Tamworth1:
0 Pass ! sorry,should have engaged brain first !! Bewick.
Bewick:
I realise the motor hasn’t a Berliet badge on the fron’t !!! A summer evening Milnthorpe depot,late 70’s and one the night men is sat filling in his tacho prior to his trunk to Daventry and back.IIRC we ran this demo for a few weeks and were not impressed.But it was a bit of “free gratis” running apart from DERV,it did the job on double shift but at the time we were going heavily into Scanias and the Renault/Berliet was not in the same class,as far as we were concerned.Sorry Saviem but that was the proof of the pudding as far as we were concerned. Cheers Dennis.
Now let me ponder this one from a driver’s point of view, walking into your yard a faced with a choice between a daycab Atki and the Renault, I’d have swapped my flat cap for a beret and been in the cab of that Renault like a vermine rodent up a tuyau d’ycoulement 
newmercman:
Bewick:
I realise the motor hasn’t a Berliet badge on the fron’t !!! A summer evening Milnthorpe depot,late 70’s and one the night men is sat filling in his tacho prior to his trunk to Daventry and back.IIRC we ran this demo for a few weeks and were not impressed.But it was a bit of “free gratis” running apart from DERV,it did the job on double shift but at the time we were going heavily into Scanias and the Renault/Berliet was not in the same class,as far as we were concerned.Sorry Saviem but that was the proof of the pudding as far as we were concerned. Cheers Dennis.Now let me ponder this one from a driver’s point of view, walking into your yard a faced with a choice between a daycab Atki and the Renault, I’d have swapped my flat cap for a beret and been in the cab of that Renault like a vermine rodent up a tuyau d’ycoulement
The Atki had become “a Pet” when this shot was taken NMM and was no longer in fleet service,that particular night man’s regular motor at that time was an ERF B series 8LXB.Cheers Bewick.
I was going to hit the Bollinger, and drown my fuel consumption woes! Then speeding across the pond comes NMM, with a superb grasp of the French language! Do you get to Cajun country? Drive safe. Dennis, I think that the demos you were given were poorly presented, but if Id have been doing a Daventry trunk each night I think in all honesty I would have jumped into the Scania, after all, on the motorway you did`nt have to use that awful Swedish gearbox much!! I must away to the Bollinger, tommorow I have 500tonnes of sewage sludge arriving, what busy men we will be spreading it on my fields, my posh neighbours in the barn conversions will love me, I do hope the sun comes out, Cheerio for now.
Bewick:
Tamworth1:
0 Pass ! sorry,should have engaged brain first !! Bewick.
I’m lost!!!
Saviem:
I was going to hit the Bollinger, and drown my fuel consumption woes! Then speeding across the pond comes NMM, with a superb grasp of the French language! Do you get to Cajun country? Drive safe. Dennis, I think that the demos you were given were poorly presented, but if Id have been doing a Daventry trunk each night I think in all honesty I would have jumped into the Scania, after all, on the motorway you did`nt have to use that awful Swedish gearbox much!! I must away to the Bollinger, tommorow I have 500tonnes of sewage sludge arriving, what busy men we will be spreading it on my fields, my posh neighbours in the barn conversions will love me, I do hope the sun comes out, Cheerio for now.
I do hope said sludge has been “a festering” for a good while,the “nose” lingers a bit longer than on the fresh stuff !! Happy spreading ! Dennis.
Tamworth1:
Bewick:
Tamworth1:
0 Pass ! sorry,should have engaged brain first !! Bewick.I’m lost!!!
Sorry T1,I was confusing Chevron (an American Oil Co.) with Elf the French Oil Co. so I had to abort my comments about Le Frog being loyal to their own Motors,sorry for the confusion I realise it’s past your bedtime !! Cheers Dennis.
Saviem, I have to agree, I would’ve chosen the Scania too, in fact I’d have pushed either rather than driven the wacky Atki 
I do have a reference point between the two as I have driven both a TR305 and a 111 for the same firm doing the same work, power wise there was nothing in it, they both had shortcomings in the gearbox department, the Fuller in the Renault had a weird shift pattern and the stick was like stirring a bucket of treacle with a broomstick, the Scania had that awkward 6th gear, accomodation was good (for the time) in both, brakes were neither’s strong point and ride was comparable too, the Scania had the better image, but that was about it really, from a driver’s point of view, operators obviously saw things differently judging by the sales volumes of the two lorries, I think the Scania may just have edged it 
Bewick:
Tamworth1:
Bewick:
Tamworth1:
0 Pass ! sorry,should have engaged brain first !! Bewick.I’m lost!!!
Sorry T1,I was confusing Chevron (an American Oil Co.) with Elf the French Oil Co. so I had to abort my comments about Le Frog being loyal to their own Motors,sorry for the confusion I realise it’s past your bedtime !! Cheers Dennis.
