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BigTom85
703 posts
40 months
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I used to drive an LF, had a few "accessories" though. 6 speed manual in ours 
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smifffymoto
1,058 posts
74 months
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All this talk of Foden boxes and twin splitters is making me nostalgic.
I had an old Foden 8 legger(old Jennings brick wagon)with an 8 over 4(really a 4 over 4 with overdrive) with diff locks and cross locks,the thing never got stuck on site and could quite literally pull a house down.It only had a 300 Cat but would easily do 75 mph with the limiter pulled.
Twin splitters,my god what a good box.get everything right in traffic and read the road well and you may only use the clutch at traffic lights and junctions.Just don't miss a gear going up steep hill.
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philmots
2,502 posts
129 months
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Talk of all these splitters etc make me want to cry I'm glad all I have to do is put it in drive!!
I had an old DAF a few Xmas ago, hire unit as they always get short. It had all sorts of bloody switches I hadn't the first clue. Used to just hit and hope and plenty of clutch slipping!
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leggly
440 posts
80 months
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Oh dear lord  Everyone should learn to drive with an Eaton Twin Splitter. Then you know you're a proper driver and not a steering wheel attendant   Guess who hates automatic truck with a passion  philmots said: Talk of all these splitters etc make me want to cry I'm glad all I have to do is put it in drive!!
I had an old DAF a few Xmas ago, hire unit as they always get short. It had all sorts of bloody switches I hadn't the first clue. Used to just hit and hope and plenty of clutch slipping!
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Hooli
21,203 posts
69 months
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My limited experience is on coaches, but I found the 4 over 4 in Mercs lovely. Much nicer than the autos we also had.
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GC8
9,528 posts
59 months
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Four over fours which transfer using air are nice, but the older manual MAN type can be a PITA.
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Hooli
21,203 posts
69 months
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GC8 said: Four over fours which transfer using air are nice, but the older manual MAN type can be a PITA. That'd be it, air shifted. Only issue was with lots of use around town it'd occasionally stick between ranges, cue lots of banging the stick side to side until it selected one or the other.
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Tyre Smoke
9,205 posts
130 months
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smifffymoto said: All this talk of Foden boxes and twin splitters is making me nostalgic.
I had an old Foden 8 legger(old Jennings brick wagon)with an 8 over 4(really a 4 over 4 with overdrive) with diff locks and cross locks,the thing never got stuck on site and could quite literally pull a house down.It only had a 300 Cat but would easily do 75 mph with the limiter pulled.
Twin splitters,my god what a good box.get everything right in traffic and read the road well and you may only use the clutch at traffic lights and junctions.Just don't miss a gear going up steep hill. Echo this. All the young 'uns today don't know they're born! Driven both of the above (Many, many ETS boxes)and probably would get very lost in a modern cab!
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chilistrucker
1,492 posts
20 months
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ooo gearboxes  i passed in a little 6 speed ford cargo with a 20 ft flat bed trailer on  bit of a shock when my 1st trip out in an artic was in an E.R.F with the eaton twin splitter. played a few tunes on that till i got the hang of it. next went onto a M.A.N with one of those 4/4 knock across boxes which i thought was awful. from then on, most of the past 15 years has mainly been in DAFS with the 4 over 4 range change, with a splitter box. i really like these. as i'm just doing some uk stuff at mo, i'm either driving renault premiums, or M.A.N's with full auto boxes. renault is very good, M.A.N is ok, but bit jerky coming down the gears.
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GC8
9,528 posts
59 months
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Hooli said: GC8 said: Four over fours which transfer using air are nice, but the older manual MAN type can be a PITA. That'd be it, air shifted. Only issue was with lots of use around town it'd occasionally stick between ranges, cue lots of banging the stick side to side until it selected one or the other. The ONLY thing that I know about mending lorries, is that that is probably caused by the valve intended to prevent you from selecting the lower range whilst the road speed is too high. You can disable it and the problem will usually disappear.
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Hooli
21,203 posts
69 months
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GC8 said: Hooli said: GC8 said: Four over fours which transfer using air are nice, but the older manual MAN type can be a PITA. That'd be it, air shifted. Only issue was with lots of use around town it'd occasionally stick between ranges, cue lots of banging the stick side to side until it selected one or the other. The ONLY thing that I know about mending lorries, is that that is probably caused by the valve intended to prevent you from selecting the lower range whilst the road speed is too high. You can disable it and the problem will usually disappear. Ah, maintenance. I don't think they did that very often at that coach company, it's mostly just bodge it back together & ignore it.
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4keymonsta
3,917 posts
17 months
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I've spent the last 6 or so months driving round in a spanking new automatic Renault premium dragging a powder tanker about. Today I borrowed an 05 plate DAF XF with a lowloader to do a mate a favour, it had this strange object next to the drivers seat. I spent the first hour forgetting that it was there, once I was used to it though it was one of the best gearboxes that I have used. The holes were where I wanted them to be and it switched ratios quicker than I can blink... Still too much like hard work though 
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lgw
305 posts
79 months
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As requested switches 
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GC8
9,528 posts
59 months
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Impressive amount of switches. Im reasonably competent, but I have no idea what what all of that does, or indeed, what type of vehicle it is either...
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GC8
9,528 posts
59 months
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Ive worked it out, I think. Is it an al wheel drive fire tender and are they foam jet direction controls?
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Fun Bus
12,518 posts
87 months
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You're dead right (I think) as lgw works at Gatwick airport.
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Super Slo Mo
2,233 posts
67 months
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Cock Womble 7 said: paulrussell said: Can I ask what the mirror on top of the windscreen is for? It stops you unwittingly pushing small hatchbacks up the motorway... As m'learned colleague has said, it's just another aid to visibility. Comes in very handy when you're trying to manoeuvre an artic round a crappy little builder's merchant's yard that was built in the 1800s and you need every inch of space you can get. Also good for getting the nose right on the white line at the traffic lights. Not distracting on the move at all - you only really look at it when you need to. It's also surprising just how big a blind spot there is below the windscreen. Back in my Exel days we used to run a 'trucks and child safety' progamme where we took one of the biggest trucks on our fleet (usually the 44T double decker) to the local schools and show the kids a few things about trucks, and why it's important to stay out of the way of them. We'd ask them to guess how many people you could fit in front of the truck before the driver could see someone there. Usually we could get the entire class stood there, albeit not in a straight line, but say 5 abreast, 5 or 6 rows deep, and from the driver's seat (of say an FM12) you could see no one at all (unless you leaned forward over the wheel). One of the people doing the demonstration would then walk away from the cab and place a cone on the road at the first point the driver could see the tarmac. It's a scary distance, the first time you see it, it's a good 20 feet forward of the cab, if not more. We also used to take along an old pushbike that we'd place alongside the trailer and demonstrate how the trailer 'cuts in'. The kids used to like that trick. 
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