volvo f88

[zb_anorak]

hayday:
This might sound like a daft question but when did the Swedes start driving on the right inline with most of Europe, and was this before, during or after the 89 was introduced? (Someone quoted earlier that it was about 1970 but didn’t the 89 develop from some other similar looking motor which surely would have been RHD - I am guessing)

1967, according to this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagen_H
Oddly enough, most vehicles in Sweden were LHD, even when they drove on the left of the road. Try finding a photo of a RHD Swedish lorry, operating in its home country. The F88 and 89 were clearly designed from the outset for LHD, given that the engine hump was offset to the right on them, presumably to give more space for the driver and gearstick. I read on Biglorryblog that the L4951/F88 was originally intended for the US market, which has always driven on the wrong side.

[tiptop495]

Hallo here some pictures of the first tilting cab from Volvo

1 prototype for USA
2 prototype used in Sweden
3very first L495-1 TipTop with big handles and no grate on the right for heating

[dieseldog66]

boris:
Just been trawling through the CM archive & spotted an article about a 250bhp F88 here
archive.commercialmotor.com/arti … p-with-f88
Anyone have any info on this model ■■

Richard Ford had 3 of these to my knowledge, I drove POF 4R for him and later my brother bought it and I also drove it for him

[saviem]

Evening all, well Ive been watching this thread with interest, and particularly the RHD F89 comments, and my thoughts are as follows.

NZ Jamie, spot on, in every respect. My involvement with Volvo ended in 74, when I left “these shores”. Why did I go? Well we ,(I worked for a Volvo Dealer), we could not get any stock to sell! F86, tractors if you were lucky… 6 wheelers, stock at 6months delivery, F88,up to 12months delivery, (unless a cancelled order)! FB88, …whats that?? F89…you want what…ho ho…ho!!

So NZs right, there was no incentive to deliver a RHD F89…Yes of course it could be done, (for goodness sake a lorry is only a horse and cart…without the horse)!! But Ailsa had no incentive to push for such a thing. And our Swedish masters did not even wish to contemplate such a device!!

Volvo AB, could not meet European demand for F89s, the main volume sales in the UK market did not need the F89, 240 hp was right in the main 28ton plus market segment, (the volume sales of tractor units). And this was the big, big, growth segment of the market. The F88 was bang on target,…and believe me everyone wanted one…but we did not have enough to meet demand.

Yes there was demand for the F89, but it was lower volume, and to meet it, (in our area…of course)!, we imported some examples. Really nice ex Holland…everyones “exotic dream”, today I suppose would be described as “all the bells and whistles”, (but the cabs all smelled…well peculiar…but I always felt happy driving them!!!..I wonder why■■?

So, Volvo wanted to meet the “power challenge”, from Scania, and the 299hp F10 was still in development, so let the British develop the 290 88. What a short term disasterous decision, (but please remember that at this time the British Truck market was without doubt, the "bear market " in Europe, the only growth market in existance!!

So Volvo did it, (and lost their reputation for engineering excellence), but it was a decision of the time, (and expedience), RHD F89…of course it was possible, but the “market” accepted the reasons why it could not be done, “gear linkages, bonnet covers, engine position)”…oh come on!! But the market…like sheep is easily led,…but I still, (personally), resent Phill Ives rebuke, when I produced an Australian G89 brochure, and asked why we could not have a RHD F89.

He toed the company line, I was right, (as in hind sight is NZ Jamie), yes it could be done, (in engineering everything is possible…at a cost)! But there is the “rub”, at what cost, and how many could have been sold■■? The market was quite small, indeed for 300 plus bhp!

Well I shall away to my Bollinger, and contemplate markets of the past, …and just how magnificent an F89 was to drive “in anger”, believe me better than any other product of its time,…even with a V8, …OH THAT SMOOTH 6, and with a 16speed, what utter delight!! What a pinacle of excellence!!

Bon nuit mes braves, Cheerio for now.

[zb_anorak]

[zb]
anorak:
Was the engine hump offset to the right in 88s, as well as 89s? I guess it was- the hole in the front is offset on all of them.

No it isn’t. I was wrong. This RHD F88 has the front aperture offset to the left (but not by much). They must have had handed engine humps.

(Phot borrowed from another thread).
Maybe this explains Volvo’s reluctance to offer an RHD F89- the inclined engine would not fit under an RHD cab (with the hump offset to the left), and they had not considered the option of simply putting an RHD gear linkage into an LHD cab (like the Aussies did).

[nz_jamie]

Thanks Saviem mate,it’s good to know that someone reads my ramblings and that they make sense and do ring true.

G89’s did’nt come to NZ, although there is one in the South Island that a bloke imported for Queensland a few years ago. There were lots of G88’s and they were assembled here with an amount of local content.

Do you know what happened in South Africa with the F88/F89,did they get them,I can’t say I’ve seen any.

Cheers Jamie

[geoffthecrowtaylor]

As you would expect the gear linkage on 89s was completely different to rhd 88s The 89 gear stick much shorter and much more positive than the ■■■■■■■■■■ rhd set up likewise the throttle linkage direct from the pedal on lhd all the way round the back of the engine on rhd because the injection pump is on the left side of the engine, this all changeed with the intro of F10s and 12s ie air operated throttle as Saviem says it would nt need rocket science to have produced a rhd 89 and probably true not enough uk demand, why people go to the trouble and expense of converting these fine machines is beyond me, is it kudos. Regards, Crow. Look on page 157 Middle East thread at the pics of the 89s leaving us, on the pic of the 89 minus front grille and radiator you can see how much wider the driving side is to the passenger.

