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Accessorise, accesson
Page 16
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The Brussels truck show doesn't usually attract manufacturers of maintenance and repair equipment, but this year several firms displayed items that will interest hauliers, trailer builders and workshops along with the aftermarket side of the automotive business. Bryan Jarvis reports.
• In Belgium and elsewhere, many pedal and motorcyclists are injured after straying into the driver's blind-side' when he's turning. Now ITA Matro of Herentals has devised a neat camera—small enough to be concealed inside a kerb mirror—that provides a wide, 150° (or 90°) field of vision. (Such safety ideas qualify for small government rebates in Holland.) All the operator does is send the mirror to ITA, which converts the camera and then supplies monitor, camera, wiring and switches for around £300; the vehicle electrician can do the rest. ITA also makes time-lapse recording systems for vehicles carrying high-value loads and is Hatcher's Belgian agent for cab sleeper pods, wind deflectors and side fairings.
• Contact: 0032 1428 6444.
• Multicar Systems showed off a neat folding ramp system that links to a bracket bolted securely to the threshold of a truck or van. The two-piece steel ramp weighs around long depending on the size needed and can take 500kg loads. When not required it folds in the middle and stands upright or comes away altogether if you remove two steel clips. It is supplied in the UK via the van-fitting firm Bott.
• Contact: 0032 9 384 5598.
• You still can buy a high-roof Mercedes Vito, but Belgian bodybuilder CoolStar's conversion manages to extend the roofline by 125mm. The 112CDI's shapely roof structure is essentially for insulation but it also encloses the small Carrier refrigeration unit and adds to its stylish appearance.
• Contact: 0032 2 582 8170.
UM Keith Manufacturing has devised a new means of clamping the deck slats for its walking floor system. The sprung sandwich-type clamps come in sets of 24 per maximum width trailer, and when their four securing bolts are torque tightened, ridges on the clamping plates underside prevent any further movement. By revising the mountings, time is saved on moving floor manufacturing or conversions, as the need to drill into the deck, to countersink the holes or use of two men to tighten the bolts is eliminated. The new clamps are in production now. For details contact Keith's UK branch in Hull.
• _Intact: 01482 647299.
• VBG's two-position sliding fifth wheel has proved very successful but recent demand from Denmark for intermediate heights has resulted in this four-slot version. Now the original 170mm and 370mm assembly has two more coupling height positions at 266mm and 313mm. Changing heights (uncoupled) takes just five seconds. Like the original two-stage assembly, the new prototype model 135MH uses pneumatic actuation, two cylinders to raise and a single one for the locking mechanism, using air fed from the four-way safety valve. The assembly attaches to the frame with 16 bolts and can be mounted in four to six hours depending on whether the chassis is pre-drilled or not.
• Contact 01942686000.
I Brussels-based auto-accessory supplier MAD showed off the latest CaAra vehicle interior coating that is UV resistant, impervious to most chemicals and adheres to the worst surfaces. The material, which looks like a carborundum-impregnated rubber layer, is a hybrid formula, 1.0 to 1.5mm thick, high density coating that needs no primer and is solvent-free. A special applicator is needed to spray on at over 270bar (4,000 psi) and at around 60°C but the result reduces interior vibration and noise levels. Coating a Sprinter interior will cost around £1,250 but treating individual panels is just one third of that. MAD is looking for a UK agent. Contact: 0032 2 714 9292. • Rhiwa has a new easy to apply, nonslip resin for improving the insides of existing truck or trailer floors. The two-component polyurethane material is called Carfloon and it can be painted with matching shades of Carton top coating. Contact: 0031 1 8033 1200.
• High visibility is a necessity during a breakdown hence Delpacrs new range of Flashmate safety jackets and belts. Other products are attachments for safety cones and magnetic ones for the rear of a vehicle. They all use reflective strips with 1.5V blinking lights. Contact: 0032 3 226 8144.