance from the service brakes to prevent the engine over-revving.
Gear changes dropped into cog with regular precision ex
cept for 2nd gear when fourwheel drive was engaged.
It was so reticent that on steep climbs I opted to miss it out altogether and go straight from 3rd to 1st.
Approach and departure angles of 41 and 38 degrees, belly clearance of 700mm (27in) and under-axle clearance of 358mm (14in) when matched to a wide track and drive on each wheel provide the basic ingredients for good cross-country performance.
Perhaps the most important quality for an off-road vehicle is to have good axle articulation to keep the tyres in contact with the ground.
The M-type's chassis, flitched for tipper work, retains its flexibility adding to the verticle rnovement of the wheels provided by the suspension.
As already explained I did manage to get the vehicle stuck as I picked my way across a boggy area which had a fragile top crust. A bit of digging sufficient clearance to rock bz and forth so that I was able climb out of my predicament reverse.
Deep mud on its own did stop us where engine revs a drive were maintained. I did best to drown the engine, I with little success. In deep wa holes the fan hit the surface the water.
More than 30,000 4x4 M-tyr have been produced over past 10 years. Many have be exported in ckd form for lo assembly in many differE countries. NATO forces E using the military version in tremes of climate from the f zen artic to sweltering equitor jungles.
The civilian version workhorse without frills but 1 the bill for off-road work.