Roadrunning into battle
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• Leyland Daf has delivered eight prototype four-wheeldrive, four-tonne trucks to the Ministry of Defence. They will spearhead the company's attempts to build a new generation of military four-tonners, based on sleeper-cab versions of the Roadrunner C44 cab fitted with 108kW Leyland 300 Series six-cylinder turbo diesel engines.
The company says that a team of its engineers and craftsmen has worked day and night for more than nine months to test major components and put the completed units through extensive proving trials. The MoD will evaluate the trucks in a competition, and if Leyland Daf is successful in winning future orders the trucks will be produced at its Leyland assembly plant in Lancashire, incorporating more than 92% of British-made components.
The trucks have been built using computer-aided design techniques which Leyland Daf says has helped it convert the original Roadrunner specifications more speedily.
The four-tonne truck is the workhorse of the MoD and the army wants to bring the next generation of vehicles into service by 1990. Eight prototype models have begun a punishing test schedule at RARDE, the MoD's proving ground near Chobham in Surrey. Decision time is likely to be mid-1989.
One interesting feature of the new design is a five-speed all-synchromesh gearbox which drives through a two-speed transfer box to the axles, giving permanent four wheel drive. The new drivetrain was specially developed for the MoD at Leyland Dafs Albion plant in Glasgow.