The Mighty Sherpa (LDV etc)

[Asimo]

I love that story about the front axles - A third party company was developing some new leaf springs and under testing they found the heavier vans would dive to one side under hard braking. After scratching their heads for months thinking there was a problem with their springs, they realised it was the front beam axle bending. Turns out leyland just used the axle off a J4, which came off a car previously and not modified it while just upping the GVW half a dozen times.

Point of order - I don't know where Sherpa front axles came from but it wasn't the J4. The J4 had independant suspension of the usual BMC sort, looked more or less the same as on the A60 Farina etc.

[cobblers]

I've never worked on either so I'm just parroting stuff I read on AROnline

 

 

“Engineering projects seldom proceed without any problems. At the eleventh hour F-R found a brake steer problem on composite sprung Sherpas, during an emergency stop a RHD vehicle would veer markedly to the right. It also happened on steel sprung vehicles but the effect was about five to ten times worse with composites (I know, I did the measurements). At GKN we worked night and day on a solution, my friend Mike at GKN-Technology in Wolverhampton built up a test rig with a complete Sherpa front suspension and steering mounted on a steel frame with hydraulic jacks to simulate the braking loads. Taking a series of measurements over the weekend, he spotted that the front axle bent backwards under simulated heavy braking, this in effect pulled on the steering causing the vehicle to veer off to the right. The front axle was, and still is, a forging and had not changed since J4 days yet the allowable gross vehicle weight had gone up and up. Once this was demonstrated to F-R they agreed to beef up the axle and the problem was eliminated.â€

[wuvvum]

.

[wuvvum]

Point of order - I don't know where Sherpa front axles came from but it wasn't the J4. The J4 had independant suspension of the usual BMC sort, looked more or less the same as on the A60 Farina etc.

JU250 probs.

[bigstraight6]

A good friend of mine is restoring a 1978 Sherpa camper, it's that nice light brown colour and has a pop up roof and 1800 B series power with an overdrive gearbox. The outer sill panels are a bit frilly but he's recently managed to source a new set from somewhere off the interwebs, and with that work done and a repaint she will be there which will hopefully be for this summer as I'm hoping to borrow it for occasional weekends, it's a really lovely old thing that I much prefer to some hideously expensive air cooled VW heap

[bigstraight6]

I was working for a DAF/LDV dealers when the Pilot and Convoy were introduced, I think they were actually worse the the models they were replacing. I remember serious issues on the Pilot with coolent hoses chaffing against other hoses and wiring around the Peugeot Diesel engine which required some very technical recall workshop activities involving copious quantities of cable ties and plastic trunking, great days.......

[DVee8]

This is thread of the weekend.

Would love to read/see a Bedford CF,Sherpa review/vanoff..

 

Anyhoo have a google pic

 

[twosmoke300]

The sherpa wasnt a bad van when it was the mk1 because it was a level playing field with the opposition , but where the others spent money on developing new models LDV just did silly little facelifts and fitted whatever engines passed the emission regs at the time .

Driving a 200/400 pilot/convoy there is no hiding that ancient engineering or design . 

Ok for local tradesmen but horrible on long journeys or multidrop driving .

[meggersdog]

I bought a Sherpa pop-top camper in the mid 90's.It was a T reg with the 1700 engine.Had visions of travelling around the country for a few months in the summer,on my own.The reality was the pop-top was awkward and needed two people to lift it.So it was used by me and some mates  a few times for weekends away at happening seaside resorts.Due to the wayward steering anything above 40mph felt unstable so the furthest we went was Cromer.

[Guest Lord Sward]

When I was at little school (as opposed to Big School) we didn't have a kitchen, so school dinners were brought in from a local Comprehensive school.

The vehicle of choice for this was a an off-white Sherpa - proper Sherpa, with the rear lights in the bumpers and shapely silver grille. It was a minibus, but it turned up every day with massive steel pots of whatever grimness awaited my less well off fellow students. ........

 

I'm still considering making a camper out of a local scout groups LDV400 minibus. I mentioned it on here a while back and it turns out Devon will still sell you an entire interior for £firstborn ...

 

 

 

Slightly unnerving as this was the same at my primary school.

 

Until recently we lived on the same street as the lovely couple who own Devon Conversions.  We only found this out when we bought a LDV Devon.  Anyway, we occasionally walked the dogs together and naturally, chatted Sherpa/LDV.  They had huge affection and a great business as the Authorised Factory converters for the 200/300 series (none of this poncy Pilot/Convoy nomenclature please).  And yes, they'll still convert a Sherpa for you or sell you the kit to do it yourself.

 

But the killer was when they told me that they'd told LDV that they wouldn't convert the Maxus as it was so shite they feared it would damage their reputation.  Ask me how I know this....

[Yoss]

How do you know this?

[320touring]

Out treating both the burd and my parents for Christmas present posh lunch scran.

 

Behold the magnificence!

[catsinthewelder]

The college I used to work at had two Convoy minibuses. Both were Ford powered, a white 04 plate that was on it's third coat of paint by it's 8th birthday and a quite knackered blue T plater.

 

An interesting run was collecting 4 music students from Bishops Castle college each week and trying to make it back within 20 minutes so they could catch a service bus in town. It involved some quite fast driving and the Convoys were better than you might expect. A memorable run saw the sliding door open itself on a corner. I stopped and locked it shut but when we got into town it wouldn't open and the back door put up a lot of protest.

