Tubbysboy:
I really don’t understand the fascination with the twin split boxes, imho it was an awful box to drive mated to whatever engine,
13 speed fullers did the same job but much easier, at least as far as I could see,
Much as I loved the Twin-splitter Yes, the Fuller 13-speed was even better but the only reason I fell in love with the TS was that by the late '90s it was the next best thing, and you couldn’t find lorries with Fullers any more. 'Bunny hopping was a sure way of avoiding the false neutrals but it was fiddle unless you only drove Twin-splitters every day. And yes, right again, Twin-splitters were a bit tricky until they had warmed up on cold mornings. My personal order of choice would be: 9-speed Fuller, 13-speed Fuller then Twin-splitter (and I’ve a strong suspicion that the 18-speed Fuller would go near the top somewhere if I ever used one). Cheers! Robert
Which seems to be more or less confirmed by real world history.IE the twin splitter was an attempt to solve a non existent problem and fix something which was never broke.
M&C steve:
" I drove twin splits in ivecos, seddon atkinson, fodens, and mans, and not wanting to sound like an idiot I could never get them singing like you could a fuller 9/13 speed…".
Danny, whilst i understand what you are saying and somewhat agree with you mate, you personally had one major problem with the TS boxes, that being that one had to almost fully release the throttle to get enough slack in the transmission for the gearbox to ‘sense’ it and change gear, taking your foot off of the throttle was something your dear father Tubby obviously never taught you…
SteveBC…
You may have a point, however I feel it may have been down to religious maintaince schedule that the strato was given… If you remember it was Wallys to start off with and was cared for greatly by myself after that… Odd to think that it weren’t very reliable !!!
Mind you it did have a good “jazzer” not a cheap one as of course you supplied it
it all depends on the work that the lorry did . i live in buxton and whichever way you go except north on the a6 you are faced with hills . the twin splitter was far superior to the 9 or 13 speed fullers in that particular situation , the rapid up and downshifts made the job much easier for us bearing in mind that we were driving 290 , or at best 320 ■■■■■■■ at that time . later on when the m11 ■■■■■■■ came on the scene it was still the best gearbox for our area . dave
Carryfast:
Which seems to be more or less confirmed by real world history.IE the twin splitter was an attempt to solve a non existent problem and fix something which was never broke.
Iam just about to order a Tso from smiths when a flyer comes in the post from another reconditioner I notice that a tso11612 is £ 1150 quite good really along side the eaton 16 speeds which range from £1695 to £2750 but the tso 13612 is £1350 for a Foden but for a sad accident is £1150 for the 11 or 13 torque . The 11 series for a Leyland daf is £1350 ,seams a bit odd ?
I had a ERF twin splitter 12 speed,365 ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ to change,useing yr revs to change gear,sumtimes id miss a few to change down,Norman croad,Torquay,
If we leave Europe, does that mean we can have the Twin-splitter back ? It was new Euro decibel regs that killed off the fitting of Twin-splitters back in the late 2000s ! Robert
Did a day on a daf95 yesterday with worn linkage as if a Zf or should I say zb 16 speed isn’t bad enough to start with ! Looking like having my old ts box done up if a good second hand can’t be found .
robert1952:
If we leave Europe, does that mean we can have the Twin-splitter back ? It was new Euro decibel regs that killed off the fitting of Twin-splitters back in the late 2000s ! Robert
I doubt if 50% of todays drivers could use one, I suppose if they were regular drivers they would be fine and adapt but I remember when we had ERF’s and had to hire a driver for the day it was like “name that tune” going out of the yard.
robert1952:
If we leave Europe, does that mean we can have the Twin-splitter back ? It was new Euro decibel regs that killed off the fitting of Twin-splitters back in the late 2000s ! Robert
I doubt if 50% of todays drivers could use one, I suppose if they were regular drivers they would be fine and adapt but I remember when we had ERF’s and had to hire a driver for the day it was like “name that tune” going out of the yard.
robert1952:
It was new Euro decibel regs that killed off the fitting of Twin-splitters back in the late 2000s ! Robert
No it was not, just not enough customers. Sisu still uses Fuller, DAF can be had with same 18 sp, I think they dont have straight cut gears anymore.
Yes it was: the Twin-splitter was too noisy for Euro 3 regs. However, it was in the late '90s not the late 2000s as I stated. I wrote a piece for T&D magazine at the time. The 18-speed Fuller you mentioned is a much newer, more modern 'box and I believe it is more compliant with the EU regs and I think Foden carried on fitting them after the demise of the Twin-splitter here. Robert
robert1952:
It was new Euro decibel regs that killed off the fitting of Twin-splitters back in the late 2000s ! Robert
No it was not, just not enough customers. Sisu still uses Fuller, DAF can be had with same 18 sp, I think they dont have straight cut gears anymore.
Yes it was. However, it was in the late '90s not the late 2000s as I stated. I wrote a piece for T&D magazine at the time. The 18-speed Fuller you mentioned is a much newer, more modern 'box and I believe it is more compliant with the EU regs and I think Foden carried on fitting them after the demise of the Twin-splitter here. Robert
Your spot on Robert we were big twinsplitter users with all ERF E and EC series being fitted with them unfortunately they were discontinued due to EU noise emissions
The last lorry to be fitted with the twinsplitter was a SA Stratocruiser owned by an owner driver from the Cornwall/Devon
Punchy Dan:
I spoke to H l smith this week ,they say they can’t any longer get the Austin beech valves and don’t stock a ts so they can only offer to mend yours .
Panic over found 2 valves and one gasket into the stores .
? It was new Euro decibel regs that killed off the fitting of Twin-splitters back in the late 2000s 
! Robert