Trev_H:
Hi Dennis,We had 16 y reg 82? arrive all 250 ■■■■■■■ with sleeper cabs, we had no brake problems but all 16 leaked water at the top of the windscreen rubber and we never cured that, but I thought they were a comfortable cab.
We never had that many Trev!!! But honestly I don’t remember having any major probs with the 10 or 12(I think) 400s & 401s we ran over the years.
dafdave:
My mate had one on night trunk down to barking and had endless trouble with brake fade,i forget the no.of times it went back to gardners and had the brake drums machined and re lined.
regards dave.
You didn’t really mean Gardner, did you Dave? For brake fettling??
When Foden’s were in short supply around the '79/80 period we had a few 400 series eight wheelers at Tilcon, Gardner 201’s in the first batch and then three with high bodies and a Jennings sleeper bunk which were fitted with 265 RR Eagles. I drove a V reg Gardner powered one for a couple of years and it was a comfy truck (GWJ 823 V), the worst thing was the appalling steering lock and it struggled to get around some junctions without doing a shunt! Brakewise they were very good, though they did wear lining’s out quickly, and we got through a lot of springs as well (I once broke 2 coming off of our weighbridge, and another on Bristol Road, Birmingham pulling away from some traffic lights) but overall they served us well. One chassis did break in half though, the driver complained of vague steering!!
We also had some 200’s and a 300 as well.
Pete.
I could do with some dash warning lamps from a 400 or 401 if anybody can help…?.
on the subject of spares, i am looking for (any) bits for a seddon atkinson 200 i am going to restore, if any one can help, front grill, bumper, ect,ect,
This is what a 401 can look like after restoration
This one was one of 5 run as internal shunters at TI Desford tubes leicester. A sedak 401 . Unfortunately TI Desford tubes shut down abouy 4 years ago…
Don’t know what happened to the old sedaks… 
one of the many 401’s from south wales based john raymond transport,just loaded balers at sperry new holland in france 1985.
Hello Everyone,
Been following this thread closely as i am a bit of a 400 fan having worked for them for some years in the mid seventies to early eighties.
We probably forget that the 400/401 was the market leader in the late seventies ahead of Volvo / Scania / ERF etc so they must have been reasonably ok.
Of course a lot went to own account operators but i do remember a fair few going to both small hauliers and owner drivers particularly when the E290 Big Cam
■■■■■■■ was announced.
No rigids ever had the 240 Gardner fitted to my knowledge, it was always the 180, but i will always remember collecting pet-reg equiped 240,s from the factory,
with the front mounted exhaust, no finer noise has ever been heard. [ You did need a block of wood on the accelerator though, so heavy, how did the regular
drivers cope ?
As an aside, when i left Seddon Atkinson, i went to Volvo and i must admit to thinking, wow i have made the step up, but whilst the F10/F12 were very good trucks,
the F6/7 were , in my opinion, overated, for one thing i could not see out of the cab as the the top of the windscreen cut off my vision no matter where the seat was !!!
I would dearly love to have a 400/401, so if anyone knows where there is a good condition sleeper cab unit for sale please let me know.
My other halfs 401
Hiya …most people have models not a shed full of real ones.Will you send me a photo of the TM when you get it out please
as my pal Andy is just starting to restore his V8 full width sleeper cab TM. cheers Ford 4428. I mean you lesley.
John
Hi John
I will email you a pic of TM this weekend Regards Lesley
Is the 401 ex-MOD?
I’m just going by the Rolls engine and front silencer. No sign of a firescreen or petrol-regs rear windows, so I’m thinking it wasn’t from a tanker fleet.
The Lancashire registration mark makes me curious about it’s history - so too the 400-series fuel tank.
gandy:
but i will always remember collecting pet-reg equiped 240,s from the factory, with the front mounted exhaust, no finer noise has ever been heard. [ You did need a block of wood on the accelerator though, so heavy, how did the regular drivers cope ?
If my Dad is a typical example, they coped with a grimace. The ‘Gardner way’ of connecting the accelerator pedal to the pump meant that a great number of drivers suffered ‘Gardner knee’ in later life due to the constant pressure on the joint caused by the pedal literally ‘fighting back’ all the while. I’ve experienced it myself in one of the wagons on the fleet he worked on and for a lay-man it aint no joke. How they did it for years baffles me.
My Dad had severe pain in his right leg for a number of years as a result of driving 8LXB-engined ERFs. In the end it contributed to him having to finish work due to arthritis - he was on disability allowance at 52 and never worked again. After a couple of keyhole operations to flush damaged cartiledge from behind the knee cap as well as having a good look inside the joint, he finished up having ‘full’ knee (joint & cap) replacement surgery in January 2008. Happily, he’s more mobile now than he was for the last two years at work, but it took 13 years before the issue was addressed by surgery.
Gardner engines make the most glorious noise, especially when they’ve got some weight on their backs but they damaged some drivers too.
i had a 401 for my first artic,twin steer sleeper e290 9speed fuller .Absolutely loved it,ok brakes wernet great but I was under it every sunday with the greasegun anyway so adjusting the brakes only took half an hour,the heater was terrible,but after cleaning the 2 matrix out with the steam cleaner it was ok.My dad knew how fast i was driving by the fuel bill every month !!55mph=7.5mpg 70mph=5.5mpg I was 23 so work it out for yourself!!! Running at 38ton top gear from tilbury to orrell j26 m6 no ■■■■! although you needed a good run at corley and keele banks-happy days 
found the picture of an MOD one out of my old photo albums
philt:
Hello,
I recently purchased an "85 401 tractor unit powered by a RR 300Li. I intend to restore this truck, possibly to show standards and am looking for some parts.Does anyone know of any 401’s being broken? I am looking for a front spoiler and the large grille badge ( RR 300Li ). I would appreciate a picture of the grille badge so I could attempt to make a copy if anyone has one.
Also, I have been told that if I remove the fifth wheel I can drive the truck on a car license - is this true?
Ultimately I would like to pass the appropriate test to enable towing a lowloader ( for classic machinery ). My background is in engineering not transport so just wondering how difficult / expensive it is to pass this test. I assume I would need a class 1 for an articulated vehicle.
Thanks,
Phil.
Phil there was a feature in Mays edition of classic commercials mag on a 401 restoration- done by M Edwards transport of Shrewsbury -they may help or have some advice
Stanfield:
This is what a 401 can look like after restoration0
Sorry- didn’t realise Johns put a pic of it on here 
