Light demountables on show
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• At a vehicle show being held from August 2 to 7 by Crimbles of Staines Ltd. at Kingston Road, Staines, Middlesex, exhibits will include the first public demonstration of new demountable bodies for use with Ford Transit chassis. The new demountable boxvans, designed for use with Transits and with Bedford CF models, have been developed by Unit Body Developments Ltd, of Boreham Wood, Herts, in conjunction with Ronway Engineering Co Ltd.
UBD has adapted its all-aluminium export van design to suit the special base frame of the demountable equipment. An all-over plywood floor is used, but instead of support through conventional bearers, three integral steel cross-members are provided in the sub-frame.
The lift-on /off equipment is essentially similar to that of the heavier Ronway designs; the chassis carries runners which are ramped at both ends and these have rollers which make contact with the base-frame rails.
Tubular corner support legs are used, and no external power source is required for lifting the body. In the case of the CF its own hydraulic jack is used, while a separate jack is provided for Transit applications.
Since the demountable body is not counted in assessing the vehicle's unladen weight, diesel-engined 35ewt models which would normally be over 30cwt unladen, say UBD, come well under that dividing line and hence avoid the hgv annual test as well as being cheaper to tax.