I wonder who this absolute “no hoper” Carryfast actually is…
One thing for certain , he a`int never done anything like as much as most of the members on here have…
PLONKER…in the parlance of my dear West Midlands…
Cheerio for now.
Hiya…take a copy for me please Robert i’ll be at Llandudno…i’ll speak with you their.
John
3300John:
Hiya…take a copy for me please Robert i’ll be at Llandudno…i’ll speak with you their.
John
I’ll be at Truckfest, John, not Llandudno. But the REVS trailer will be at Llandudno and they will be selling copies there. Cheers, Robert
robert1952:
[zb]
anorak:
Was the MP Mk5 cab’s first home the Foden Universal, which was mentioned in this last week, somewhere on these threads? The Fleetmaster and Haulmaster were launched in 1979, IIRC. Either way, Mr. Taylor is talking out of his advert- the catalyst for the improvements in GB lorry cabs was the customer’s demands, as usual, and the catalyst for that change was the European makers. That is where the innovation came from.I think 1979 saw the later S10 version of the same cab - a squarer-looking thing. Robert
The S10 was an in-house Foden product, which used fibreglass and the odd bit of other stuff in its construction. This brings me onto a possible answer to the following questions:
Why was the 7MW developed at all, when the SP was coming to production about the same time?
Why was the NGC LHD only (if it was. Sorry if that is wrong!)?
Why was the NGC, initially, only offered to Euro customers?
I have a very flaky memory that someone (Tiptop495, possibly) mentioned that there was some legislation, somewhere in Europe, at some time in history, that forbade the use of composite (fibreglass etc.) panels in cabs. This may have been due to fire resistance, if not crash protection. I told you it was a flaky memory! I know that the SP was eventually ERF’s European cab (as the S10 was Foden’s) but, during its gestation, there may have been a strong enough fear that it would be legislated out.
If that contributor with that knowledge of that legislation reads this post, the reason for the 7MW’s being might be known.
[zb]
anorak:robert1952:
[zb]
anorak:
Was the MP Mk5 cab’s first home the Foden Universal, which was mentioned in this last week, somewhere on these threads? The Fleetmaster and Haulmaster were launched in 1979, IIRC. Either way, Mr. Taylor is talking out of his advert- the catalyst for the improvements in GB lorry cabs was the customer’s demands, as usual, and the catalyst for that change was the European makers. That is where the innovation came from.I think 1979 saw the later S10 version of the same cab - a squarer-looking thing. Robert
The S10 was an in-house Foden product, which used fibreglass and the odd bit of other stuff in its construction. This brings me onto a possible answer to the following questions:
Why was the 7MW developed at all, when the SP was coming to production about the same time?
Why was the NGC LHD only (if it was. Sorry if that is wrong!)?
Why was the NGC, initially, only offered to Euro customers?I have a very flaky memory that someone (Tiptop495, possibly) mentioned that there was some legislation, somewhere in Europe, at some time in history, that forbade the use of composite (fibreglass etc.) panels in cabs. This may have been due to fire resistance, if not crash protection. I told you it was a flaky memory! I know that the SP was eventually ERF’s European cab (as the S10 was Foden’s) but, during its gestation, there may have been a strong enough fear that it would be legislated out.
If that contributor with that knowledge of that legislation reads this post, the reason for the 7MW’s being might be known.
It was me, I think. I don’t remember anyone else referring to it. Very early in this thread (and again in Lorries of Arabia)I mentioned that ‘one of the main reasons for ERF producing metal rather than GRP export cabs was probably a general foreign mistrust of plastic cab-shells. Germany, in particular, outlawed such cabs, and with Britain just entering the EEC it seems likely that ERF saw Germany as much too large a country to ignore.’
And yes, they were all LHD. Robert
ERF-Continental:
From page 5 of this thread:I have been told (perhaps tippers etc were not involved) that plastic (so LV) was not allowed
to enter for example Germany, due to some worries with electrical devices as well as safety
(collisions) in general. In 1975 that ‘problem’ was no longer an issue as I then often joined trips
with an ERF-B towards Germany.
In addition, bear in mind that plastic (GRP etc) is very sensitive when it comes to its form in
conditions below zero, that being a reason (despite the good results with tests on collisions, as
the swing-test/hammer and other relevant ones) ERF’s were not sold in Scandinavian-countries?
ERF-Continental:
ERF-Continental:
From page 5 of this thread:I have been told (perhaps tippers etc were not involved) that plastic (so LV) was not allowed
to enter for example Germany, due to some worries with electrical devices as well as safety
(collisions) in general. In 1975 that ‘problem’ was no longer an issue as I then often joined trips
with an ERF-B towards Germany.In addition, bear in mind that plastic (GRP etc) is very sensitive when it comes to its form in
conditions below zero, that being a reason (despite the good results with tests on collisions, as
the swing-test/hammer and other relevant ones) ERF’s were not sold in Scandinavian-countries?
