NEW MAUDSLAY MAXIMUM-LC ATI-WHEELERS
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Sturdy Eight and Sixwheeled Chassis Incorporating Interesting Features of Construction for Promoting Efficiency and Facilitating
Maintenance
IF the Mikado and the Maharajah are fair samples of what is to be expected in future from the Maudslay Motor Co., Ltd., Parkside Works, Coventry, there should be little doubt that the company is in for a prosperous time. The former of these two chassis is an eight-wheeler and the Maharajah has single-steering with double-drive bogie.
Both models are to be available with either long or medium wheelbase, and the prices are £1,740 for the Mikado and £1,652 for the other. At a later date it is expected there will be a modified version of the six-wheeler, with a trailing final axle and a Gardner 5LW engine instead of the 61.,W which is used in the present new models. To that we hope to return in the early future,
Between the Mikado and the Maharajah there is a close family resemblance, whether in long or in medium wheelbase form. Both have the Gardner 6LW engine, which develops 98 b.h.p. at 1,550 r.p.m. and is provided with 12-volt dynamo and starter. Apart from dimensions the same specification applies right through the four models.
High-grade Transmission Units.
There is a Borg and Beck type 16 R.2 single-plate clutch and, in unit with the engine, a David Brown gearbox. This can be either the model 065 with five forward ratios or the model 6 fourspeeder, The latter is available with a choice of high or low first gear and reverse. In conjunction with a 6.25 to 1 back axle, the overall ratios available are as follow :—
Five-speeder: 4.76, 6.25, 11.9, 23.1 and 44.2 to 1; reverse, 44.1 to 1. Four. speeder: 6.25, 11.5, 23.4 and 49.8 to 1; reverse, 39.3 to 1.
If preferred, there is on the four-speed box an alternative first gear of 45.2 to 1 with which the reverse ratio is 26 to 1.
An open tubular propeller shaft with Hardy Spicer needle-roller-bearing universal joints transmits power to the rear bogie of the medium-length models and in the longer typo there is a twopiece shalt with ioints of the same
make and a self-aligning ball bearing amidships. A Kirkstall four-wheef bogie with overhead worms completes the transmission system, A Marles cam-and-roller mechanism in conjunction with a 21-in, steering wheel controls the front wheels, and the number of turns from lock to lock is five. Considerable trouble has been taken with the steering lay-out to get good geometry, and in order that this shall he retained there are no springloaded ball joints or similar devices. Each of these bearings is fitted individually, and it is claimed that the result is not only to improve the handling, but also to prevent uneven wear between the tyres on different wheels.
Good as all these things are, perhaps the most impressive feature of these new Maudslay vehicles is the chassis frame. The side-members are pressedsteel channel sections with a depth of
12 ins, for the greater part of 01 length. Substantial tubular cross-mem hers are used, the main ones having 2 diameter of 5 ins, and the front am rear tubes being 4 ins, in diameter They have headed ends in which till flanges are formed from the metal of thi tube itself which, incidentally, has wall thickness of 3-16 in.
In this frame the Gardner engine i mounted on rubber at three points, on' at the front and others at the sides o the flywheel housing. The brackets fo the rear mountings are attached to tin unit by four bolts, of which two go int( the engine casting and the other twi into the bell housing.
Engine Mounted on Rubber.
Large rubber blocks are used t( carry the weight, and there are als( ample rubbers above to take the re bound. So that these rubbers shall no spread unduly under, load, each blocl has a steel plate bonded to its uppe and lower surface. The brackets, more over, are shaped so that the blocks an almost completely enclosed.
Care has been taken also to dispos these mountings so that their main axe are in the line of motion or tangentia to a circle around the centre of move ment of the engine. Furthermore, th, clamping bolts pass through distanc, pieces, partly made up of washers, s( that they can be locked up tight. .1El removing one or more washers the coin pression of the rubbers can be varied
Steel plate is used for the cab floo and the engine bonnet, but these parts are sub-divided so that access to any component is easy. The whole of that metal work (together with the cab, which would be mounted on it alone) can in fact be removed upwards by releasing four brackets which are retained by a total of 12 bolts.
In that connection, there is a small point of interest. All such bolts can be removed or replaced by one man because either the bolt or the nut, in such cases, is welded to its plate. Thus it is not necessary to have somebody on the other side of the panel to hold a bolt while its nut is screwed on.
Although the engine is easy to work on when the cab and bonnet unit has been removed in the simple manner described, the design also permits of the ready detachment of the complete power unit from the frame. For this purpose the radiator can quickly be taken off and after the disconnection of two or three controls and pipes, the flange bolts of the front cross-member and the bolts of the rear mountings also can be undone. The unit can then be drawn forward out of the vehicle, the weight being taken on a suitable wheeled support.
The braking system is a good example of the thoroughness which characterizes the whole design. Girling two-leading-shoe brakes an both rear axles and on the first front axle are operated by Lockheed hydraulic equipment which in turn is energized by a Dewandre vacuum-servo motor. The last-named can be of either 200 mm. or of 175 mm. diameter, according to the purchaser's preference. The drum diameter on all wheels is 161 ins., and the shoe width at the rear is 5 ins., and at the front 3 ins.
For ease of maintenance the Tecalernit grouped-nipple system is adopted for all points except some of the propeller-shaft bearings, such as the splined joint. For the rest there are four groups, two small ones on the rear bogie, one on the off side of the frame and another on the gearbox which can be reached through a trap door.
Conveniently Placed Controls.
To reduce driving fatigue and to simplify the control of these vehicles, a good deal of thought and experiment has gone into the positioning of the various levers. The gear control, for instance, even when in its farthest forward position, can be reached comfortably from the seat, and the same applies to the hand brake. As to the clutch and brake pedals, these are each adjustable at two places. Another commendable feature is that self-aligning spherical bearings are used for the accelerator control and the decompressor so that there shall be no chance of stiffness through binding.
For both the six-wheeler and the eight-wheeler, the overall length of the long-wheelbase model is just over 29 ft., and the body space 24 ft., with an overhang of 8 ft. 9 ins. Measuring from the centre of the front axle on the eight-wheeler to the centre of the bogie, the wheelbase is 17 ft. 6 ins. On the two shorter models, which have a wheelbase of 15 ft. 6 ins., the corresponding dimensions are just under 26 ft. overall, 20 ft. 10i ins, body space and 7-ft. 7-in. overhang. For all types, the frame height, laden, is 3 ft. 2 ins, As to weights of these chassis, the short six-wheeler comes out at 4 tons 19 cwt., and the corresponding long chassis totals just 5 tons. At present no production short eight-wheeler has been completed, but the long model of this type totals 5 tons 8 cwt.
Both long models have 55-gallon fuel tanks and the others carry 45 gallons. The standard tyre size is 36 by 8 all round, with twin rears, of course, but 40 by 8 tyres are optional and these like the other choices already mentioned, make no difference to the price.