ERF-NGC-European:
Exhaust brakes were an awful lot better than people made them out to be, if you bothered to gear down. An ‘exhauster’ would take you, laden, down steep hills without recourse to the service brakes if you engaged a low enough gear. True, they weren’t as good as Jakes or today’s engine brakes, but they were certainly effective.
As for trailer brakes operated from the dashboard, they were a god-send in difficult terrain and adverse weather. I reckon the sole reason for their demise was nothing to do with safety and everything to do with loud voices from the trailer rental sector putting the kybosh on drivers abusing the mechanism to save wear and tear on their tractive units. Robert
Morning Robert, Had to have a look at my birth certificate to check my age ref exhaust brakes, what did they think that button on the floor was for ■■? diping the lights
Think you are right about the rental companies and i could never fully understand why we came away from 3 line air.
Remember the 14 litre ■■■■■■■ 290 in the right gear ( twin splitter ) could come down most hills on the exhaust brake but they became less efficient as the euro stages were introduced untill all they did was make a noise. Harvey.
True. The E-series ERF fell into that category and was good. The 14-litre Fiat/Iveco Euro 1 connected to a Twin-splitter was very good with an exhauster too - again, only if you geared right down (that was in a Eurostar). Robert
I had a 1418Merc for years the service brakes were dire !! But the exhaust brake also worked on the trailer, that was the only good thing about the bloody teutonic monstrosity I did a lot of work to South Wales at that time and crawling down Black Rock towards Abergavenny in low gear and constant use of the exhaust brake was the only option stopping at the roundabout at the bottom was still a lottery , I always prayed that the cafe car park had room to divert into if the traffic was heavy. Regards Kev.
kevmac47:
I had a 1418Merc for years the service brakes were dire !! But the exhaust brake also worked on the trailer, that was the only good thing about the bloody teutonic monstrosity I did a lot of work to South Wales at that time and crawling down Black Rock towards Abergavenny in low gear and constant use of the exhaust brake was the only option stopping at the roundabout at the bottom was still a lottery , I always prayed that the cafe car park had room to divert into if the traffic was heavy. Regards Kev.
I think that is a brilliant idea, exhaust brake operating the trailer too, taking some of the risk out of locking up and jack-knifing. I did think about it myself in my early days with exhaust brakes (nowhere near as early as some, I now see ) but had no idea that someone had already thought of it.
Caught sight of this the other day near Chalons sur Saone, 2 questions though, how does he get away with the length of it and, I read that the US won’t import Euro trucks less than 15 years old, does the same thing apply in the other direction?
Ref Exhaust and trailer brakes.
Jimmy Hares first two Scania 110s both had steering column mounted trailer brake levers.
The first one on UVP 40H was beautifully progressive and used in conjunction with the exhaust brake was a very useful device.
On the 2nd 110 however it was either on,or off, whether by design or not i cannot say. It did however render it somewhat less useful.
Incidentally, and this is not a criticism, i was once admonished for referring to a exhaust brake as a ‘exhauster’ , as that device was designed to create a vacuum on vacuum assisted brake systems. I should have known better having spent my early years at work ,working on,and driving buses fitted with just such systems.
Another memory stirred up by this subject harks back to the AEC Mammoth Majors that James Hare ran. It was possible, with a bit of practice, to speed up quite significantly the act of changing gear upwards. After moving the gear lever,say from 2nd and releasing the clutch , a quick stab on the exhaust brake button, in this case mounted on the floor in front of the seat, would slow the engine revs instantly allowing 3rd to be engaged quicker than normal.
Useful when a gradient began to level out.
Spardo:
Caught sight of this the other day near Chalons sur Saone, 2 questions though, how does he get away with the length of it and, I read that the US won’t import Euro trucks less than 15 years old, does the same thing apply in the other direction?
That KW would not seem to qualify, would it?
0
Dunno about that particular unit, but that is a 12m ISO container so the unit could legally be longer than a normal euro unit and still be within the 16.5m artic limit. Seen a few of those double drive US units pulling liquid tanks around. Have you seen those imported units etc near the A75 Issoire airfield?
Spardo:
Caught sight of this the other day near Chalons sur Saone, 2 questions though, how does he get away with the length of it and, I read that the US won’t import Euro trucks less than 15 years old, does the same thing apply in the other direction?
