Yes I remember as a small boy going in a Sed Atk 400 back in 1981 and seeing bits of rags hanging from
the mirror arms.
We’re they very effective though?
ERF ECX:
Yes I remember as a small boy going in a Sed Atk 400 back in 1981 and seeing bits of rags hanging from
the mirror arms.
We’re they very effective though?
Not Hi-tech but they did work if positioned right.
Yep, I used to have them hanging from my D Series Ford & the washing up bottle !
Even got a washing up bottle full of water in my 13 plate MAN now, after last year when the washers Froze Up.
The Sqezy bottle was a great improvement on stopping in every lay-by although over 40mph the Bedford S-type would send a stream of water straight back up your sleeve. And I was a fan of the strips of rag on the mirrors until I ran out of shirts!
Retired Old ■■■■:
The Sqezy bottle was a great improvement on stopping in every lay-by although over 40mph the Bedford S-type would send a stream of water straight back up your sleeve. And I was a fan of the strips of rag on the mirrors until I ran out of shirts!
So you kept driving until you were naked ■■
I never liked steering wheel knobs the clamp used to destroy the wheel…
I still carry a bottle of soapy water with me in the car, old habits die hard…
Jeff…
Never used the rags , but i had the rubber strip around the wheel nuts to keep most of the dirt inside the wheel , had the only truck make fitted as standard with heated mirrors in the 1970`s …a Volvo , what about the Ergomatic cab ! no washers and the worst for dirt on the windows and the small mirrors , stopping a lot to clean 
sammyopisite:
altitude:
Suedehead:
Can remember the bits of rag on the mirror arms along with can holders but “heated bunks”. . never.I remember the rags as well, but I’m struggling with the…" heated bunks "
I will jog your memory you usually kicked her out the next morning
cheers Johnnie
Ah now I remember 
thanks Johnnie 
I can remember the long and short sticks in the cab. The long one with a ball of rag on the end to demist the nearside windscreen and the short one to wedge the throttle pedal down, deactivated by a quick kick with the boot.
Phil.
Numbum:
I can remember the long and short sticks in the cab. The long one with a ball of rag on the end to demist the nearside windscreen and the short one to wedge the throttle pedal down, deactivated by a quick kick with the boot.
Phil.
hi there numbum
I also used a brush handle on the throttle pedal of a gardner 150 powered ERF it seemed a long way from leeds to rugby and back at 39MPH,this was the MK1 cruise control.
regards
sm1
snowman1:
Numbum:
I can remember the long and short sticks in the cab. The long one with a ball of rag on the end to demist the nearside windscreen and the short one to wedge the throttle pedal down, deactivated by a quick kick with the boot.
Phil.hi there numbum
I also used a brush handle on the throttle pedal of a gardner 150 powered ERF it seemed a long way from leeds to rugby and back at 39MPH,this was the MK1 cruise control.
regards
sm1
Hello snowman,had 150 gardner ERF in the early 70s whilst at N.I.T. Bet you remember freezing in winter, frying in summer,seem to remember a little flap by the pedals for ventilation.Accelerator felt like it burning a hole in your boot when you thought (wrongly) that you could get it up to 40 MPH
regards ardennes
The first job when getting a “new” vehicle was to cut a cruise control from one of the workshop’s broom handles. And the hot/cold thing- Mk2 8-wheeler Atki on a really hot afternoon fighting my way back through London. Stopped at Heston services and took both doors off, roping them on top of the load. It was brilliant for about five miles, then plod decided he didn’t like my version of air conditioning and made me put them back on.
On some of the trucks when the screen wiper linkage was badly worn they practically wiped the mirrors anyway. 
My Sed Ak 400 had a Foden S80/Bedford KM mirror arm fitted on the nearside facing forward so that (like the S80) I viewed the mirror through the windscreen, never ever needed to clean that as the airflow across the cab did it for me.
Pete.
I had the strips of cloth on the mirrors, but when I drove a D Series Ford I had to have a piece of string tied to the wiper blade as it would go over the edge and jam, then the fuse blew. If you were quick you could free the wiper before it blew the electrics.
The other thing with the D series was the linkages used to pop off
Just a final word on the steering wheel saga.I have an elderly (1990) Kon tiki camper van. No power steering.Fitted a knob and now I can almost turn right from a standing start without shunting! Regards Charlie
charlie one:
Fitted a knob and now I can almost turn right from a standing start
This one’s on ebay now, if you’re quick…! Robert
Had to smile to myself with all this memory jogging of rags tied on mirrors, metal crates strung onto mirror arms to keep your drinks cool in the summer etc etc I was trawling through some of my old Commercial Motor mags the other day and come across this advert from February 1966. It was meant as a joke at the time, unbelievable that all these accessories have now come to fruition except maybe the ‘Thumbs up arm’
Never used rags, always kept a squeezy bottle of water in the side pocket and a rubber squeegee for perfect reflection of me ugly mug.
Nowadays it’s a spray bottle of water instead, but still the old trusty squeegee for that final finish…if the weather turns really cold the squeezy bottle comes out to play again.
When the washers packed up on my old cars i used to simply plug the washer pipe into a squeezy bottle for a permanent repair.
Do you remember screwing on aftermarket wind deflectors onto the front corners of the cab in an attempt to speed up the airflow round the sides to stop the muck being thrown up quite so badly.
Still got a clean windows/mirrors fetish to this day, bloody hate trying to drive peering through layers of crud.
gardnersmoke:
Had to smile to myself with all this memory jogging of rags tied on mirrors, metal crates strung onto mirror arms to keep your drinks cool in the summer etc etc I was trawling through some of my old Commercial Motor mags the other day and come across this advert from February 1966. It was meant as a joke at the time, unbelievable that all these accessories have now come to fruition except maybe the ‘Thumbs up arm’
That’ll be the Friendly Coffee Bean Wave or the Middle Finger Swivel Arm now.