Consumption cut on turbo tipper
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Bill Brock piss DAF's latest turbo tipper through its paces on the new combined road and site test. Pictures by Bran Weatherley.
■ F's DHRE 8.25-litre in-line bocharged engine was deve)ed to meet the rugged demds of a tipper-type operan. CM's test vehicle, a FTA 105 6><4 tipper, was fitted th this unit. We tried it out er the 200km (124.3 miles)
CM'S combined site and road ute.
Fuel consumption showed er a 30 per cent improvement
DAF's eight-legger reported I in CM, April 16. It returned 5.61it/100km (6.19mpg). iurney times were similar to rth previous vehicles tested ,er the route, and an average ieed of 37.65km (23.4mph) as maintained.
The most functional part of iy tipper — the body — was on is occasion an Ultralite model om the Bradder Works of eville Charrold in Mansfield. le all-welded construction in uminium alloy provided a ipacity of 12cum (15.7cuyds).
Uncluttered side panels ake an ideal surface for the gn-writer, and clean lines prode for unencumbered dislarge of the load. Ample rope )oks attached along the front ulkhead and on the tailgate lean that top sheeting can be 'ell secured. This time a sheet as not needed as the load was f
3/.tin gravel ballast.
A five-runged access ladder as positioned on the leading ige. An Edbro 5LNC four-stage ydraulic ram provided the tiping power to the front end of ‘e body from the chassis, just ehind the cab. The pto was iken from the back end of the earbox.
Our first day's testing took lace at the MIRA test track in le Midlands, our usual location )r taking the specific measure-tents of braking, acceleration nd gradeability performance.
Full application of the serv brake from 40mph produce( good stopping distance but operation was marred by a h of instability. The vehicle ca to rest in less than 110ft, I slightly out of line.
A hill restart from rest v possible on a 1 in 5 gradient I not without considerable clu slip, aggravated by the dela) the release of the park bra Possibly with use, a dri, would learn to allow for this e time the engagement of • clutch better than I managec hopefully before it burns out.
The 2300 range day-cabi well forward to allow access the engine compartment. Tilt is a manual operation but ai( by a torsion bar, it can be if easily by the driver alone. I not necessary for daily check: the oil dip-stick can be readl through a cut-out in the chas while oil and water fillers situated behind the cab.
Access to the driver's E
could be better. Grab-handles placed either side of the door opening give good purchase, but the height from the single step to cab-floor is too great. Put another way, the cab is too high for constant coming and going.
DAF has its own make of suspension seat, and adjustment can be made to match both size and weight of the driver. Height and fore and aft positions are a matter for personal preference, but some indication as to the best setting for a given weight would be useful.
The large steering wheel needed only 4.75 turns to traverse from one lock to the other. The large wheel is to conform to the German requirement for steering control should the hydraulic power-assistance fail.
Adequate instrumentation is supplied to monitor the many functions of the vehicle. EEC tachograph, rev counter, and gauges for fuel, air and battery condition are the main ones, backed up by a bank of warning lights for operation of such items as the parking brake, coolant temperature anii headlight beam etc. All are clearly in view, with the exception of the hazard warning indicator.
Steel pedals might be acceptable for the acceleral control but not for the bralo On this type of operation, t driver is likely to drive in rube boots, often wet. The clut pedal, complete with rubber, situated high above the floi too high if clutch and gearb are to be used hard and often In general, the cab is lig with plenty of glass giving round vision. It has sensible tr and a floor that comes flush the door opening, maki cleaning that much easier.
On the outside, the cab fitted with good rear-view nrors on sturdy support art which are easily set. A kerb rr ror is included as a stand item. To the nearside, an E intake cover, situated in a cle area, looks to be an aft, thought.
Vehicle loading needs to done with some caution, as ev with a cargo of uniform densi it is easy to overload the frc axle.
Driving
With over 8.5bhp per t and a six-speed splitter lo( progress on and off the road v relatively easy. The split proved particularly useful on I long steady inclines on t rough road section, but it v soon learnt that to meet so conditions, a drop of two wh gears was needed. With constant use of the gearbox, I did not find the reverse pattern of this ZF box a handicap; rather the reverse, as often it was in the lower ratios, those closer to hand, in which fast changes were most needed.
The large steering wheel allows fingertip control of the stalks on either side, operating the direction indicators and headlamp flash and dip. It also .gave a good feel of the road in all conditions encountered during the test.
The service brakes worked well throughout but were employed less than they might have been, due to a useful airoperated exhaust brake which I often preferred to use.
From the comfort point of view, cab roll was minimal. Hard cornering on the rough road sections added little to the angle reached, while travelling more sedately on the main highway, the suspension seat took out most of the journey's jolts.
Operation of the tipping gear is controlled from within the cab but the tailgate has to be released manually. The tipping. cycle took a total time of 2min 59sec on tick-over at an engine speed of 600rpm — 2min 3sec to raise fully and 56sec to lower.
In the muddy off-road section, the lockable air-actuated inter-axle differential kept the vehicle rolling in the most difficult of conditions.
More thought might be given to the protection or positioning of equipment which at the moment is placed directly behind the front wheels.
Summary
A constant journey time was maintained throughout the day, representing an average speed of about par for the course. Speed is only part of the productivity factor; fuel and payload make up the remainder. Fuel consumption could stand improvement.
The body capacity with this type of load was not fully utilised but would be required for a less dense load. Body weight of about 15cwt, plus tipping gear, total in the region of 23cwt and other items, including spare wheel difflock etc, leave room for a useful payload of 15.35 ton — about average for a 24ton-gross vehicle.
Price of £25,380 as tested seems a bit high, but for that you can expect a good back-up service. The engine pulled well and the constant-mesh gear box with splitter was easy to use. Repositioning one or two items of equipment might ensure their continued reliability for tipper use.