Truck Shite

[MJK 24]

On 4/4/2023 at 3:39 PM, 5speedracer said:

Looking good, as you've no peak was there any reason you went for a flat roof cab?

Home every night or just used to it?

I don’t do many nights out.  And when I do, it tends to be on the services and the first thing I do I see how much the hotel is!  EG a couple of weeks ago, the hotel on Corley M6 was £36 which includes free parking.  To park the truck and sleep in it was £34.  Not a big decision….

The other reason I didn’t go for big cab was cost.  The truck cost £18,000 and was used delivering petrol so i thought that the maintenance would be absolutely perfect.  Also, when delivering petrol, there’s no return loads.  So it’s run empty for half its mileage.

To have a bigger cab would have been an extra £8-10k which I didn’t have for something that might not have been looked after quite as well.   And if I did have it, I’m 95% sure I would have just bought this one anyway!

[5speedracer]

6 hours ago, MJK 24 said:

I don’t do many nights out.  And when I do, it tends to be on the services and the first thing I do I see how much the hotel is!  EG a couple of weeks ago, the hotel on Corley M6 was £36 which includes free parking.  To park the truck and sleep in it was £34.  Not a big decision….

The other reason I didn’t go for big cab was cost.  The truck cost £18,000 and was used delivering petrol so i thought that the maintenance would be absolutely perfect.  Also, when delivering petrol, there’s no return loads.  So it’s run empty for half its mileage.

To have a bigger cab would have been an extra £8-10k which I didn’t have.  And if I did have it, I’m 95% sure I would have just bought this one anyway!

£2 to not be parked next to some twat talking loudly to his mate a 3 am is definitely worth it.

[MJK 24]

5 minutes ago, 5speedracer said:

£2 to not be parked next to some twat talking loudly to his mate a 3 am is definitely worth it.

Haha!  I have to suffer that in the summer, because the hotels on the services are usually mega money with people travelling up and down the country on their summer holidays etc.

But October to March time, they’re usually pretty affordable.  I’ll happily pay an extra tenner not to have to sleep in the truck!

[Leyland Worldmaster]

https://www.motor1.com/news/661568/volvo-semi-custom-build-massive-sleeper-section/

[5speedracer]

Light loads on the freeway by the look of it, live in that and save the expense of a house. American camper interior taste does seem stuck decades ago though, all that dark wood.

[Metal Guru]

1 hour ago, 5speedracer said:

Light loads on the freeway by the look of it, live in that and save the expense of a house. American camper interior taste does seem stuck decades ago though, all that dark wood.

American taste ….. 

“camper interior” is entirely superfluous .

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 06/04/2023 at 08:31, MJK 24 said:

I don’t do many nights out.  And when I do, it tends to be on the services and the first thing I do I see how much the hotel is!  EG a couple of weeks ago, the hotel on Corley M6 was £36 which includes free parking.  To park the truck and sleep in it was £34.  Not a big decision….

The other reason I didn’t go for big cab was cost.  The truck cost £18,000 and was used delivering petrol so i thought that the maintenance would be absolutely perfect.  Also, when delivering petrol, there’s no return loads.  So it’s run empty for half its mileage.

To have a bigger cab would have been an extra £8-10k which I didn’t have for something that might not have been looked after quite as well.   And if I did have it, I’m 95% sure I would have just bought this one anyway!

is there a fuel saving benefit of having a brick rather than a breeze block?

[MJK 24]

8 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

is there a fuel saving benefit of having a brick rather than a breeze block?

I think there definitely is.  We have two other MAN trucks.  One is 7.5 ton.  Weighs 4,750 unladen and has a huge cab.  The second is 10 ton.  Weights 5,500kg unladen.  Tiny cab.

Both same engine, gearbox and diff.  The one with the big cab can only get 19mpg driven like a Saint. The one with the little cab can get 21mpg.

[MJK 24]

[MJK 24]

That is as big a cab as you can get on a 7.5 tonner.  I’m 6’2” and I can stand up in it just about on top of the engine.  Or stand in the passenger footwell and there’s 1ft of headroom.

Ideal for 4 nights away a week which is what is done for the 14 odd years we’ve owned it.

[Dyslexic Viking]

5 minutes ago, MJK 24 said:

That is as big a cab as you can get on a 7.5 tonner.  I’m 6’2” and I can stand up in it just about on top of the engine.  Or stand in the passenger footwell and there’s 1ft of headroom.

Ideal for 4 nights away a week which is what is done for the 14 odd years we’ve owned it.

Is the big cab one the one with high mileage?

[MJK 24]

1 hour ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Is the big cab one the one with high mileage?

Yes it’s done about 1,450,000

[Vantman]

This was my 'brick'--

[Leyland Worldmaster]

[martc]

^^^^ a cafe with a view - see also the bus shite thread.

[MiniMinorMk3]

Morris FFK, that is fooked.

[Dyslexic Viking]

If you like old trucks, I have found an interesting YouTube channel  https://www.youtube.com/@PhantomLane   The videos are short and have old US black and white photos of trucks that have been colored. Here are 3.

 

[MJK 24]

On 4/12/2023 at 7:58 AM, Vantman said:

This was my 'brick'--

Before the days of the mini roundabout?!  😬

[EyesWeldedShut]

On 4/11/2023 at 9:36 PM, MJK 24 said:

 

I know somebody who had a horsebox based on the 7.5 ton cab type (shorter wheelbase tho')  you have there - not content with the fact that the cab unit is big enough to have a party in they also had a luton/living area built on it.
Add in glassonite body, horse stuff, two adults, booze and champagne glasses and one horse? Just under 8 tonnes  Pisser

[MJK 24]

I think 7.5 ton horse boxes being over weight when empty isn’t unusual!

