Accessories: what is needed
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EHICLE manufacturers we, over the years, sought provide more and more 7:cessories as part of the ital vehicle package in a bid 1 win greater driver acceptice for their particular truck.
Items which were considered luxury are in many cases now a andard fitment. Cigarette jhters, carpeting and many her "extrasare now common ace.
This is particularly true of the ng-haul machines, especially ose in TIR work, but the prinple has permeated down to 'en distribution vehicles and iht vans. Indeed, the latter are many cases designed around loon cars and carry over those hides built-in accessories. Ford's Fiesta van and Bedrd's Cheyenne are just two amples of the trend. Nevereless, there are still quite a imber of bolt-on components lich are both useful and make e driver's job safer.
By the same token, at the ler end of the scale, there are ose which can only be deribed as out-and-out luxuries )ich may take some justifying. )w long these remain in this tegory before they become )ssentials" is anybody's ess.
Basically, then accessories n be categorised into three Dups.
Those that are necessary; Those that drivers would e; Those that are an out-ant luxury.
Taking neccessities first, se can roughly be defined as her aids to safety or operan. Definitely under the safety tegory come spray deflectors the front of the cab which ect their air flow arund the 'nide sides. This has the effect preventing spray iind dirt m reaching the mirrors and e windows.
During our road tes s, which ?, often carried out in foul ather conditions, we have -isistently found just how well !se do in fact work. They are
offered by many manufacturers as an extra, but can be bought from outside accessory firms.
Volvo has taken it one stage further on its Fl 0 / F12 models and made the deflectors an integral part of the front design. In this case the deflectors are coloured to match the vehicle colour, but the bolt-on ones on other makes are usually made of orange, red or blue perspex.
Spray generated by large commercial vehicles is not just a problem to the driver of the truck himself; it is also a headache to following traffic. On articulated vehicles, much of the spray comes from the trailer bogie, which usually has a simple, single rubber mud flap each side.
These do little more than comply with the law — certainly they don't have any effect on reducing spray. Now, the American Monsanto Corporation has come up with a device of 2cm (3/4in) deep elongated polyethylene elements. These stop the tiny spray droplets and chanel them back to the road surface as a stream of water.
Crane Fruehauf, the Dereham trailer manufacturer, has been co-operating with Monsanto to provide on-the-road experience with the system. In addition to equipping vehicles of its trailer rental company. Rentco, with the spray guards it has also fitted them to CM 's own test trailer — supplied by courtesy of CF. So we have been able to assess the performance of the guards at first hand on our Scottish road test route, not unknown for rainy weather.
Our overall impression is that they are certainly very effective. When the trailer is coupled to a tractive unit not fitted with the spray guards, it's noticeable how little spray is generated by the trailer compared to the enormous amount pushed out from the tractive unit. This reduction in spray has benefits for both the truck driver and following motorists_ The driver has a much clearer rearward view while motorists are able to see past the vehicle more easily and safely.
Another safety item which we also have fitted to our test trailer is the Quinton Hazell Automotive energy-absorbing under-run bar. Using a special, patented energy absorber developed by OH, the under-run bar has a progressive action. So it is speed sensitive so that the higher the energy on impact, the more resistance is created. When the under-run bar is compressed slowly it gives way fairly easy.
However, sudden violent impact on the bar causes the resistance to be increased and thus provides more absorption_ The makers say that the assemly can stop a one-tonne car from a speed of 56km / h (35mph) and the unit has a forward travel of 370mm (14.5in). It may seem to many operators an unnecessary and costly exercise just to minimise the impact for someone else.
However, the under-run bar does have operational benefits. First, it can have advantages in loading bays, where the driver miscalculates during reversing. Additionally, downtime owing to accident damage is likely to be reduced.
While on the subject of reversing, Crane Fruehauf has a very useful accessory. It is the YEC reversing bleeper which can be fitted to any heavy goods vehicle or trailer. With Health and Safety at Work legislation currently on everyone's mind.the reversing bleeper is something which may indeed become a necessity rather than accessory. The CF version can be wired through the reverse gear mechanism of the vehicle, or it can be connected to a separate switch. The bleeper is compact in design, is waterproof and CF say that its shock-resistant and vibration-resistant design has been proven in service through out the world, .
There are three models available. The BA13 with a working life of 4,000 hours and giving 85 decibels in 12V form: a 24V version gives 95 decibels, while the heavy-duty model and the BA39, giving 112 decibels and is 24V only. Prices for the bleeper vary from £26.14 for the 12V version to £29.58 for the 24V.
One of the most annoying and frustrating things that can happen is to have the rear light lenses and bulbs stolen from the trailer or tractive unit.
It happens all too often and although it's not too costly to replace the components, it causes unnecessary delays. This sort of thing can be prevented, however, by the addition of anti-theft lamp cages.
Again CF has a design available and it is suitable for most kinds of combinations rear lamps. Made from 6g wire covered in black pvc, the cages have been designed to be corrosion resistant. A three-point fixing is employed on the cage, and the mesh is open enough to facilitate lens clearing, but yet provides sufficient security. As well as preventing theft, the guards also stop accidental damage during careless manoeuvring.
Anyone who has tried to couple a trailer a night will know the benefit of a trailer coupling light to illuminate the fifth-wheel area during reversing.
Most manufacturers are able to offer them, but there are also proprietary makes around. Some vehicle manufacturers are now providing all the wiring for these. Fodens, for example, have the wires built in to their new grp /steel cab and they can be exposed by removal of a plate at the cab rear. Once this has been taken off the lamp can be simply bolted in place and connected to the wiring. Another problem during trailer coupling can be damage to the tractive unit rear wings if the trailer is on uneven ground. This can be obviated by fitting either full rubber wings or composite ones with steel front and rear sections and a rubber central part.
