1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164 
51I trailers give weightier results
Page 17
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
rmsercial Motor and TRUCK have waved goodbye to our old rtain-sided roadtest semis and welcomed a brace of new GT aehauf Maxispeeds with disc brakes, central tyre inflation d, anytime now, satellite tracking. And they're tailor-made for • and 4c) tonnes. Brian Vhathedey reports.
Dthing's guaranteed to screw up our I test programme like legislation; icularly on weights. Why? Because hone tests we can do at the same ht, with the same trailer, around the a route, the bigger our databank on le performance. And providing dendent information on vehicle perlance is what CMis all about.
,fter more than a decade of testing at lines the increase to 40 and 41 tonnes tat the end of 1998 prompted a major ge in the way we tested top-weight 'ors. Until then CM ran two 38-tonne irs—a triaxle and a tandem—to han2+3 and 3+2 combinations respec4 However, as the higher weights both ired a triaxle semi we had to adopt a trailer-suits-all approach.
Infortunately there are drawbacks unning a single 40/41-tonne semi;r. CM's test trailers, traditionally ided by OT Fruehauf, use a combineof one-tonne concrete blocks and stable water tanks as our test load are permanently attached to the ,sis to ensure that nothing moves lg 40mph emergency brake tests. iut positioning the test weights to put enough weight over the pin for a 4x2 40tonne tractor left us struggling to get anything like enough load over the pin for a 6x2 at 41 tonnes. On more than one occasion we encountered traction problems in the wet over the 'severe gradients' section of our Scottish test route.
Despite all this we were steadily building up our 41-tonne test database when the government finally moved to 44 tonnes and we had to start all over again. We might have been able to make do with a combined 40/41-tonne trailer, but the combination of a different wheelbase (the minimum axle spacing for 44 tonnes is 8.0m), turning circle requirements and load distribution on a 44-tonner meant we had to go back to the drawing board.
Thus it was that six weeks ago we headed up to GT Fruehauf's curtainsider factory at Dereham in Norfolk in order to load up our brand new 44-tonne test trailer. From now or all 6x2 tractors we test will be loaded to a full 44 tonnes.
The object of the exercise was simple; arrange the blocks and tanks on the trailer platform so there was at least 13 tonnes over the pin with the front water tank empty making our traiier compatible with any 6x2 antic from the lightest to the heaviest. We borrowed an FH12 6x2 Globetrotter from Volvo as atypical test tractor.
After a morning of shunting blocks and tanks around and check-weighing everything, we had 13.7 tonnes over the pin. Job done. Then it was down to GT Fruehauf to bolt the blocks and tanks on, before repeating the exercise on the 40-tonner.
For more flexibility, the 40-tonner has enough floorspace to take three big bags of sand, topping the load to 44 tonnes.
As Commercial Motor and TRUCK will be sharing the two trailers they are jointly branded with CM's logo On one side and the TRUCK/Truck & Driver logos on the other. The smart flush rear doors carry our component sponsors' names.
The first tests with our new test trailer twins have already been completed with a Scania R124-420 at 44 tonnes and Merc's latest Axor 1840 using the 40-tonner.