That KW would not seem to qualify, would it?
0
Dunno about that particular unit, but that is a 12m ISO container so the unit could legally be longer than a normal euro unit and still be within the 16.5m artic limit. Seen a few of those double drive US units pulling liquid tanks around. Have you seen those imported units etc near the A75 Issoire airfield?
Yes, it is difficult to see from that angle exactly how long the sleeper is but I did post a picture some months ago of an COE Aerodyne which definitely looked longer to me. And to him too perhaps, because he had a Convoi Exceptionnel board across the back of the curtainsider.
Tankers are generally shorter so easier to accommodate I would have thought.
I have seen those imports before, but it was a very long time ago, I came to Issoire the other week for the first time in ages but I was hungry and concentrating on finding Chapeau Rouge.
@Pyewackit. I too was corrected many years ago on exhaust/exhauster terminology but as you say no criticism. I know trailer brakes have been around in my experience longer than exhaust brakes and we used to call them ‘Dead Man’s Handles’ in those days. Again, wrong terminology because strictly speaking that is something else and more to do with rail than road freight.
kevmac47:
I had a 1418Merc for years the service brakes were dire !! But the exhaust brake also worked on the trailer, that was the only good thing about the bloody teutonic monstrosity I did a lot of work to South Wales at that time and crawling down Black Rock towards Abergavenny in low gear and constant use of the exhaust brake was the only option stopping at the roundabout at the bottom was still a lottery , I always prayed that the cafe car park had room to divert into if the traffic was heavy. Regards Kev.
Don’t get it: how can an exhaust-brake possibly work on a trailer? Robert
The exhaust brakes on our Rolls engined ones were OK, not brilliant, but many I drove had the foot button clogged up with ■■■■ as their drivers never used them anyway. I kept mine clean and lubricated and used it all the time, a shame that our two ■■■■■■■ 250 engined ones had to have them disconnected from new though. The pair of ■■■■■■■ L10 engined Foden six wheelers I drove later had them ‘chopped off’ as well, a shame.
kevmac47:
I had a 1418Merc for years the service brakes were dire !! But the exhaust brake also worked on the trailer, that was the only good thing about the bloody teutonic monstrosity I did a lot of work to South Wales at that time and crawling down Black Rock towards Abergavenny in low gear and constant use of the exhaust brake was the only option stopping at the roundabout at the bottom was still a lottery , I always prayed that the cafe car park had room to divert into if the traffic was heavy. Regards Kev.
Don’t get it: how can an exhaust-brake possibly work on a trailer? Robert
I don’t know the technical details, but basically pressing the footvalve also opened an air valve piped to the trailer, ( as far as I recall) . I’m sure my old pal 8lxbv8brian will be along shortly with the finer details, he actually worked on the mercs as a fitter. Regards Kev.
stevejones:
on the bay in albinis prato waiting while they have there 2hour lunch p.s. spardo thats a t680 kenworth around 2011 model 25 ft long unit
Thanks Steve, so may be ok with the length limit but I am still wondering if the import/export situation is a bit of a one way street between the EU and the States.
If so I am wondering why. I can see why EU operators do not want to sail so close to the wind on length limits but I get plenty of feedback from the States on the nostalgia for COE units so is that what the authorities are so worried about there by blocking EU imports?
think they put a few hufdles in your way but theres a belgian guy near where i live in canada hes shipped over 2 164 scanny 530 they look quite funny over there against all the american stuff but when the v8 goes blasting past em on the hills they show em a bit more respect lol
remy:
0This is a good comparison pic form the internet.
Especially when parked alongside a dusty old Pete, only marginally better looking than the villain truck in ‘Duel’. I bet the Yanks appreciate the extra driving position height too, which is probably why so many of them hark back with nostalgia to the COE days.
But I also bet that, if they stopped to think for a minute, they wouldn’t want to swap their sleeper compartment.
I remember reading somewhere that in the early days of the Magnum one was taken over there as a demo for some reason, perhaps a tie up with Mack, and a driver was asked what he thought of the cab and his reply was ‘great, but I’d love to see the sleeper version’.
Also, re the import rules, that is Canada and I think they are easier there, possibly 10 or 11 years?
