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Lightweight bodies for 7.5-tonne-gross vehicles
Page 45
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• With the prospect that UK drivers will require an hgv licence, probably after November of this year, if the gvw of a vehicle is 7.5 tonnes or over, Clark Equipment (Trailer Division), PO Box 17, Bridgend Industrial Estate, Glamorgan, has developed a lightweight body structure, the Series 200, that will cater for vans in this class and, in the interim period, for vehicles of under 3 tons unladen weight.
One of the first bodybuilders to employ a Clark Series 200 kit, Brade-Leigh Products Ltd, Albion Industrial Estate Road, West Bromwich, Staffs, has replaced the Clark sub-frame with a modified pedestal type and thereby reduced the weight of the structure by about lcwt. The 750 cu ft body has a length of 15ft 6in. and weighs 8-wt. It retails at £600.
The Clark company welcomes the proposed change in the regulations. Aluminium body structures can be built with a weight latitude of one to two per cent, whereas the weight variation of suitable chassis / cabs in these categories may be as much as 10 per cent. A number of "under3-ton" vehicles equipped with Clark Series 100 van bodies have had an unladen weight exceeding 3 tons because the chassis has been overweight; and the company has been blamed for the excess.
Clark points out that if a chassis supplied for operation at 7.5 tonnes (7.38 tons) gross is overweight, the penalty takes the form of a reduction in payload. It could be handled by a driver without an hgv licence, whereas an overweight under-3-ton vehicle is automatically classified as an over-3ton type. And because the weight of the Clark Series 200 structure provides a weight saving of about one-third, compared with a Series 100 applied to lighter chassis! cabs, there is greater latitude in this category for accommodating the increased weight of popular 1973 chassis, notably Ford and Bedford chassis /cabs. As in the case of other van bodies in the Clark series, complete structures with or without a Luton extension are supplied to bodybuilders in kit form. Bodies are offered in four widths up to 7ft and in four heights up to 7ft Any length may be specified, the longest body suitable for typical chassis /cabs being about 15ft.
It is claimed that the grade of aluminium employed has a higher yield point than any alloy previously used in the UK or the Continent. The alloy is tempered before application and Clark claims that its strength is 15 per cent greater than conventional alloys. Use of the alloy has enabled the gauge of the metal to be reduced, and allied to modification of the members this has provided an overall weight reduction of about 33i per cent. In the case of a 15ft body, the shell weighs 7431b, which represents a saving of 1831b compared with the Series 100, while the saving on the eight cross-members is 641b. Cross-members are supplied with longitudinals, angle brackets and mounting chairs as a matched set.
The high-tensile-steel rear frame is designed to give protection to the guide rails of roller shutters, built in the Clark workshops, that have a number of novel features. This type of closure is offered by the company for the first time, and details include aluminium shutters with interlocking guide shoes that prevent the ingress of dust or water and a roller mounted on swinging arms which maintain a constant fin. gap between the roller and the frame header. Roller shutters are available for side mounting with widths up to 10ft.
The small gap has a security advantage which is augmented by a non-removable bottom rail and a slam lock. Bakery doors are available equipped with polypropylene hinges that completely seal the hinge area. Other options include a glass-fibre roof and roof light.