Which one eventually turned out to be the best all round motor ?
I think the TK was the better of them 3
Hi Dennis I would go for the TK cheers Ray
TK, definitely.
The BMC 5.7 engine was a brilliant performer on hills compared to the Ford 6D and Bedford 330, and the constant mesh gearbox was pretty trouble free compared to the Bedford four speed box which suffered from weak synchromesh on 3rd gear and we were regularly rebuilding them. However for a driver the TK was probably better, unless they were over 6ft tall of course, but not so good for us fitters to work on! 
Pete.
TK for me, preferably with a leyland and 5 speed box with a 2 speed axle , my dad had loads of them , he did love his 6cyl trader though,
tony
Not a driver but have driven the TK. I thought the Trader replacement in the D series was better than the TK to drive and certainly to work on. The Trader was a bit older than the TK so perhaps not a fair comparison. The TK must have had something as it had such a long production run of over 20 years. How did the TK compare with the later BMC FJ? The FF BMC always looked like a 50s truck to my amateur eye.
essexpete:
Not a driver but have driven the TK. I thought the Trader replacement in the D series was better than the TK to drive and certainly to work on. The Trader was a bit older than the TK so perhaps not a fair comparison. The TK must have had something as it had such a long production run of over 20 years. How did the TK compare with the later BMC FJ? The FF BMC always looked like a 50s truck to my amateur eye.
[/quote]The FJ suffered badly with overheating problems, mainly on the Bathgate assembled engines as that factory seemed incapable of getting the liner protrusion correct and gasket failure was common but the cross flow radiator didn’t help matters. I fitted three replacement engines in one and it never turned a wheel, they overpressuriesed within ten minutes of firing them up in the workshop. The Longbridge built engines were slightly different, they looked similar but were slightly different in length so heads etc were not interchangeble. We kept modifying the cooling systems almost monthly, eventually they mounted the engine vertically in the Boxer range and the problems were solved! The FJ’s were tested extensively but in Finland where the overheating issues were not noticed. You are correct about the FF and FH range cabs, they dated from the fifties and were the first British cab to have a wraparound windscreen, and they were a decent reliable truck but basic.
Pete.
Slight tangent here if I may. When the FJ was launched it had a central rear cab window that slid down to open. I thought it an oddity at the time. Does anybody recall how long that lasted before being replaced by a “normal” window?
Dipster:
Slight tangent here if I may. When the FJ was launched it had a central rear cab window that slid down to open. I thought it an oddity at the time. Does anybody recall how long that lasted before being replaced by a “normal” window?
You’ve just reminded me Dipster about those rear sliding windows as both the two Bathgate built Mastiff units I ran had that rear sliding window which was useful if the motor was covered in salt /road film in winter and you could just drop the window to “have a butchers” out back if needed. But other than that and to let a bit of air circulate when it was hot I always thought they were a peculiar fitment especially when the units were at the cheap end so to speak and the sliding version would have cost more than the fixed one ! Cheers Bewick.
Bewick:
Dipster:
Slight tangent here if I may. When the FJ was launched it had a central rear cab window that slid down to open. I thought it an oddity at the time. Does anybody recall how long that lasted before being replaced by a “normal” window?You’ve just reminded me Dipster about those rear sliding windows as both the two Bathgate built Mastiff units I ran had that rear sliding window which was useful if the motor was covered in salt /road film in winter and you could just drop the window to “have a butchers” out back if needed. But other than that and to let a bit of air circulate when it was hot I always thought they were a peculiar fitment especially when the units were at the cheap end so to speak and the sliding version would have cost more than the fixed one ! Cheers Bewick.
Happy to have nudged your memory Bewick! So the sliding window lasted longer than I imagined it would. Did that cab retain the feature during its whole production lifetime, which ended I believe in 1980, I wonder? What year did you get your Mastiffs?
Dipster:
Bewick:
Dipster:
Slight tangent here if I may. When the FJ was launched it had a central rear cab window that slid down to open. I thought it an oddity at the time. Does anybody recall how long that lasted before being replaced by a “normal” window?You’ve just reminded me Dipster about those rear sliding windows as both the two Bathgate built Mastiff units I ran had that rear sliding window which was useful if the motor was covered in salt /road film in winter and you could just drop the window to “have a butchers” out back if needed. But other than that and to let a bit of air circulate when it was hot I always thought they were a peculiar fitment especially when the units were at the cheap end so to speak and the sliding version would have cost more than the fixed one ! Cheers Bewick.
Happy to have nudged your memory Bewick! So the sliding window lasted longer than I imagined it would. Did that cab retain the feature during its whole production lifetime, which ended I believe in 1980, I wonder? What year did you get your Mastiffs?
The first one was Jan '70 and the second was Oct '70 Cheers Bewick.
Bewick:
Dipster:
Bewick:
Dipster:
Slight tangent here if I may. When the FJ was launched it had a central rear cab window that slid down to open. I thought it an oddity at the time. Does anybody recall how long that lasted before being replaced by a “normal” window?You’ve just reminded me Dipster about those rear sliding windows as both the two Bathgate built Mastiff units I ran had that rear sliding window which was useful if the motor was covered in salt /road film in winter and you could just drop the window to “have a butchers” out back if needed. But other than that and to let a bit of air circulate when it was hot I always thought they were a peculiar fitment especially when the units were at the cheap end so to speak and the sliding version would have cost more than the fixed one ! Cheers Bewick.
Happy to have nudged your memory Bewick! So the sliding window lasted longer than I imagined it would. Did that cab retain the feature during its whole production lifetime, which ended I believe in 1980, I wonder? What year did you get your Mastiffs?
The first one was Jan '70 and the second was Oct '70 Cheers Bewick.
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How did you rate the Mastiffs? A farm I worked on had a 6 wheel conversion on an H Reg. Eaton 2 speed axle. It was a pig when low speed shunting with a tendency to hunt and jump. Easy to drive though until the boss caught me going down the road instead of around the cart tracks one harvest. (no HGV)
The Mastiffs did me a good job during the two and a half years approx I ran them BUT they had to be treated with the utmost respect which in our case was an oil change every two weeks, filter every 4 weeks , and we just drove them at no more than 50 mph on the M/ways. The earlier 26 tonner did start to “breath” a bit of oil fume but they both gave reliable service and eventually I was able to sell them both for decent money down in London as they were still in mint condition at that time. I know the Perkins V8 's got extra bad press as far as reliability went but they were cheap motors and could never be compared to the premium marques but most fleet Operators expected them to perform the same which didn’t happen. But I always worked on the premise that if you treated them kindly and serviced them religiously they would do a decent job but again only with the right drivers at the wheel ! Cheers Bewick.
Bewick you are correct in saying ig the mastives were looked after, they served you well when i was a MORTONSBRS we had some and the name of the game was to knock the BO—AKS out of them because we did not want them but they would not give up save a few injectors we would load up to 18 +tons of timber from LIVERPOOL or TILLBURY allthough down hill all the way home they just kept going,they did not have the look as a heavy haulage motor ,save the exhaust out by your window that you allways had downi put my tinitus down to the old motorsesp BIG js.dbp
you got the choice in my dads mid 60’s fleet , tk luton with a leyland(wbn995) tk luton with a bedford engine, thames trader luton (6 or 4 cylinder , he had 3), ford d series artic (D600’s), bedford tk artic , and there were even more TK’ rigids, and more TK tractor units in another yard. liked fords and bedfords did my dad.
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