Maintenance support
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• Econ Engineering of Ripon has introduced a universal highway maintenance truck body system that can be used to discharge salt/grit or blacktop materials, and can also handle three-way general tipper work.
The Uni-Body, fitted on a Renault 17-tonne Midliner chassis, was shown last week at a demonstration of Matlock-based TDI (UK)'s Tipsafe vehicle support system.
A full-length auger handles bituminous materials and most aggregates; its stop/start and tip controls are mounted at the rear.
A rotating stainless-steel salt distributor interchanges with the discharge chute, attaching via self-locking pins and selfsealing couplings.
With both attachments removed and 'clip-in' floor plates fitted over the auger, the steel, top-hinged tail and side-boarded body operates as a normal tipper.
Other changes by Econ include level lifting on its swap bodies and the addition of bottled gas heating on its dedicated hot bituminous roadstone carriers. For general vehicle maintenance work the demonstrator has been equipped with a Tipsafe heavy duty support system, comprising chassis brackets into which body props are fitted before work starts. Their interchangeable top forks engage with the body sub-frame or cross-members.
Prop systems are available for trucks up to 38 tonnes and cost in the region of £300 a set.
Tipsafe also produces inverted chassis brackets which link with tripod-type stands to support the vehicle during maintenance work under the chassis.
RMC, which has 3,000 multiwheelers in its fleet, is currently evaluating Tipsafe systems.