Light eight-legger from Iveco
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by Brian Weatherley • A month after launching its EuroTrakker heavy duty 8x4 tipper chassis, Iveco Ford has launched a lighter eight-legger which will be built by Seddon Atkinson at its Oldham factory. The Trakker will make its official UK debut at the RHA TipCon show in April alongside Seddon's new Strato multi-wheelers (CM 6-12 Jan). It uses the familiar Seddon Atkinson 8x4 chassis with the same Iveco 9.5-litre straight-six and MP cab as Iveco's EuroTech 400E34 tractor.
Iveco's 9.5-litre diesel is available in ratings from 221-276kW (296. 370hp), but the Trakker will only be available with the 254kW (340hp) charge. cooled 8460 TC A. Iveco Ford says that while other ratings were consid
ered, the 8460 TCA diesel "Is a particularly fuelefficient engine", particularly at the 32-tonne 8x4 limit.
According to IFT marketing director Chris Christianson,
the EuroTrakker "does not really meet the requirements of the UK. In Britain it's a very heavy muckaway machine to take over from the old Maggie. The new Trakker
has been developed specifically for the UK market. It is close to a tonne lighter than the EuroTrakker and designed to meet the needs of both general hauliers and tipping operators."
Standard gearbox in the Trakker is the Eaton Twin Splitter (unlike
the EuroTrakker there is no ZF option), coupled to a Rockwell tandem bogie with rubber suspension. Steel is not offered at present. The equivalent EuroTech tractor has front discs but the Trakker retains drums all round.
The decision to build the Trakker at Oldham, rather than at the Langley plant where Super Cargo six-wheelers are produced, is due to space constraints on the Slough assembly line. Production of the Trakker will raise output at Oldham by around 8%. The EuroTrakker will continue to be built at Iveco's Madrid plant.
The Trakker will give the Iveco Group an impressive multiwheeler line-up in the UK: hauliers preferring an integrated driveline can opt for the Trakker; those favouring a proprietary engine can buy the Cummins-powered Strato.
Iveco Ford had planned to offer a EuroTech-based eight-wheeler with an Iveco-sourced chassis and disc brakes, from its Ulm heavy truck plant in Germany. This vehicle has been postponed to around the Euro-2 emission deadline in 1995.
Li Iveco Ford is also extending its existing Cargo options with a 33m wheelbase on the 6-10-tonne chassis, a top-sleeper and a heavier duty 3.6-tonne front axle.
The 17-tonne SuperCargo will also gain a top sleeper and two longer wheelbases of 6.21 and E57m to accommodate bodywork up to 8.53m long. Low-height and crew cab options are in the pipeline.