No problem Dennis thanks for clearing that up, off to bed i go, regards T1
I have spoke about these little workhorses before. my PX28 did about 8 trips to Athens and only cost me a headlight bulb and a few pivos for a jughead when the fuel pump diapragm split on the motorway.
Here’s an Aussie one for you,
I think they were assembled in Queensland for a while,it sure looks the part with the Aussie spec add on’s. Interesting that it was powered by a 6v92 Detroit with a Spicer box. Also notice the different headlight panel with the head light removed.
There were Renault R310’s here in NZ,but no Berliet’s that I know of.
NZ JAMIE:
Here’s an Aussie one for you,I think they were assembled in Queensland for a while,it sure looks the part with the Aussie spec add on’s. Interesting that it was powered by a 6v92 Detroit with a Spicer box. Also notice the different headlight panel with the head light removed.
There were Renault R310’s here in NZ,but no Berliet’s that I know of.
Also, looking at the trailer, illustrates the wasteful Aussie habit of roping and sheeting. Rope hooks weren’t generally fitted, instead a continuous bar under the chock rail. As any old timer will tell you a standard UK dolly hitch in a long length of rope needs a hook for the loop to be passed over. In OZ of course they couldn’t do that so had a slightly different method of forming the dolly (easier to slip bte in my experience) whereby the end of the rope was first passed around the bar. Thus it could only be done with the end of a single piece of rope and therefore many short ropes had to be carried. As can be imagined ‘one size fits all’, doesn’t.
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Them awkward gear shift patterns could be explained by the fact those trucks were designed as left-hookers.
harry:
Them awkward gear shift patterns could be explained by the fact those trucks were designed as left-hookers.
As with most RHD conversions, early Scanias were a pain in the arse and caused Swedish Elbow 
Those trailers with the solid bar were used in Holland and Belgium, or at least they used them as ferry trailers. I suppose the best way of describing the hitch was a dolly / clove
I went sail training on a Schooner a couple of times, obviously they teach you the various nautical knots and bends, but they were all intrigued when I showed them a proper dolly and I could earn beer through doing it or by challenging others 
Wheel Nut:
[Those trailers with the solid bar were used in Holland and Belgium, or at least they used them as ferry trailers. I suppose the best way of describing the hitch was a dolly / clove
I went sail training on a Schooner a couple of times, obviously they teach you the various nautical knots and bends, but they were all intrigued when I showed them a proper dolly and I could earn beer through doing it or by challenging others
Yes, our way was much more efficient, however, when I ordered a load of demountable bodies for Toray and specified ringbolts at intervals in the floor the Aussie hitch came in handy for securing loads inside and I was able to demonstrate to my drivers how to do it because of this previous knowledge.
On the question of gearboxes, my Magnum (LHD of course) had that pain of a German box (the name escapes me for the moment - it’s come back - ZF 
) which needed slamming across in neutral to change the range, so it wasn’t just in conversions that elbow trouble arose. If I had a weeks holiday I needed a fortnight back at work before the tennis elbow disappeared. 
I had first encountered this box years before in a Mercedes rigid (RHD) so it was no respecter of which side it was operated from.
those stupid knockover boxes baffled me , if you were going down the box push to the left and then come right across for low 4th and vice versa . why they persisted with it when eatons and fullers had been using a simple button or switch for years is a puzzle . cheers , dave
Were those gearboxes not called , The ZF Eco-split
Thanks Saviem for sharing your knowledge & experiences, not to mention of course your insight into the industry.
A few points that you have raised in the thread.
Yes the Routiers were a special place & many of us have fond memory’s of them (bye & large)
I always thought that the Leyland Roadtrain had the potential to be a very good vehicle, but of course it would have needed a great deal more improvement.
I and another driver used to drive most of the Demo’s that were often supplied to our company in London on a back to back basis & would fill out extensive reports, but no matter how hard most tried the brown envelope would always arrive from that German outfit and that would be that (went on for years)
For sure there was an anti-French vehicle perception in the UK for many years & I guess a good deal of this was car related at birth as most French cars were a good deal more advanced than the offerings that 60’s/70’s public were used to. This of course was reinforced by your average mechanic who would feel faint if a Citroen rolled into the workshop as they never had a bleeding clue where to start (myself included)
Still things changed (as you know) and once driven (speak for myself) the revelation of just what we had missed for all those years suddenly dawned.
Dodgy Permit’s observation that some of the “reputation” issues may have come from French c*rs holds some water. I have had several Renaults over the years and they have all had horrid gearchanges. In this case, the comparison is valid, judging from the posts above, referring to bad Fuller installations. M. Saviem may know this- when did Berliet/Renault start using their own synchro 'box, the B9/B18? If I remember correctly, the comics hated it.