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REPORT IATE SHOW
Page 34
Page 36
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
• The Institute of Road Transport Engineers' second visit to Telford for its annual conference and display was not notable for any improvement in its car parking facilities, but with some 200 companies taking part in the exhibition, the range of products and services on view remained impressive.
The number of completely new exhibits was not as high as in some previous years
— a situation which could not have been helped by the show's proximity to Tipcon
— but most transport engineers in attendance will have left with some food for thought. As ever, the breweries quest for the holy grail of a perfect distribution vehicle provided many of the more interesting displays.
These were backed up by some worthy exhibits from the chassis, body and component manufacturers, but it was the brewer Bass which stole most of the limelight with its intriguing front-wheel drive, six-wheel delivery truck protype. The vehicle is by no means the first attempt at such a configuration; Alan Bruce's creations for Scottish and Newcastle are obvious examples. But the Front-wheel drive and an easy-access cab are features of the Bass distribution Prototype. technical package is nonetheless an interesting one.
Designed by Frank Bennet, built by conversion specialists Chassis Developments of Leighton Buzzard, and supervised by Bass engineers, the truck features a Perkins Phaser 180Ti driving forward to a sixspeed ZF WG1 50 automatic box. The laddered-gear-train design serves to drop the drive to the GKN Kirkstall driven steering axle, which has steep-angle double joints to permit a 450 steering lock.
Other elements of the design which were prescribed by Bass's operational requirements include a low deck height, good manouevrability, excellent nearside cab access and a competitive payload.
The frame height is 825mm, and with 215/75-17.5 tyres on SAF dead rear axles suspended by Neway air suspension, loading height should be under a metre.
The forward rek axle takes eight ton nes on its twin tyres; the self-tracking rear axle has single tyres and takes up to four tonnes.
The truck is plated at 19 tonnes with an estimated payload of 12 tonnes.
The Alexander municipal cab is designed around nearside entry and exit with its bus-type door, and will be faired into the Boalloy curtain-sided bodywork.
The project's creators are confidept that the front-driven chassis will not present undue traction problems (a diff lock is fitted), but they are reserving their judgement until operational trials have been completed with Britvic later this year.
While the economics and the practicality of the concept have yet to be established, both operators and chassis manufacturers will undoubtedly be following the progress of the Bass vehicle with great interest.
Elsewhere in the show, new chassis were a bit thin on the ground, with the Foden 2000 Series 17-tonner and the lightweight AWD TL 24-27 six-wheeler getting their second showing, having been seen at Tipcon the previous week.
A novelty could be seen on the Seddon Atkinson stand in the form of a doubledrive Strato tractor; part of an order destined for New Zealand. With its 44-tonne plated weight, extra-long wheelbase and Rockwell SSHD drive axles suspended on Hendrickson Norde rubber suspension, this is one Strato that will not be seen on British roads. Seddon might eonsider gaining type approval for a 6 x4 Strata in the UK, but only if an order justified the expense of the process.
A variation on the three-axle theme, but of a rather different kind, could also be found on the stand of chassis engineers Southworth. The company showed a step-frame rigid chassis designed to accommodate a high-cube body, 9.34m long and 3.05m high, with the show truck based on a Iveco Ford Cargo 17.18. Like the Bass front-driver, the Southworth design has achieved a deck height of less than a metre, using twin air-suspended rear axles on 17.5in tyres to achieve a gross weight of 19 tonnes and an unladen chassis weight of 5.3 tonnes.
ERF's ES6 two-axle rigid was much in evidence at Telford, especially with the drinks manufacturers, and a good example was one of the latest drop-frame versions on the Don-Bur stand. Using the DonBur Deckstepper system with the strapless Slide-A-Side curtainsider body, the vehicle combines a low deck height with fast access.
With the Boalloy Tautliner celebrating its 21st birthday, it was perhaps fitting that the company should choose the IRTE show to introduce a new curtainside trailer body — the Fineliner. Intended for the operator requiring less curtain strength at a more economical price, the Fineliner features shorter straps at the bottom of the curtain in place of the continuous straps of the Tautliner. Axle manufacturer Rubery OwenRockwell also used the show to unveil a new product, and promised easier maintenance from the new lightweight nine-tonne TE 9000 axle.
Announced at the same time was the Flexair II air-suspension, and in combination the axle and suspension are designed for single wheel tridems with bogies up to 27 tonnes, with the standard installation weighing less than 500kg.
On the ZF stand, there was an interesting range of the company's latest synchromesh gearboxes. Most notable were the 56-66 Ecolite, which has been adopted by Volvo on the FL6 and is offered by Foden as an option on the new 2000 Series, and the 95109 Ecomid, the ninespeed box used by Leyland Daf in the recent 24.26 and 30.26 Constructors.
The Ecomid transmission on the stand incorporated an integral hydrodynamic retarder also available on the Ecosplit. With a weight penalty of only 75kg, the retarder can offer braking power of up to 300kW, while the additional cooling capacity of the gearbox/retarder is said to benefit gearbox durability as well. MAN is including the retarder option on its range, while Leyland Daf is also said to be looking at it.
Bendix gave showgoers a glimpse of its AL4T trailer anti-lock system due for launch next year. Its most interesting feature is that diagnostic lights are included on the modulator/controller unit, making repair and maintenance particularly straightforward by indicating the nature and location of a fault.
With the European market in mind, Granning unveiled a new generation of UK-designed truck and trailer airsuspensions. The drive-axle design is rated at seven or 11 tonnes, while the trailer system is suitable for both normal and low-loader trailers in 8.5, 10.5 and 12.0 tonne axle ratings. The new ranges are lighter than before, and have a greater commonality of parts. LI by Peter Watt