Questions you've always wanted to know answer to - truck ed.
Discussion
Slink said:
why is the wheel on the second axle sometimes up off the road, whereas on different lorries it is down on the road?
As a general rule if it's up then the truck is empty, if it's down it's loaded, however there are a lot of ifs and buts which would take all day to explain them all.More axles mean that you can carry more weight. If you look on the plate/v5 of a van, or I think car too, you will see that each axle has a maximum permitted weight.
As a general rule 2 axle units can only carry 40 tonne and 3 axle can carry 44, so you will see loaded 3 axle units with all of their wheels on the floor. When they're not loaded then they will lift an axle to reduce tyre wear. You will see some trailers do it too for the same reason, or have less axles on them altogether because they don't need to carry as much weight.
As a general rule 2 axle units can only carry 40 tonne and 3 axle can carry 44, so you will see loaded 3 axle units with all of their wheels on the floor. When they're not loaded then they will lift an axle to reduce tyre wear. You will see some trailers do it too for the same reason, or have less axles on them altogether because they don't need to carry as much weight.
GC8 said:
Also: why does every idiot labourer feel that they can tell you how to manoeuvre your vehicle?
I had a minicab driver moan at me for stopping because I couldn't get around a corner with the way he had parked, he told me that he used to be a lorry driver and knew that it would go around there.He got a right sulk on when I told him that he must have been a crap one to have ended up as a minicab driver and asked if he didn't drive lorries anymore because he kept crashing on corners
Why don't manufacturers fit showers in the back? Surely it was just take a bit of creativity with a folding bed. I appreciate that there would have to be a water tank on board complete with water pump and heater which could add a 100-200kg, but thats not much if they tractor unit weigh 5000Kg or similar.
Also a friend of mine works for Mercedes Commercial Vehicle Recovery and he told me at one point they had a truck with in excess of 700bhp and not many people bought them because they did the same mpg as the ones that had 450-500.
Is that still the case or has it all moved on? In the car world we seem to benefit fromm going both ways. For example 330D from 2004 with 204bhp averages at 35mpg and the current 330D with 240bhp+ can probably average over 40mpg. O course I understand that a truck has the aerodynamics of a large house brick
Also a friend of mine works for Mercedes Commercial Vehicle Recovery and he told me at one point they had a truck with in excess of 700bhp and not many people bought them because they did the same mpg as the ones that had 450-500.
Is that still the case or has it all moved on? In the car world we seem to benefit fromm going both ways. For example 330D from 2004 with 204bhp averages at 35mpg and the current 330D with 240bhp+ can probably average over 40mpg. O course I understand that a truck has the aerodynamics of a large house brick
bakerstreet said:
Why don't manufacturers fit showers in the back? Surely it was just take a bit of creativity with a folding bed. I appreciate that there would have to be a water tank on board complete with water pump and heater which could add a 100-200kg, but thats not much if they tractor unit weigh 5000Kg or similar.
Also a friend of mine works for Mercedes Commercial Vehicle Recovery and he told me at one point they had a truck with in excess of 700bhp and not many people bought them because they did the same mpg as the ones that had 450-500.
Is that still the case or has it all moved on? In the car world we seem to benefit fromm going both ways. For example 330D from 2004 with 204bhp averages at 35mpg and the current 330D with 240bhp+ can probably average over 40mpg. O course I understand that a truck has the aerodynamics of a large house brick
god i'd bloody love a shower, and like your thinking.Also a friend of mine works for Mercedes Commercial Vehicle Recovery and he told me at one point they had a truck with in excess of 700bhp and not many people bought them because they did the same mpg as the ones that had 450-500.
Is that still the case or has it all moved on? In the car world we seem to benefit fromm going both ways. For example 330D from 2004 with 204bhp averages at 35mpg and the current 330D with 240bhp+ can probably average over 40mpg. O course I understand that a truck has the aerodynamics of a large house brick
sadly, even in the biggest cabs we currently have in the european market, even with clever design they are prob just not quite big enough. if however, we were all allowed tractor units along the lines of the scania longline, it would be more than possible.
the problem is in most cases, if overall length were increased, the big haulage companies, and probably most bosses would just go for the longer trailer, to increase load volumes, and maybe swell their profit a tad. most certainly wouldn't be bothered about increasing living space from a drivers point of view.
it would only work if laws were in place that the increase in length were on the tractor unit only, which is sadly of little interest to most bosses.
it seems, (imo) that the 'average' truck out there today on 40-44 tonne general haulage, is around the 440-500bhp figure. there are bigger in general haulage, some of its willy waving, but some do serve a purpose.
the firm i work away in europe for, spec 410bhp units. they are ok in holland
, but on the ups and downs of some of the steeper climbs, italy, france, austria etc, they are woefully underpowered if you have a decent load on, say 32 tonne +your killing the motor going up hills, and again only imho, killing fuel economy.
smifffymoto said:
IIRC the legal minimum is 6 bhp per tonne,so most trucks are well over powered in the eyes of the law.
Having only done this in a lightly loaded X reg FM12, I've always wondered this....What speed would a typical 40 tonner be doing at the top of Beattock on the M74 and what speed would a 240hp rig manage?
smifffymoto said:
Seems funny that 20 years ago when I started driving 360 bhp was a high output now we have 700+ bhp.
Correct but it was about that time some vehicles had 500 bhp its just they werent very popular. You have to remember engine design and turbo's have changed a little bit, fuel systems and have changed a hell of a lot in the last 15 years.
alangla said:
smifffymoto said:
IIRC the legal minimum is 6 bhp per tonne,so most trucks are well over powered in the eyes of the law.
Having only done this in a lightly loaded X reg FM12, I've always wondered this....What speed would a typical 40 tonner be doing at the top of Beattock on the M74 and what speed would a 240hp rig manage?
I fly past anything below 400bhp, most of the low powered stuff are 4 wheelers so they're down on weight against me but I've got 10mph on them by the time we're half way up.Even 20bhp makes bit of a difference, I've had a few other bulkers pull away from me going up the dartford bridge, only at walking pace but more than enough to show that they could hold a higher speed than me.
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