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Eight wheeled Dutchman
Page 71
Page 72
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DRIVING THE DAF
by Graham Montgomerie
FROM DAF comes a new 8x4 tipper intended primarily for maximumweight operations and designed specifically for the UK market, Ifs designated the DAF 2205 DU, and with a plated weight of 30 tons and a nominal unladen weight of 8 tons DAF Trucks (GB) Ltd claims that it offers a body and payload allowance of 22 tons — approaching the maximum possible under current UK legislation.
The power unit for the new DAF is a six-cylinder turbocharged diesel — the DU825 -of 8.25 litres (503 cu in) capacity developing its maximum power of 159kW (216 bhp) DIN at 2,400rpm. The maximum torque of 716Nm (528 lb ft) comes in at 1,850 rpm. Fuel-injection equipment is from Bosch and the turbocharger by courtesy of Holset. The DU engine features transverse cooling which DAF claims maintains a balanced temperature in all cylinders, Transmission is via a 381 mm (15 in) single-dry-plate clutch to a Fuller gearbox — in this case, the RTO 613 constant-mesh, range-change gearbox with 14.5 to 1 crawler. The rear axle assembly consists of a hypoid-bevel double-drive bogie of DAF design with lockable inter-axle differential; limited slip differentials are available as optional extras.
The steering on the eight-wheeled DAF is power-assisted with a separate ram for each steering axle with a hydraulic link between the two. Both the front axles have semi-elliptic springs with shackled ends and are fitted with telescopic dampers. The rear bogie is mounted on two multi-leaf springs which pivot on trunnions and locate the outer ends of the axles while additional location is provided by two torque rods.
Dual-circuit air brakes have spring brake actuators on the first and third axles and an exhaust brake is featured as standard.
Two-speed windscreen wipers with screen washers and twin vizors are featured in the all-steel DAF-manufactured tilt cab.
Tipper bodies up to 7m (23 ft) in length can be accommodated on the flat topped channel section chassis. Manoeuvrability is not normally the strong point of an eight-wheeler but the DAF proved surprisingly agile around the course laid at Bovingdon airfield for a brief appraisal of the vehicle. The power steering was excellent although I am afraid I still cannot come to terms with the large-diameter steering wheel that DAF favour. The excellent turning circle of only 19m (62ft 6in) should prove its worth both on and off site.
Fully laden with ballast to exactly 30 tonnes (29.5 tons) it was unnecessary to use the crawler section of the Fuller box on the flat, so fourth gear was used for starting. The 613 gearbox had a good ratio spread, but having a rangechange switch which moves round the periphery of the lever knob instead of up and down can be rather awkward as it is possible to change the range inadvertently when moving the lever across the gate.
A useful feature of this Fuller transmission is a clutch brake to slow down the rotating masses quicker when engaging forward or reverse gear from rest, which worked extremely well. I tried engaging a gear with and without the clutch brake, and silent engagement without using the device took around six seconds. With the clutch brake, engagement was almost instantaneous. But this effectiveness was rather marred by the location of the control button. DAF have placed it on the panel between the entry grab handle and the corner of the instrument panel which makes it rather inaccessible but as this type would not normally be used when the truck is in motion this is not a serious criticism.
The braking performance of the fouraxled DAF was in some ways similar to the Fiat 619 TI I tested recently, in that the subjective impression obtained in the cab was belied by the actual figures. I tried some crash stops on a level section of the circuit and recorded maximum retardation figures by Tapley meter of over 60 per cent. It certainly did not feel so effective from the driving seat but maybe this was a good thing. I am so used to a vehicle stopping in a cloud of rubber dust on braking tests that when a truck stops quickly with little or no wheel locking, the subjective impression is disappointing.
Doing the brief test on an airfield circuit there was an obvious lack of gradients so no assessment of the DAFs slogging ability could be made, but if its acceleration on the flat was anything to go by, there should be no problems on the hills. A power to weight ratio of 5.3kW! tonne (7.2bhp/ ton) is certainly adequate.
The body of the DAF I tested was by Wilcox with Edbro tipping gear.