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16 Ho-Cranes is the UK importer for the German-built range of HOE demountable cranes. Sold to bodybuilders for fitting or installed at the Viper Ho-Group premises at Erdington in Birmingham, the electro-hydraulic and fully hydraulic lightweight cranes are used by a number of local authorities and are competitively priced.
17 ERF is now fitting the Thomas Electronics Aqualarm to all its vehicles as standard equipment. The system uses an electronic probe of varying lengths installed in the radiator header tank, which indicates when the coolant level has fallen below a safe level, causing a buzzer in the cab to sound.
The probe runs off a 12 or 24volt power supply and has a four-second anti-swish delay to account for any movement in coolant levels when cornering or braking. As the signal presented to the probe is AC (giving total DC isolation) the units comply with all insulated chassis regulations and can be fitted to petroleum vehicles. Cost for the unit is approximately £50.
18 Following the launch of its Safe-T-bar rear underrun system, Hope Technical Developments has produced a bar suitable for vehicles between 3.5 and 16 tons. Weighing 45kg (991b), the lightweight underrun bar incorporates energy absorbing rubber blocks and can also be fitted with an impactwarning buzzer.
19 Three manufacturers were on hand to expound the virtues of their individual skid-control equipment.
Maxaret is the longest in the field, originally developed by Dunlop and now marketed by Anti-Skid Controls of Coventry, which was showing a new control valve for tri-axle trailer application. The MDR system, working off a single sensed axle, controls all three axles to provide a claimed maximum retardation, meeting ECE 13 Annex 13 and amended UK C & U Regulations.
The equipment can be supplied as a retrofit kit to existing trailers and, although only minimal alterations are needed to the existing braking system, it qualifies as a Notifiable Alteration. 20 Lucas Girling also makes antilock braking systems suitable for rigids and articulated vehicles. Its MGX is sold to 12 trailer manufacturers — fitted as standard by Crane Fruehauf and Craven Tasker and offered as an option by York — contributing an on-cost of about £350 on a triaxle trailer. However, it can be less if fitted as an option to load sensing.
The Girling Skidcheck GX system fitted to the drive axle of rigid vehicles and tractive units is available on a retrofit basis and offered as an original equipment option by ERF, Karrier Motors, Leyland and Volvo while with Foden Trucks it is said to be standard.
Fitment on individual axles is also possible but only where the drive axle is protected. The German Wabco ABS is the most recent anti-lock system to become available in the UK and is marketed by Clayton Dewandre. It is slowly making headway with fire services and in the luxury coach market. 21 Rubery Owen Rockwell's power-gear landing legs for semi-trailers are expensive at about £1,000 a set, but they become worthwhile where there are constant coupling and uncoupling operations. With the trailer easily set to the correct height by raising or lowering the air/hydraulic legs, damage to the fifth-wheel can be eliminated and the whole operation speeded up.
22 With new vehicles required to fit spray suppression equipment from May, 1985, it is time to look for the devices that suit you now. The Schegel cat's-whisker approach looks to be one of the more efficient but also more expensive solutions to the problem. The full kit can provide inner and outer hard-wearing brush wipers to fit the mudguard profile.
These collect the spray and transfer water to mudflaps of similar material from where it is laid back onto the road surface from a low level. Because they flex continually, clogging is said not to be a problem. An offshoot of fitting anti-spray equipment is that the vehicle stays cleaner. A "legal" kit costs about £80 for a steered axle and £100 for a drive axle and all parts are available as spares.
23 Keeping vehicles clean at this time of the year can be made easier by using hand-held, highpressure power washers. Priced at £1,400, in this case plus vat (before discount), the Wesley 1500 model works at 1,300psi with facilities for hot, cold, steam and detergent applications and will run on paraffin or diesel fuel. Wesley also produces a full range of cold water washers, and for the contractor there is a trailer mounted hot water wash complete with road-going lights and over-run brakes. Token-operated washers can also be specified. Exhibiting at the new Motor Trader Show was Fumex, which specialises in the design and installation of exhaust extraction equipment. The single or multipoint systems are all fanassisted and designed to be maintenance free. All installations are sold with a 12 months parts and labour warranty.
2 Many commercial vehicle operators will be familiar with the GKN Laycock range of workshop equipment. This roller brake test unit is suitable for cv application and has a maximum single-axle capacity of 13 tons. Priced at £10,325, the roller unit can be operated remotely from the pedestal via a hand-held switch unit. Installation time is approximately 11/2 days — including all calibration.
3 Prince Machines of Telford is UK agent for Vege, the Dutch engine re-manufacturer. Vege produces a large range of light commercial vehicle re-manufactured exchange engines including Mercedes, Bedford and Peugeot diesel units. All engines are shipped out to Holland on a fortnightly batch basis and carry a 12-month warranty. Cost for a typical re-manufactured diesel engine is approximately £1,000.
4 This Lockpanel mobile tool chest should help keep any workshop tidy. The sturdy chest has smooth-acting runners for easy movement and eight individual drawers with enough room for all essential hand tools. Cost £266.
Computerised dealer systems made a strong showing at the Motor Trader Show which also saw the debut of Viewtrade, a national computer-based network system for the trading and marketing of used vehicles. Kalamazoo claims to be the largest supplier of computerised business systems to dealers in the UK and includes a large number of cv dealers among its clients.