First South African trucks
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• Cummins engines, built at the company's Shotts, Lanarkshire, factory, have been adopted as standard in the first trucks—called Ralphs---to be wholly designed and built in South Africa.
The vehicle manufacturer is Rollway Enterprises Pty., of Johannesburg. The name Ralph is derived from the first name of the designer of the trucks and one of the partners in the business, Mr. Ralph Lewis.
Work initially is on models ranging in gross vehicle weight from 36 tons to 220 tons. First vehicles to go on the road have been fitted with Cummins NHCT-270 and NT-335 engines. Both these models are turbocharged units developing, respectively, 270 bhp at 2.100 rpm and 335 bhp at 2,100 rpm. Maximum torque works out at 740 lb.ft. at 1,500 rpm in the case of the NHCT-270 and 930 lb.ft. at 1,600 rpm with the NT-335.
In the Ralphs, the Cummins engines are matched either with a Spicer or Fuller manual box or a Clark or Allison automatic transmission. Either Rockwell Standard or Clark axles are fitted according to requirements, together with ZF power steering. Other makes of engine and major components are available to customer specification.