Light six from Sandbach
Page 14
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• Foden has launched a new lightweight tipper, mixer and haulage chassis — the 3000series — fitted with the Cummins C Series engine and the new Eaton 6109 gearbox. In a break with recent Foden policy, the 3000 is available only in one basic specification, with different wheelbase lengths as the only major option.
The Foden 3250 becomes the second British 6x4 to use the Cummins C Series engine, the first being Iveco Ford's recently-introduced 2421 Cargo. In this installation the tur bocharged Cummins 6CT 8.3litre engine produces 157kW (210hp) at 2,400rpm, with a maximum 749Nm (552Ibft) of torque at 1,500rpm. For mixer use this unit can be supplied with a front or rear-mounted power take-off.
This engine drives through a 356mm-diameter, twin-plate clutch (hydraulically-operated, with an air servo) to the Eaton 6109 gearbox. The 6109 is an all-synchromesh, range-change unit with eight forward speeds and a crawler, designed for engines of up to 180kW and so far fitted mainly to US-market vehicles such as the BrazilianVolkswagen-built Kenworths sold by Foden's American parent company Paccar. At 141kg, it is compact and extremely light, and offers four alternative PTO drive positions.
The 3250 uses Eaton's DS401P tandem-drive bogie, mounted (as is usual) on Foden's own FF20 rubber suspension. All these mechanical components are mounted in a typical Foden bolted frame, whose main 273x89x9.5min rails are of high-tensile steel The cross-members follow typical Paccar practice, being of aluminium construction, but unusually there is no crossmember over the top of the bellhousing, its function being taken over by a heavy-duty cross-member at the front of the frame. This bar carries the front towing eye, and its incorporation means that there are no protrusions above frame height from the back of the cab rearwards.
The steel air tanks are mounted inboard, and all air pipes are in colour-coded plastic. The wiring is waterproofed and in a flexible conduit.
Three wheelbases are available: the shortest, at 4,225mm, is for tipper or mixer use; the medium (4,650mm) is for tippers or haulage, and the longest (5,875) is for haulage only. The 4,225m chassiscab weighs 6,462kg, which is some 50kg heavier than the 4.25m Iveco Ford Cargo 2421 with the same engine, and over 600kg lighter than the shortest 4000 series Foden.
The 3000 series is fitted with the day-cab version of the well-received 4000 series cab introduced last year. The extremely compact nature of the Cummins 6CT means that the engine cover is very low, protruding no more than 25cm into the cab, which gives very good cross-cab access. As befits the Likely uses of this chassis, the standard seats (the driver's is a mechanical suspension unit) are finished in a wipe-clean vinyl, with cloth as an option. The engine cover is also in grey vinyl and incorporates a storage tray.
The cab features 4000-style luxuries such as a tinted laminated windscreen, heated mirrors and windscreen wipers with built-in washer jets.