Another chance to see if 2+3 and 3+2 add up
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The major UK engine manufacturers will be mounting a strong show at this year's Institute of Road Transport Engineers' conference, and there is bound to be much discussion on the effect of the new weights. Tim Blakemore has been before the crowds
INSTITUTE of Road TransEngineers' (IRTE) 14th anconference and display will place at the conference .e complex, Solihull on May id 13.
is year the conference ses; are scheduled to start later usual — at 10am — which is that visitors will have 3 time to walk around the ay area.
ere will certainly be plenty neresting exhibits to exa and in this preview I have ;ted examples from various gories to give some indicaof the range to be seen. (A rt will appear in CM, May cies
illowing so closely after the e when 38 tonne gcw cies first became legal on .cads, the IRTE conference is
bound to stimulate discussion on the relative merits of 3+2 and 2+3 configurations.
After seeing the two 6x 2, twin-steer tractive units which Seddon Atkinson plans to exhibit, some engineers might well consider rethinking their weight calculations.
The day-cabbed 301 prototype 6x2 which should be on display is said to have a kerb weight (with full fuel tank and 200kg fifth wheel) of only 6,570kg (6.5 tons).
This will be the first public appearance of the Cummins L10powered 301 six-wheeled tractive unit. Seddon Atkinson is also developing a 401 twin-steer tractive unit and plans to have one of these at Solihull. The kerb weight of this vehicle, again with fifth wheel and full fuel tank, is expected to be around 7,000kg (6.89 tons).
Mercedes-Benz was among the first manufacturers to produce a UK-specification twinsteer 38-tonner with its 2028 model, which first underwent inservice trials with Christian Salvesen and was on show at Birmingham last year.
Mercedes now expects the demand for 38 tanners to increase considerably over the next two years and will be introducing two more right-hand drive 6 x 2 models, the 2025 and the 2033 (CM, Tech News, March 30).
Both these models will have 3.80m outer-axle spreads, and thus have a UK plated weight gvw of 22.36 tonnes — some two tonnes more than the present 2028, which has a wheelbase designed to suit German regulations rather than the new British ones.
Visitors to Solihull will be able to take a closer look at a 2028 — one will be on display in the outside area. Mercedes will also be featuring its transport consultancy fleet costing system and Trasco (traffic simulation by
computer). continued overleaf
A new contender in the 4x2 38 tonnes-plus tractive unit market will go on sale in the UK this summer. It is the Renault R310, powered by a 228kw (306bhp) turbocharged and chargecooled, in-line six RVI engine, the MIDR 06.35.40. The Karrier Motor's display will include a rhd R310.
Karrier will also be exhibiting a 16 tonnes gvw Dodge Commando with a spine chassis, which was developed jointly by Karrier, York Truck Equipment and Coca-Cola Southern Bottlers. A prototype vehicle of this kind, in Coca-Cola livery, was first displayed on the Boalloy stand at last year's Birmingham show.
The box-section central spine allows the platform height at each side to be as low as 505mm (20in), with a ground clarance of 406mm (16in). This means that with Coca-Cola's interior body height of 1.98m (6ft 6in) the driver can reach even the highest part of the load from the roadside.
This G16's kerb weight, with its body mounted, is 6,550kg (6.45 tons), so its maximum gross payload is a healthy 9,710kg (9.55 tons). With nonstandard springs (4 6in instead of 58in), the rear-suspension subframe has been kept short so that there could be five compartments, each one able to accommodate a metric pallet on each side of the body.
A similar type of distribution vehicle is the FD 2100 DH on the Daf Trucks stand. This is a dropframe version of the established FA 2100 DH 16-tonner. The conversion is carried out at Daf Trucks' new Colchester workshop.
The Boalloy Localiner compartmented body, which is fitted to the display vehicle, has an aperture height of 2.03m (6ft 8in), a deck width of 2.46in (8ft lin), an overall length of 7.77in (25ft Sin) and a deck height of 600mm (23.6).
One advantage of the dropframe design over a single-spine chassis is that cross-body movement is not hindered, but it cannot give quite as low a deck height as the monospine.
Engines Interest in the engines at this year's IRTE exhibition is sure to be especially keen because the first day of the conference will be almost entirely devoted to presentations by UK engine manufacturers, namely Cummins, Ford, Gardner, Leyland, Perkins and Rolls-Royce.
Cummins will have two LT1Os on its stand, one for psv application and one for tractive units. The vertical rear transverse (VTR) 10-litre engine on display is rated at a gross maximum power of 134kW (180bhp) at 1,850rpm, with peak torque of 810Nm (600 lbft) developed at 1,000rpm. Cummins also offers a 186kW (250bhp) rated L10 for psv applications.
Clearly, Cummins is hoping to win some more of the psv market from Gardner. The L10 has many features which appeal to bus and coach operators, particularly compactness, low weight, ease of servicing and potentially good durability.
Just to remind engineers that its 14-litre range is still going strong, Cummins will also be exhibiting an E290 at Solihull.