 

They were both replaced with a Maxus which was dire and has since been replaced with a Transit.

[Guest Lord Sward]

How do you know this?

 

 

Well seeing as you've asked me, I'll tell yae.

 

Anyone remember the LDV fire sale after the liquidators had finished with the place?  A rake of recently finished, but undispatched Maxus vans of various wheelbases, roof heights, power outputs.  They were very, very cheap (no warranty obviously).  So I spoke with Devon who said they'd convert any van I wanted, new or used, but absolutely no way a Maxus (they even said they'd do an IVECO).  The Maxus was a horrendous van not worthy or their workmanship, my money or anyones time. 

 

So there.

[Timewaster]

A localish garage has just started flogging (or at least trying to flog) new Chinese Maxusezz.

 

Strangely the only ones I've seen have had their name and "Demonstrator" writ large on the side.

 

Interesting* description on the website.

 

https://www.manchetts.co.uk/truckvan-sales/ldv-van-sales/

[Felly Magic]

Manchetts should stick to dragging dead buses and lorries in back to their owners than flogging these heaps. 

[HillmanImp]

 

I too have seen this one, outside Huddersfield autojumble:

 

 

I also saw this one on the inside of a Bentley Rhythm Ace (BRA) album.

 

[Richard]

Was the Maxus a facelift of the Sherpa or an actual new van?

[aldo135]

Does anyone know what happened to the blue 200 minibus that was for sale on here a couple of years ago? Is it owned by anyone on here? It looked lovely but I didn't have the money at the time. Not got much now either!

[eddyramrod]

I can't believe it's taken this long for someone to mention the famous Balamory bus!

[Yoss]

Well seeing as you've asked me, I'll tell yae.

 

Anyone remember the LDV fire sale after the liquidators had finished with the place?  A rake of recently finished, but undispatched Maxus vans of various wheelbases, roof heights, power outputs.  They were very, very cheap (no warranty obviously).  So I spoke with Devon who said they'd convert any van I wanted, new or used, but absolutely no way a Maxus (they even said they'd do an IVECO).  The Maxus was a horrendous van not worthy or their workmanship, my money or anyones time. 

 

So there.

 

I can only agree with that. We only had a couple at our place and they didn't last long. I feel Royal Mail were largely responsible for the demise of LDV as we started buying Transits even before the Maxus came along and I think we were keeping the company afloat for many years, but they sealed their own fate with the Maxus.

 

They had all sorts of problems with doors and gearboxes. As well as being horrible to drive they had several annoying simple things like electric windows that you couldn't put up once you'd switched off (real vans don't have electric windows) which is annoying when you're doing multiple drops like we are. Also the radio reset the volume every time you got out to a volume you couldn't hear properly once moving. Bearing in mind I was in and out of the van around 100 times a day, this was very annoying.

 

But more importantly they started falling apart quite quickly. I don't think we had them more than two years. Apart from SY32 (local office number). That was kept as a spare and was given out as punishment if you broke your own van. Kind of an incentive to look after yours. I remember I once put unleaded in the Transit. I realised halfway through filling up and let go of the nozzle as if it was suddenly electrified. I rang the office and my line manager came out with SY32. That'll teach me.

[catsinthewelder]

The Maxus was a completely new van jointly developed with Daewoo until they went belly up.  Completeing the final 20% or so on their own didn't help a company who were already on shakey ground so LDV followed.

[Guest Lord Sward]

Was the Maxus a facelift of the Sherpa or an actual new van?

 

 

A wholly new van.

[Jams]

It was 2003 I was young not as fat and full of bravado* (Billy big balls)

 

Not long been a windscreen fitter get sent to help a lad with one of these in RAF valley!

 

Remembering seeing a lad pop one out with his feet I decided to show my colleague my brilliance* and proceeded to boot the screen out!

Well what I failed to realise is there was two of us because it needed a new rubber!! Mare of a job tbh!! Old rubber was perished and basically not there never mind holding it in!!

 

It needed to wiper arms new scuttle and the bonnet painting after it slid down it wiper arms in tow! Of corse it was in a hanger with lots of RAF men pilots and other piss taking bastardos

 

Never lived it down and I've always hated convoys ever since!!

[Timewaster]

My mate is a postie and he used to call the smaller van a Pilo't shit

[Felly Magic]

The Sherpa was the swiss Army knife of vans really, and LDV seemed to be able to factory convert one to any spec you wanted, that wasn't possible with the Maxus really

[Guest Lord Sward]

A proper separate chassis was what made the 200/300 series.

[Jim Bergerac]

A localish garage has just started flogging (or at least trying to flog) new Chinese Maxusezz.

 

Strangely the only ones I've seen have had their name and "Demonstrator" writ large on the side.

 

Interesting* description on the website.

 

https://www.manchetts.co.uk/truckvan-sales/ldv-van-sales/

 

 

There's a construction firm up here who've bought a load of those Chinese Maxuses. I keep seeing them and pondering just how good a deal it had to be. The Irish postal service are also supposedly using them now too.

[bub2006]

Thanks you lot. Looking now at ldvs on eBay. There us a red spec lift van which I'm sure went through cannock last year at a grand less than the current asking. And another one advertised as ideal for a boy band??!!

[Lacquer Peel]

For soft real 'compliant, benign, involving, inspiring and forgiving'.

 

Are they a good steer? There's no reason why not with the right tuning.