pete smith:
Derf:
Great little truck to stick lads on their first ever driving job in… Tell them to move it around the yard then watch their face when they try to turn it off.Did’nt you have to press exhaust brake?
Yes to turn the engine off you had to press the exhaust brake . Well the button that controlled the non existent exhaust brake !Tony
jerry truckartist:
HI
Mercedes definitely raised the bar when the 814 was launched, it was vastly better than anything else on the market, Felt like a proper truckJerry
After years in a TK or D series driving an 814 or 1114 felt like you’d gone forward a century. Great wagons, comfy, quiet, good and accurate steering, good visibility and not only fast but actually kept going up hills instead of running out of breath - even with 4T on the back an 814 would leave any Cargo or Roadrunner for dead on a hill. My only niggle was the front springs were a bit too soft which meant they dived a lot on heavy braking.
Brings back memories. A mate and I drove the AS Taylor 814 to Zhukovka, where many of the orphans from Chernobyl were evacuated to, in July 1995. We had decided to take about 8t of donated goods but only had one 7.5 tonner. We asked Alan and he lent us the vehicle for two weeks and also helped us with ferries, paperwork etc. Fantastic little lorry and a top bloke.
There is an E reg sleeper cab local to me still running, ex- Woodwards IIR, got a beaver tail body and is used onj light recovery and taking his bangers to Hednesford raceway at the weekend
