All-wheel drive for psv
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Truck chassis makes slim bus
THE recent delivery of a specially designed 34-passenger bus on a four-wheel-drive chassis for service on a particularly difficult mountain route in Switzerland provides further proof that rough terrain is no longer the exclusive preserve of small Jeep or Land-Rover types of vehicle generally used on such services.
In Iceland, probably the only country where 4 x 4 buses have for many years been widely employed on regular services, most chassis conversions to psv duties are carried out by local specialists. Steeply graded routes over poor roads surfaced with gravel or volcanic slag call for
vehicles with high ground clearance and good traction. Many of the Icelandic conversions are based on MercedesBenz lorry chassis, in particular the LA 1113 powered by a 225kW (168 bhp) engine. This is the same chassis chosen by the Swiss operator who is now using the Ramseier and ,Tenzerbodied vehicle vehicle on a postal contract route between Grindelwald and Itramen, 1330m high, at the edge of the Scheidegg glacier. As some sections of the road are only 2.5m wide the overall width of the new 4 x 4 bus has been kept to 2.2m (71t 2in). To obtain a turning circle of only 15.9m (49ft), the short-wheelbase vehicle has been given unusual body proportions, with a rear overhang of 2.75m (aft tin) in the overall vehicle length of 7.47m (24ft 6in). The vehicle
has 26 seats and space for eight standing passengers. Some alterations have had to be carried out on the suspension to keep the floor height at an acceptable level of lm (31t 4in).
Of particular interest in this " one-off' (not even the Swiss army has 4 x 4 passenger carrying vehicles of this size) is the application of the bodybuilder's standard sections and panels as used in normal psv bodywork. A power-operated door is fitted behind the front axle. The bus has a special heating system and an rically-heated windscreen. en more unusual six-wheelpassenger-carrying ....les are now used by an xploration group in North :a. Based on normal-control irus-Deutz M 230 D 26 AK 6 x 6 chassis, the vehicles have Italian-made Orlandi bodies to seat 30 passengers. As in the Swiss example, modifications to the suspension were required for improved ride characteristics in a passenger-carrying role.