apologies for a couple of daft questions, but hoping someone out there can help me with some information…
I have an old (1987) MAN VW 8.136 horsebox. Can anyone point me in the direction of anywhere I might be able to get any manuals or service information? Ebay searches etc aren’t turning anything up, do I need to just keep looking? Is there any kind of owners club?
Secondly…it has a tilt cab, one of the reasons I bought it, BUT with the truck having stood unused for about 12 months, I now can’t get the damned thing to tilt to check the amount of welding I might have to do for the mot… I’m not sure if the catches have just seized on, or whether there is some arcane sequence I need to release things in, and I want to make sure I’m not missing any kind of step before I start applying force and break something.
There’s a pull-catch behind the cab - it moves, but even at the full extent of pulling it nothing seems to release. There is also an ‘L shaped’ lever in the middle of the cab bulkhead, between the driver and passenger seats. It’ll move through about 45 degrees, but, again, nothing is releasing when I move it. The previous owner didn’t know how to tilt the cab herself, so didn’t give me any information on how it’s done.
apologies for a couple of daft questions, but hoping someone out there can help me with some information…
I have an old (1987) MAN VW 8.136 horsebox. Can anyone point me in the direction of anywhere I might be able to get any manuals or service information? Ebay searches etc aren’t turning anything up, do I need to just keep looking? Is there any kind of owners club?
Secondly…it has a tilt cab, one of the reasons I bought it, BUT with the truck having stood unused for about 12 months, I now can’t get the damned thing to tilt to check the amount of welding I might have to do for the mot… I’m not sure if the catches have just seized on, or whether there is some arcane sequence I need to release things in, and I want to make sure I’m not missing any kind of step before I start applying force and break something.
There’s a pull-catch behind the cab - it moves, but even at the full extent of pulling it nothing seems to release. There is also an ‘L shaped’ lever in the middle of the cab bulkhead, between the driver and passenger seats. It’ll move through about 45 degrees, but, again, nothing is releasing when I move it. The previous owner didn’t know how to tilt the cab herself, so didn’t give me any information on how it’s done.
Anyone familiar with them and can help me?
Thanks
Hi Stuart,
The ‘L’ shaped lever and spring loaded mechanism you described reminds me of the cab tilt method on an old Ford D series.
Maybe you could post a couple of pics to help us help you?
For now, my guess is that you try to get the 'L shaped lever to be completely vertical, then unscrew it in the normal fashion until it feels disconnected from its threads.
Then go outside the cab and hold the spring loaded mechanism in the retracted position, whilst simultaneously trying to lift the cab manually from the back.
You may need assistance from a second person for this.
Please be aware that if this works… the check strap might have failed which could result in the cab head-butting the floor if it’s not tilted with care on the first attempt.
If somebody can get an owners manual that’s in German, I can read and translate it.
The link provided by [zb] anorak above is a new owner of a 1982 MAN 8.136 camper who’s speaking about a problem with diesel running back and him needing to use the hand primer to get it to be startable after the vehicle has stood for a couple of days.
dieseldave:
The link provided by [zb] anorak above is a new owner of a 1982 MAN 8.136 camper who’s speaking about a problem with diesel running back and him needing to use the hand primer to get it to be startable after the vehicle has stood for a couple of days.
Sorry lads, I thought it was a generic 8.136 thread. Shoulda read it, I suppose. I bet there is a such a thing, somewhere. I would not be surprised if there was an MAN/VW light trucks owners’ club, somewhere in Europe or South America.
Maybe the pictures will jog the memory of when I used to work on the things, but it was a long time ago. I have a nagging feeling that similar to other lorries of the period there was something else which had to be done before releasing the two catches, like rotating the D series gear lever or disconnecting the steering U/J on the Terrier. Like all of the systems the lever in the cab must be released first otherwise the cab can jam. This morphed into the MAN G90 around about the date of your vehicle. This lorry had several incarnations and model names so have a good look around since IIRC some were hydraulically tilted.
cav551:
Maybe the pictures will jog the memory of when I used to work on the things, but it was a long time ago. I have a nagging feeling that similar to other lorries of the period there was something else which had to be done before releasing the two catches, like rotating the D series gear lever or disconnecting the steering U/J on the Terrier. Like all of the systems the lever in the cab must be released first otherwise the cab can jam. This morphed into the MAN G90 around about the date of your vehicle. This lorry had several incarnations and model names so have a good look around since IIRC some were hydraulically tilted.
That’s a very fair point cav551, I’d completely forgotten about rotating the gear lever on the D series, so I’m now sharing your nagging feeling.
I might be a bit bold suggesting this, but did you contact your local MAN workshop? Surely there’s still some knowledge with the older fitters how to tilt that cab…
I might be a bit bold suggesting this, but did you contact your local MAN workshop? Surely there’s still some knowledge with the older fitters how to tilt that cab…
Another one showing where it hooks into the clamp…probably. Taken with my arm extended holding the camera, as there’s an angled panel between the body and the back of the cab, otherwise I’d have already shimmied in there for a better look.
[album]5386[/album]
The lever inside the cab, showing the position on the rear cab bulkhead between the seats
[album]5387[/album]
Smack in the middle, it’s surely connected to the release mechanism
Two showing the range of movement up and down:
[album]5388[/album]
[album]5389[/album]
It won’t pull out or push in, just rotates through the arc shown. It’s…pretty solid at each end of the arc. I’ve applied a reasonable amount of force, not enough to risk breakage but I’d have thought it would have shifted it if it was just stuck/corroded.
I’ve been randomly trying stuff like putting it in each gear and seeing if that affects how much the lever moves…it’s like there’s some interlock that I’m missing? I’ve also tried pulling the lever behind the cab whilst trying to rotate the inner lever, haven’t had any success with that either.
I’m going to message the guy on the overlander forum linked above, as soon as my membership of that forum gets approved…
The forum looks good- blokes sharing information for the benefit of each other. On the other hand, that adturtle site looks whiffy to me- make sure your virus scanner is on its toes!
Having done a bit of research including ringing an ex henchman who used to work on these more regularly than I did, hopefully the following will reslove the problem.
As I said it is common to get these manual tilt cabs jammed so to begin with let us assume that it is jammed on half ■■■■. Get in the cab, shut the doors and repeatedly sit down as heavily as possible, if it is jammed then there should be a feeling that it has locked down again. Dave reckoned that the lever in the cab has to be rotated clockwise until it is vertical. Then get out and pull the lever behind the cab and while still pulling it lift the cab. All these cabs are heavy so it is easier if you leave the driver’s door open. You may even have to have both doors open. Do have a look to see that the A post and the doors are not so rotten that a door will wrap around the windscreen. It is possible however that he and I are both wrong and the lever needs to be pointing to the offside.
If the cab still will not tilt then either the locking mechanism is deranged or the hinges at the front are seized. It was certainly not unknown to be forced to unbolt the entire rear cab mounting cross member to attend to a seized mechanism.
I have made one assumption from the word go. The lorry does not have a luton and the cab has therefore been bolted down.