Just to add to your comment, A-J; ERF drivers have often reported that the plastic cabs are too cold in winter and too hot in summer. Personally, I don’t remember it being a problem, but when I looked through my old log I noticed I only ever drove plastic-cabbed ERFs in temperate seasons and climates so I wouldn’t know! Robert
Hiya some questions answer themselves…the EU banned fibre glass cabs from 1 Jan 1978 i think. ERF started work
on the SP (b series cab) but didn’t know the crash test results to present to the EU… ERF was using MP cabs really as
a fall back… if the SP didn’t work there was the MP cab sort of tried and tested…the MW range was pottering along
merrily as we know as the 5mw. it was then that the GUY big J cab and Seddon 13.4 stopped production Seddon Atkinson
are now using the new SA cab. the big J was replaced with the Constructor, the only MP cab really on sale was
the Foden S range…ERF are not going with that cab…ERF and Foden had split years earlier, Leyland are not going to let
ERF have there new fangle constructor(which was the best resulted wind tested lorry cab) ( now look at the FH compared
with the constructor similar) so the Crusader which was on the books for the military and would be around for a while
was the cab to use on the 7MW…by now the B series was tested and selling well so why keep doing the MW lets get on with
the C series and sell some more lorries.does that make sense
John
Hiya years ago when ERF was using garner engine that run cool there wasn’t a big enough flow thought the
heater matrix (which was learned with the F88 big heated pipes)to warm the very Drafty Cabs, in summer
the drafts was hot drafts plus the heat off the engine with no insulation = very hot, this was the LV range
the B series cab was much better insulation and of corse no bonnet to open stopped the engine heat getting
into the cab. another problem with the Gardner engine the Exhaust manifold was on the drivers side so up till
the 4LV cab there was only the sheet steel(known as tin) between your leg and the hot manifold on RHD lorries.
John
3300John:
the EU banned fibre glass cabs from 1 Jan 1978 i think.
John
John, might that have been 1968 rather than 1978? It sort of makes more sense. Also, that was just when Germany was preparing to introduce its new 8bhp: tonne power-to-weight ratio (and no doubt the rest of Europe was poised to follow suit eventually). Otherwise ERF could have marched into Germany with its 350-powered lightweight B-series and cleaned up @ 10bhp: tonne! Willi Betz would have ordered 5000 and we would all have lived happily ever after! 
Robert
robert1952:
ERF-Continental:
ERF-Continental:
From page 5 of this thread:I have been told (perhaps tippers etc were not involved) that plastic (so LV) was not allowed
to enter for example Germany, due to some worries with electrical devices as well as safety
(collisions) in general. In 1975 that ‘problem’ was no longer an issue as I then often joined trips
with an ERF-B towards Germany.In addition, bear in mind that plastic (GRP etc) is very sensitive when it comes to its form in
conditions below zero, that being a reason (despite the good results with tests on collisions, as
the swing-test/hammer and other relevant ones) ERF’s were not sold in Scandinavian-countries?Just to add to your comment, A-J; ERF drivers have often reported that the plastic cabs are too cold in winter and too hot in summer. Personally, I don’t remember it being a problem, but when I looked through my old log I noticed I only ever drove plastic-cabbed ERFs in temperate seasons and climates so I wouldn’t know! Robert
I was more thinking of the physical data on plastic in general and grp in specific, which at low temperatures
will be a brittle/fragile material. That being the reason that a slight touch of an object would cause severe
cracks in winter or even worse breakage. As an example your picture of Van Steenbergen’s B-series #45 on
page one of that thread missing a big part of the wheelcase-side under the door.
Hiya… No Robert i had a Ex jones A series PRF298L which had been running continental tank work, Harrison,s bought her at
6 years old when Jones brought her back to the UK because of this new law. she was well tweaked 8lxb as he was running
at 36 tons gross when legal more on some occasions i ve been told. she was a re build after tipping over and had a new chassis
and cab with sleeper.
John
3300John:
Hiya… No Robert i had a Ex jones A series PRF298L which had been running continental tank work, Harrison,s bought her at
6 years old when Jones brought her back to the UK because of this new law. she was well tweaked 8lxb as he was running
at 36 tons gross when legal more on some occasions i ve been told. she was a re build after tipping over and had a new chassis
and cab with sleeper.
John
OK John: your maths works perfectly! 
Robert
Meanwhile, should you find yourself parked up in het mooiste plein in Utrecht with an unladen ERF, look no further than this cafe! Robert
Hey Robert…you know your classics on having a pERFect pause
ERF in Dutch is like a yard, so the place around a farm to place
trailers and having chickens and gooses finding their snacks
ERF-Continental:
Hey Robert…you know your classics on having a pERFect pauseERF in Dutch is like a yard, so the place around a farm to place
trailers and having chickens and gooses finding their snacks
A pERFect venue for the Nederlandse REVS vereniging! Robert
If the EU banned fibreglass cabs, how did the B series get in? Did its steel frame satisfy some structural criterion, or something?
[zb]
anorak:
If the EU banned fibreglass cabs, how did the B series get in? Did its steel frame satisfy some structural criterion, or something?
John3300 came up with the answer to your question in this nugget he posted back in 2010! See below. Robert
3300John » Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:58 pm
Fodenway i agree with s39 Foden fibre glass cabs one peice but needed more refining. you see in 1978 europe banned fibreglass cabs that why erf
started using injection moulded plastic glued onto a steel frame for the B series.
John
3300John
We never did show conclusively that this lorry was operated by Comart (or even one of its subbies). The trailer is believed to be an MJL one - can anyone remember what MJL stood for? Perhaps 
the ERF was operated by MJL…
It seems MJL was an international French company based in Tourcoing with an office in London, that was eventually absorbed by Giraud in the '90s. But I can’t find any real history that might lead us to this NGC. It is possible that this unit was French, not English. Robert
I know this is the wrong thread, but I’m not too bright and I’m on my phone and me minces ain’t as good as they used to be and I got dizzy trying to find a more suitable thread, but it’s an ERF and I think it deserves a spot on the forum, if somebody with more patience and better sight could put it on the correct thread that would be great.
