Ford back on Continent with bonneted
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range by Bill Godwin At this week's international public works exhibition in Paris — EXPOMAT — Ford is introducing to the French market the US-built LTS 9000 6 x 4 rigid model for a gvw of 26• tonnes. This example from the large Louisville range launched in 1970 is ideally suited to arduous site and concrete mixer duties.
The drive-line comprises a Cummins NHC 250 turbocharger diesel engine, a I4in Spicer twin-plate clutch and Fuller Roadranger ninespeed gearbox. The LTS 9000 has an Eaton double-drive bogie mounted on a Hendrickson RT 444 walkingbeam suspension. To ensure good clearance and to reduce shaft stress the drive axles are of doublereduction planetary type with the reduction gearing located in the banjo rather than the wheel hubs.'
Another unusual detail is a small pump in each axle, driven from the pinion, to force-feed lubricating oil on to the pinion and crown wheel meshing point. At slow rotational speeds the normal "splash pick-up" method of lubrication is considered inadequate. Ease of servicing is a major bonus point with the L-range in which the steel-reinforced grp bonnet tilts forward to 57 degrees to provide "feet on the ground" access to the power unit and auxiliaries.
Although marketing plans are directed at the public works sector — a few units are also being fed to the Belgian and Swiss markets — the mechanical specification of these Ford normal-control heavies will be closely followed by the new H-series forward-control range. No date has been set for the debut of these maximum weight European haulage vehicles but there is no doubt that the interim experience with the Louisville range which has earned a reputation for ruggedness and reliability will give operators a foretaste of the shape of things to come. The decision by Ford of America to re-enter Europe with normalcontrol equipment for use in the construction field must be seen in the light of the continuing Continental demand for vehicles of this lay-out. While European sales of on-road machines of US provenance have reached their nadir, the site vehicle market is looking increasingly to overseas for types not readily supplied by indigenous makers.
New Mack 8x4 chassis for use as heavy-duty tippers and transit mixers are becoming popular in Holland while the latest contender from the US is the Caterpillar-engined Oshkosh F-2357 for 34 tonnes gross. This is marketed in Benelux and West Germany by a Dutch importer. The Oshkosh is an 8x8 chassis for on-andoff-road use.