I follow a VOSA page on Facebook where they show who they’ve pulled in and what their offence was.

They pulled in a 3.5 ton LHD Iveco Daily with quite a large curtain side body plus an over the cab sleeping pod.  They said they were surprised to find it 700kg over weight when empty!  Turns out it was a 7.2 ton Daily that had been down rated presumably to avoid using a Tacho!

[warch]

Just found out this exists, added it to my mental list of Things I Like.

 

6x6! 

ETA; for those really remote Tesco deliveries...

[808 Estate]

Would make an epic camper.

 

EDIT: Looks like someone else had the same idea.

[EyesWeldedShut]

On 4/13/2023 at 8:26 PM, MJK 24 said:

I think 7.5 ton horse boxes being over weight when empty isn’t unusual!

I follow a VOSA page on Facebook where they show who they’ve pulled in and what their offence was.

They pulled in a 3.5 ton LHD Iveco Daily with quite a large curtain side body plus an over the cab sleeping pod.  They said they were surprised to find it 700kg over weight when empty!  Turns out it was a 7.2 ton Daily that had been down rated presumably to avoid using a Tacho!

I see a lot of Polish/Romanian 3.5 tonne Sprinter curtainsiders with the sleeper pod on the motorways running at 70 mph + and (to me) they just look overweight? My guess is that the ability to skip tacho/drivers' hours is the key there - chances of getting pulled over vs operating costs/wages vs safety vs profit?

I got pulled into the  VOSA inspection place on the M74 southbound in a horsebox and had a good old blether with the guys there (who appeared despondent that my innocent looking 3.5 tonner is really a 4 plus tonner in drag with a plating to match).  Their take is that the 3.5 (and the 7.5 grandad rules) have produced a range of vehicles that are, essentially, not fit for purpose.
Some of the horsebox manufactures have started providing unladen weight and/or payload details on their websites as some folks are now asking that question but many other owners seem to be blithely unaware that the payload  includes them, the kids, the gin, the water, the saddle etc etc and when you have a payload of 750kg or less?  (I mean feckit - pre pandemic one manufacturer - was selling a 5/6 seater crew cab Pug with space for 2 horses on a 3.5 tonne chassis. I saw this at the Royal Welsh Show and the sales guy could/would not tell me the payload. He did point out the rather nice, cross stitched, leather upholstery though.  They also had a bigger 4.5 tonne+ model that was classed as a Motorhome to get around having to fit a tacho - wtf?

Guys to admire are the racehorse transporters - they'll run something like a stripped down Oakley 3.5 tonner, mahoosive engine, maybe 1 tonne payload, driver + groom + single horse does 70 mph up and down the motorway - not overweight, no drivers' hours and all legal.

(If not then its an 18 tonner, all papered up but slow as .....)

[Dyslexic Viking]

9 hours ago, warch said:

Just found out this exists, added it to my mental list of Things I Like.

 

6x6! 

There are actually some of these here as fire trucks. And I like them too.

[Dyslexic Viking]

7 hours ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

I see a lot of Polish/Romanian 3.5 tonne Sprinter curtainsiders with the sleeper pod on the motorways running at 70 mph + and (to me) they just look overweight? My guess is that the ability to skip tacho/drivers' hours is the key there - chances of getting pulled over vs operating costs/wages vs safety vs profit?

There has been a bit in the media here about these in the past. They are almost always overloaded, a Renault 3.5 tonne was stopped a few years ago and was 3 tonnes overweight. One of the drivers was interviewed anonymously and he said he drove until he saw a pink elephant then it was time to stop and sleep.

[warch]

24 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

There has been a bit in the media here about these in the past. They are almost always overloaded, a Renault 3.5 tonne was stopped a few years ago and was 3 tonnes overweight. One of the drivers was interviewed anonymously and he said he drove until he saw and had conversations with a pink elephant then it was time to stop and sleep.

I think I remember reading something similar over here, where some Eastern European HGV drivers were found to be ignoring driving hours altogether and were being flogged into the ground until VOSA caught up with them.  One driver spoke about his relief upon being caught that he would finally be able to have a rest from driving. 

[Dyslexic Viking]

Something quite rare has come up for sale here. 2007 MB Vario 7.5 tonnes in short version and which has almost 3.8 tonnes payload. Vario is rare here anyway, but the short version is even more rare and this one is in very good condition and low km only 146,000km. Dad is a little frustrated that he doesn't have the opportunity to buy this as this is his dream van. And would be perfect for his use with the payload and short length.

 

[Dyslexic Viking]

What a large transport company was like in 1950s USA.

 

[MJK 24]

8pm collection from Chelsea Embankment last night.  Left Liverpool about 2pm.

Had a break at Heston West on the M4 as I was a little early into London.

Here we are, Salon Privé.  Two Abarth.  The red one has an engine and sounds average.  The yellow one (Acid Green) doesn’t have an engine and sounds amazing with some sort of noise coming from the speakers.

Lighter car on top. 
 

And then up into the air

Heavier car underneath 

And we’re ready to head off.  Quick look around at stuff I’ll never be able to afford before we go.

And back home to Liverpool.  Put them on the other truck and they can head down to Coventry in the morning.

[quicksilver]

There are only two International Lonestars in the UK, one each with American truck fans Neil Yates and Mick Gould. I'd never seen anything from either fleet but last night I was looking at photos of them. Couldn't believe my eyes when less than 24 hours later Neil's Lonestar turned up right in front of me!

What a big ugly brute. I wouldn't say it's good looking but certainly imposing and eye-catching.