One accessory that we at CM wished we had had on a recent test of a DAF 2800 fitted with ZF Transmatic transmission is a lockable filler cap, as during the overnight stop at Pathhead truck was relieved of some of fuel. With dery costing arm. 80p per gallon siphoning_is a popular and lucrative p time.
Lockable caps are reasona inexpensive and apart fr, those obtainable throu vehicle makes accessory stc there are many other makes cluding some from Tui Accessories and Waso.
Although hazard warm lights are fitted as an integral part of most vehicles' equipment, there are still some trucks without this vital accessory.
Finally, on the subject of electrics, items which will, without doubt become legal requirements, are battery master switches. Lucas manufactures one which is suitable for most goods vehicles and is relatively inexpensive.
There is more to vehicle mirrors than meets the eye as we found out during a visit to the Wingard factory at Chichester now operating under the Britax banner, which itself is part of the Bristol Street Garage group of companies.
December 1, 1977, was the date from which newly registered vehicles had to conform to the EEC directive 71/ 127 on rear-view mirrors. In practice, this means that the vehicle must be fitted with the approved classes of "E" marked mirror as original equipment.
Class 1 refers to interior mirrors which have to be fitted to all vehicles equipped with a window to the rear whether or not it is obstructed by the load or bodywork. If flat it must measure a minimum of 4 x 15cm (1.6 x 5.9in) and if convex, with a radius of 1,900mm, 4cm x 8.2cm (1.6 x 3.2in). On the outside only one to the o.s. need to be fitted so long as the internal mirror provides adequate rearward vision. However, if it is obstructed then one on each side must be fitted.
Right-hand-drive vehicles travelling on the Continent would also be advised to fit a unit on each side. For vehicles below the 3.5 tonnes gvw, Class III applies. If flat it will need to measure a minimum of 7cm x 13cm (2.76in x 5.12in), but if convex only 7cm x 7.1cm (2.76 x 2.8in). For vehicles above the 3.5 tonnes gvw demarcation a flat mirror with the minimum dimension of 20cm high x 17cm long (7.9in x 6.7in) is needed, but a smaller convex type 20cm high x 10.9cm long (7.9in x 4.3in) giving a similar field of view will suffice. These mirrors are satisfactory tures of —20'C in very cold only when fitted with the approclimates, in Britain it is more priate support arms to provide often used to remove early mor the correct sighting. Should any ning mist.
of these items need to be Horizontal split-plane mirrors replaced then it must be done have been most popular on with an approved unit. articulated outfits where the two angles eliminate any blind spots. There is one group of vehicles which is exempt from EEC regulations — that is vehicles which are not capable of travelling at above 15mph, need only comply with the UK C & U Regulations.
Buses must comply in every other way, but are exempt with regard to the field of view.
The 1,200mm curvature is more popular here, giving a wider field of vision but is not for high-speed motorway travelling. Since the regulations have been in effect, the standard of vision to the rear has been improved for most classes of vehicle. To provide the same standard with a flat lens would require a much larger piece of glass.
Provision for adjustment is important. The manufacturers say they would like to make the clamp as simple as is reasonably possible; a requirement for some form of tool to do the job makes the fixture of a more permanent nature and less likely to be removed.
Breakage is quite a common occurrence, more so with a larger mirror mounted on wide arms. Replacement of the lens is quite an easy job as it is often only held in place by a rubber surround.
Some of the smaller mirrors, with a shrunk-in plastic surround, have to be replaced as a complete unit. Some investigation has been carried out on non-breakable plastic mirrors, but in the main they tend to discolour quickly and scratch easily.
As yet none has been produced in a convex form to give an acceptably small level of distortion. Mirrors made from stretch film plastic, sometimes used in the home, are not considered robust enough to stand up to automotive use.
Heated mirrors are becoming more widespread. The silvering on the back of the glass is used as the electrical circuit. The very thin black line which can be seen from the reflective side merely serves to separate the silvering, forming the heating element.
Besides the obvious use, to remove ice down to tempera Although still available, if it is to be acceptable in the EEC it must meet the requirement using the largest mirrors alone. The tractive unit is a good example of one of the vehicles which now need an internal mirror. In many cases the support stalk is stuck on to the front windscreen.
For some time intriguing strips of cloth have been seen tied to the mirror support arms. This saves the driver hunting the cab every time he needs to wipe the accumulated dirt from the glass. When the vehicle is travelling at speed it is inevitable that anything in the air around the mirror is sucked onto the glass by a vacuum generated behind the large mirror head.
Positioning the mirror well forward out of the vehicle slipstream, can stop most of the dirt reaching it. Proper wheel arches and covers over the wheel nuts can stop muck being thrown up from the road. Air deflectors or air jets playing across the face of the mirror look to be the most promising way to keep the mirror permanently clean, without physical attention.
Wash and wipe systems similar to those now incorporated on some headlight systems are a possible alternative but have the disadvantage of being heavy and bulky if fitted complete with the electric motor, which may be susceptible to damage.
As already mentioned it is not uncommon for the mirror to receive a clout at some time in its life. For the larger vehicle any device which obscured any part of the reflective surface could prevent the mirror meeting the newly introduced "E" standard.
Any extra mirrors must also be approved and stamped with the "E" mark. It need not be of the same class as the legally required mirrors but must conform to the standard of shatterproof ing or may be taped on the back to prevent the glass being scattered of broken.
No parts of the assembly should protrude in a dangerous manner but it must still be fully adjustable.