Toleman totes 12 of the best
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• The culmination of a 22.5 million, five-year truck development programme involving top engineers from france, Germany and Great Britain was unveiled at the Milbrook, Beds test track last week.
Toleman Group's new drawbar car transporter, the MkV, is believed to be the only vehicle of its type capable of carrying 12 large saloon cars in the Ford Granada class. Developed by Toleman in collaboration with French trailer builder Robert Lohr and Iveco's Ulm plant in West Germany, the MkV uses computer controlled hydraulic ramps to place its mammoth load.
Each car is driven onto its alloted ramp, which is carefully positioned to enable the car doors to be opened without damage. The driver then climbs down from the ramp and uses the MkV's portable handset control unit to raise the car ramp hydraulically to its final transporting position.
All the hydraulics are powered by a PTO and swashplate piston pump, powered by the truck engine. Each part of the 50 minute loading (or unloading) process is controlled by a computer: red and green lights show the driver when it is safe to load the next car.
To secure the cars Toleman has specified tie-down nylon webbing straps in place of the traditional chains. Engineering research and development manager Gary Toleman says the ties provide a 60% reduc tion in stiffness and a 35% increase in tensile strength. Each MkV carries 48 straps, complete with a winch and portable ratchet for securing each car quickly and easily to its ramp.
The 18m tansporter comprises an lveco Ford 190/36 4 x 2 rigid with a 3.8m wheelbase (compared with the standard 3.2m), linked by a sophisticated drawbar coupling to a 12m tri-axle trailer. Lohr has used light alloys and hightensile steel to enable the rig to carry four big saloon cars on the prime mover with eight on the trailer, while remaining within the 32.5-tonne drawbar weight limit. The design was originally specified for opera Lion at 35 tonnes in anticipation of future changes in drawbar weight limits.
The prime mover is powered by a 270kW (360hp) sixcylinder, water-cooled, turbocharged engine driving through an Eaton Fuller RT 14613 12-speed gearbox to a Rockwell single-reduction, air suspended drive axle. Its chassis is modified to accept the integral towing hitch assembly, and the sleeper cab's roof is adapted to allow the cab to be raised even when the rig is fully loaded. Both tractor and trailer are fitted with anti-lock brakes.
The air-suspended trailer is built on two longitudinal beams welded to cross members to
support the running gear, the side frames and the retractable drawbar assembly.
Toleman says it would have been possible to develop the MkV to carry up to 14 small cars, but this would not have allowed the positional flexibility to enable the once-on/once-off method of loading and unloading. However, the computer system used to position the load has capacity for four different programmes, so the ramps could be positioned differently to carry large cars of a radically different shape, such as Volvo estates.
A continental version of the transporter is now being developed, says Toleman's engineering director, Alan Cooper, to meet continental height restrictions. Toleman's commitment to the MkV is reflected in its decision to order 226 units, worth over 227.5 million. They will all be delivered by the end of April, boosting the company's fleet to some 500 trucks. Two-week driver training courses are now underway, and Toleman's maintenance and engineering staff are being prepared to deal with the hyraulic and electronic complexities of the MkV.