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Gearbox battle hots up
Page 12
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• ZF's battle with Eaton in the gearbox market appears to be intensifying, with ERF and Seddon Atkinson expressing interest in the German company's latest Ecomid synchromesh transmission.
Although Eaton is believed to be developing a new range of synchromesh boxes for the European market, there is something of a gap above the popular nine-speed 6109 transmission for a driver-friendly synchromesh gearbox which has a torque capacity above 1,000Nm (7381bft).
With the Ecomid, a has a smooth-changing nine or 16speed synchromesh box which can handle the torque of a Cummins LTAA10-325 unit (1,288Nm/950Ibft), but does not need specialist training to handle.
The 9S109 Ecomid has already been chosen by Leyland Daf for its torquey Dafengined 24.26 and 30.26 Constructors, and it now appears likely that both ERF and Seddon will offer the ZF box in Cummins L1 0powered trucks as an alternative to the Eaton/Fuller RTX 11609 and the IS 11612 Twin Splitter.
Neither of the UK chassis manufacturers will confirm that trucks with the Ecomid box are about to appear, but both acknowledge that they are considering alternatives to their normal Eaton/Fuller fitments.
The most likely applications are undoubtedly the new Strato-cabbed multi-wheelers from Seddon Atkinson which will feature the 10-litre Cummins unit, and the equivalent El0 chassis from ERF. Another factor in the Ecomid's favour is the optional integral retarder, which would be a popular option for tippers.