1970commer:
Everybody listened when Mrs. Knowles spoke Pete, she was very knowledgeable about anything to do with Fodens and knew part numbers off the top of her head, they also took notice of her method of credit control, if you didn’t pay your account then your name went up on the blackboard behind the counter for all the other customers to see.
Oh yes Rob, quite a lady! I went for a part wiring loom for an S80 when I worked at Tilcon and the first thing she said was “Have you brought cash?” Well of course I hadn’t, she pointed to that board and Tilcon were third in the ‘league’ behind RMC and Tarmac! Exit with no loom!
She came into Foden’s works once driving that TK Bedford and the parts ordered were not ready, the language she came out with was enough to make a Docker blush.
A Fuel Tanker Driver smiling , you don’t see that often now, they all look stressed to high-heaven, wondering if the contract will have changed hands again by the time they get back to the Terminal
Hello chaps,
Thoughts on Fodens eh, just thought you might like a couple of pictures of my brothers Foden. She’s just recently had a refurb and she’s looking and driving real nice, she still works 24 hours a day 7 days a week as and when business demands have to be met. Seen regular on the roads around north yorkshire, lancashire and some parts of ■■■■■■■ she’s kept busy with the daily duties of serving the construction industry with aggregates and asphalt, with the 400 cat, jake brake, elephants feet and enough gears to deal with any hill she’s just perfick.
Dan Punchard:
Hi John ,are the letters painted /stencilled on to the mudflaps,if so where did you get them ? Cheers Dan .
Hi Dan, Regarding the Foden mudflaps, he got them made by a chap at Skipton, North Yorkshire. My brother tried to buy some and he couldn’t so after a conversation with somebody he found this chap who could make them and the end result is just right.
john i:
Hello chaps,
Thoughts on Fodens eh, just thought you might like a couple of pictures of my brothers Foden. She’s just recently had a refurb and she’s looking and driving real nice, she still works 24 hours a day 7 days a week as and when business demands have to be met. Seen regular on the roads around north yorkshire, lancashire and some parts of ■■■■■■■ she’s kept busy with the daily duties of serving the construction industry with aggregates and asphalt, with the 400 cat, jake brake, elephants feet and enough gears to deal with any hill she’s just perfick.
Looking at that exploded view of the Foden 12 speed they didn’t change much over the production years. That one is a manual change on the epicyclic whereas later ones were air operated and also had wider track ring and gears with studs and nuts instead of through bolts and nuts on earlier ones. The rear mainshaft nut used to come loose and weld itself to the shaft, cutting it off and ruining the shaft was the only way of dismantling it, the later stronger shafts had a modified nut which held a lot better. The front mainshaft capscrew would come loose as well, plenty of Loctite cured that! On the later 'boxes with the air operated clutch brake on the layshaft the two 7/16th bolts retaining the layshaft front bearing would regularly shear off letting the layshaft drop, never did really cure that problem! Really the box was nearly at its limit with the Gardner engine, the two we had with 220 Rolls engines literally shook the box to pieces with cracked casings being a problem. Rough tipper work didn’t help, the powder tankers had far less problems apart from the PTO which of course could be engaged for up to 2 hours when blowing and bearing wear resulted. The last eight/nine speed (but still 12 speed!) gearboxes had a synchromesh cone on the overdrive section to enable low range to engage easier, the cone wore after a while but usually lasted until overhaul time. We always kept a box built up so that it could be changed in a day, I wonder what happened to all the spare parts that were left on the stores shelves when we went over to Fullers, the scrapman or onto the quarry tip at a guess!
Looking at the picture of the 6LW engine, reminded me how much easier it was to put a “block” on the governor than it was to get it on the 150 which was covered in and sealed.
The joy of the manual 12 speed, sitting there in a false neautral on a hill after changing down, just waiting for it to “drop” into gear and if you had missed the right speed it wouldnt engage and you would slow to a stop merrily reving away and then having to do a hill start. Not good if you were grossing 45 tons with a gardener 150.
Link to an article in CM magazine about the Foden gearbox developed by Foden agent Reg Knowles of Tansley, Matlock. Foden of course were not interested!
windrush:
Is that a Reg Knowles twin headlamp conversion fitted?
Pete.
The twin headlamp set up was fitted when my father purchased the wagon in 1975 by the dealer CTS in Darlington. I was always lead to believe it was a factory conversion.
The original corner panel was used, with additional fibreglass added to provide the new holes.
I needed new headlamps some years ago as the chrome was failing, so I fitted four outer lamps. All four on dip and all four on high beam. No problem seeing in the dark!.. Causes a few issues sat MoT time though…
It will either be a Knowles conversion, or somebodies panel conversion, but unlikely to be a Foden fitment. Reg developed a separate circular panel as a ‘bolt on’ extra because those large 11 inch headlamps were hopeless, he offered it to Foden but they (as normal!) ignored him and carried on as usual. Same with the Knowles gearbox he developed, fantastic but again Foden’s were not interested. One of the reasons why he later gave up with Foden and changed to selling Fiats, their people actually listened to the folk who used them and acted on it according to Reg!
Pete.
The headlamps were fitted by the dealer CTS in Darlington.
Original corner panels remained, big holes filled in. Four new holes cut and S39 headlamp units drawn from the stores and fitted.
I am very lucky that my wagon is still “maintained” by the man who looked after it when purchased…
Hi Folks,
I’ve got a picture of the white 8 wheeler Foden on here and we have a few spare pairs of the Foden mudflaps that feature hanging from the front bumper, if anybody is looking for some, pm me if you are interested.
Evening all, just a few random thoughts on the lorries I loved driving, that came to me when confronted by some members of the “public” seeking to find a “sat nav” way to the M6, following the V Festival…that bought them face to face on a 9ft wide lane to our farm, with four John Deere`s and trailers full of grain…(before the rain came)!!
The minutes of chaos that followed took my thoughts back to the late 70s, when Sandbach had probably, (far too late), arrived at the right spec for the market with the Fleetmaster…but do you remember their advertisments? Drawings of “custom” Fleetmasters, with prominent TIR plates, showing rather non standard short wheelbases, and the glaring mistake…8 stud front wheels!!! Could have saved the cost of the salaries in their marketing department…sack em!! (That is a future for us in France if we had made the same mistake)!
Then there was the 2European" support map…Brown for parts stockholding…only two…Yellow for Dealers, one each for France, Portugal Spain,Italy, and one Balkan one…then the purple bits…everywhere…component supplier facilities…Ye Gods, who was the idiot responsible for this farcical “support” plan??
But of course some Fodens did go overseas, I remember the S40 8x4 concrete mixers in Belgium, (and the earlier 8LW 8x4s). Then there was the Low Line 8x4 Crane Chassis operated by the Sapeurs Pompiers de Paris, ( Paris fire brigade), from Voluceau, near Versailles . Fitted with a K406T 35 tonne Demag crane she ran right up until the late 90s, early 2000s. All her “bits” were carried on a SaviemSG4. Wonderfull piece of kit, loved by her operators, but I think the only one sold in France.
Funny how these idle thoughts creep into your mind…maybe I should be gratefull for the V Festival…perhaos not!
, you don’t see that often now, they all look stressed to high-heaven, wondering if the contract will have changed hands again by the time they get back to the Terminal 