On stand 59 in the outside display area wil be a Deutz vee6 F6L413FZ, the air-cooled en
gine which is fitted to top weight Ford Cargos.
This 9.6-litre narutally-aspirated unit has a maximum power rating of 152kW (240bhp) at 2,500rpm. When the engine's model number has no Z at the end, it means it is a 127kW (170bhp) rated version.
Ford claims that its Deutzpowered 32.5 tonne Cargo is the lightest tractive unit in its class on the market.
Through extensive use of aluminium alloys, L. Gardner & Sons has always managed to keep the weight of its engines remarkably low. The turbocharged eight-cylinder 8LXCT, which was unveiled at last year's IRTE show and which will again be on display this year, has a weight advantage of some 45kg (100 lb) over its six-cylinder rivals.
With this engine Gardner has caught up with its competitors in power-output and hopes to win back some of the premium tractive unit market share. Lightly turbocharged, the 13.93-litre unit has a gross power rating of 224kW (300bhp) at 1,900rpm, which results in a net installed power-output of around 290bhp.
The Perkins display at Solihull will have a military flavour, for one of the two engines being shown will be a 186kW (250bhp) T6.354.4, which since May last year has been fitted to Alvis Scorpion and Stormer-tracked armoured vehicles.
Its second display engine will also be a T6.354.4, but this time to civilian specification and rated at 118kW (159bhp).
Perkin's aim is to show how the technology applied to military vehicles is being used to improve its products for civilian customers, and this theme will be continued in the conference where Steve Cowling (manager of test operations) will give a lecture on how advances in diesel engine technology are benefiting operators.
Transmissions The Spicer Drivetrain GroupDana Ltd — will be using its purpose-built exhibition vehicle and will be giving audio-visual presentations. Among the components to be featured will be those which have been introduced to the UK in the past year, including the SST 8010 gearbox, angle-ring clutch, DIN standard pt-o's and an extended range of universal joints and shafts.
Eaton Truck Components' major exhibit will be its single anchor pin 41 x 178 mm (161/2 x 7in) S cam brake unit with non-asbestos brake linings, as fitted to the latest Fodens.
ZF Gears (Great Britain) is to display a gearbox and a steering gear. The 16S 112 "Ecosplit" gearbox is an eight-speed rangechange model with a splitter on each gear to give a total of sixteen ratios. ZF believes this model will become increasingly popular in the UK now that the 38-tonne limit is in force.
The type 8043 steering box to be exhibited is designed for steered axle weights up to 7,000kg (6.89 tons) and is already specified by many European manufacturers.
A pre-production version of
Rubery Owen Rockwell's 18,000-Series Tridem axle will be the main feature of Ro-R's stand. This axle has oil-filled bearings which are claimed to double maintenance intervals.
Also worthy of note on the Tridem are the shallow-bearing set, which allows the aluminium alloy hub to be unusually short, and the new brake design.
Lipe-Rollway's display of clutches will include 13in single plate, 14in twin-plate and 151/2in .twin-plate models to suit engine torque outputs from 271 to 2,034N m (200-1,500 I bft).
The Spline-Saver assembly, also to be exhibited, is an interesting idea for extending shaft life. It comprises an adaptor sleeve and two discs with oversize hubs, and it fits over worn input shaft splines.
Bodies A 12.2m (40ft) curtainsided tandem axle semi-trailer to the specification of Securicor Parcels can be seen on the Bedwas Bodyworks stand. Special Securicor requirements include the Stronghold Meshnet load restraint nets, 9mm Kaukas Gamma floor overlay and Aerodyne grp air-deflector. The Taskers FIM 30/CS semi-trailer on which the body is built is fitted with sideguards and a load-sensing valve.
Boalloy will show three bodies at Solihull — a Tautliner, an Insuliner and a Localiner. The Tautliner will be in Rentco livery and will be to the latest specification with revised tensioning system and strap assemblies tested to 1,361kg, with stainless steel tensioning buckles. The Localiner will be mounted on a Freight Rover Sherpa chassis, and features a second deck to suit the High Street collection and delivery for which it is intended.
For those with an interest in plywoods and laminate panels for body building, the William Mallinson and Sons stand will be worth a visit. A new product this year is Draydeck, a panel developed to meet the requirements of brewers whose drays suffer from high point and impact loads. Also new is the range of Melamine panels, bonded to aluminium or lightweight plywood for psv and ambulance internal linings.
Wadham Stringer Victory, the Portsmouth bodybuilders, has added to its range of cleardeck
side-access bodies with a Maxi-8 sliding-door box van.
The show model is mounted on an RG13 Dodge Commando chassis and is 6.7m (22ft) long with a side aperture height of 1.98m (6ft 6in). This body has an internal width of 2.44m (8ft) and the grp/foam sliding doors are capped with full length "easy pull" alloy extrusions. Tail-lifts Column or cantilever? Thai the first question a tail-lift bu has to ask himself. There will no shortage of opinions on of at Solihull: Ray Smith, Longd Truck Equipment, Multilift a Hap Cranes will all have th own views. The latter compa will be unveiling an all-a minium Stoll tail-lift.