[tribsa]

Hi All
Just pop an Alison box in no gear linkage no aching left foot from lifting it so high.
Simples
Rich

[zb_anorak]

geoffthecrowtaylor:
As you would expect the gear linkage on 89s was completely different to rhd 88s The 89 gear stick much shorter and much more positive than the ■■■■■■■■■■ rhd set up likewise the throttle linkage direct from the pedal on lhd all the way round the back of the engine on rhd because the injection pump is on the left side of the engine, this all changeed with the intro of F10s and 12s ie air operated throttle as Saviem says it would nt need rocket science to have produced a rhd 89 and probably true not enough uk demand, why people go to the trouble and expense of converting these fine machines is beyond me, is it kudos. Regards, Crow. Look on page 157 Middle East thread at the pics of the 89s leaving us, on the pic of the 89 minus front grille and radiator you can see how much wider the driving side is to the passenger.

The front aperture looks very similar to the lhd L495/F88 above.

[retired_old_fart]

geoffthecrowtaylor:
As you would expect the gear linkage on 89s was completely different to rhd 88s The 89 gear stick much shorter and much more positive than the ■■■■■■■■■■ rhd set up likewise the throttle linkage direct from the pedal on lhd all the way round the back of the engine on rhd because the injection pump is on the left side of the engine, this all changeed with the intro of F10s and 12s ie air operated throttle as Saviem says it would nt need rocket science to have produced a rhd 89 and probably true not enough uk demand, why people go to the trouble and expense of converting these fine machines is beyond me, is it kudos. Regards, Crow. Look on page 157 Middle East thread at the pics of the 89s leaving us, on the pic of the 89 minus front grille and radiator you can see how much wider the driving side is to the passenger.

Fitter/Magician pal of mine made an almost perfect motor (88, of course) even better by converting the ■■■■■■■■■■ throttle linkage to a cable-operated one and made a lighter and better-balanced gear linkage out of a length of I-section beam which he lightened further by drilling it.
The 16 speeder was a dream to use- albeit with the “wimpish” synchromesh. The problems started when something went wrong with it - you could almost have bought a decent second-hand lorry for the price Volvo wanted for a gearbox. Ring round the breakers!

[geoffthecrowtaylor]

ROF the main gearbox after agood few thousand miles suffered from range change problems ie the engaging rings teeth used to lose their profile same thing with the splitter overdrive this was rectified by the introduction of the SR32 unfortunately to late for the 89. We used specialist gearbox firms to repair ours definitely not Volvo main dealers, in the 80s anew gearbox cost over 4000 quid.Crow.

[boris]

Dieseldog66:

boris:
Just been trawling through the CM archive & spotted an article about a 250bhp F88 here
archive.commercialmotor.com/arti … p-with-f88
Anyone have any info on this model ■■

Richard Ford had 3 of these to my knowledge, I drove POF 4R for him and later my brother bought it and I also drove it for him

Hi Dieseldog66 - What was the difference to the engine ?did they look identical to the 290 then ■■

[3300john]

Hiya …a British G88 here in Dagenham if i’am correct. this is a Len rogers photo as you can see.
i drove a n reg F88 day cab (plastic )small grille and brown interior. it looked stupid with no sleeper.

[zb_anorak]

tiptop495:
Hallo here some pictures of the first tilting cab from Volvo

1 prototype for USA
2 prototype used in Sweden
3very first L495-1 TipTop with big handles and no grate on the right for heating

Welcome to the forum Tiptop. There was an article on Biglorryblog about these 495 prototypes. If you can find it, you are a better man than me- I find CM’s search engine about as useful as a chocolate teapot. IIRC, it showed two distinct designs- a vertical-screened one (like the first one in your post) and a raked-screen job, possibly the second one you posted. Both looked narrower than the production 4951. The BLB comments reckoned that the first one looked like a crackerbox GMC. To my eye, the raked-screen version was a dead ringer for the Emeryville International.

I wonder if Volvo’s reason for pulling out of the US market was for that reason- that their new model was, in appearance at least, too similar to two soon-to-be-obsolete home-grown vehicles?

There was also a picture of one which was being preserved.

[fredm]

3300John:
Hiya …a British G88 here in Dagenham if i’am correct. this is a Len rogers photo as you can see.
i drove a n reg F88 day cab (plastic )small grille and brown interior. it looked stupid with no sleeper.

I used to pick up tea in hays at dagenham in the late 80s and as I recall there was a lot of those old volvos used at shunters , wonder if they all got cut up, fredm

[greek]

RE gearboxes geof Only probs we ever had was range change slow when cold ( which seems strange it being designed in a cold country) & the pin for the overdrive apart from that no probs lasted well

[william_munro]

jim1970:

MaggieD:
Hi Jim1970,

Please tell Willie, Richard & Angela from Southampton send their regards,I hope he’s well.

Regards
Richard

i ll pass it on to my dad who sees him regular.my dad was on for barbours same time as willie.willie is a member on here but i dont know his username.he has stoped driving now because of an accident he had in france.

hallo richard i stopped working in 2006 i had i fall from the back of the trailer in dieppe badly damaged my thigh and ankle but have recovered now this year i had an operation for cancer in my right kidney and i am all clear now still recovering from it i have been lucky as they found it through a ct scan so there. i still keep in touch with sinclair ian roy alex millar and young jim 1970 his son sadly Mr Barbour passed away 2007 .barbour european now belongs to geodis young stewart is transport manager now but it is not the same job now. the good old days are gone this is the first time used trucknet tell Angela i was asking after her have a great xmas and a happy new year my user name is william munro best regards willie

[maggied]

william munro:

jim1970:

MaggieD:
Hi Jim1970,

Please tell Willie, Richard & Angela from Southampton send their regards,I hope he’s well.

Regards
Richard

i ll pass it on to my dad who sees him regular.my dad was on for barbours same time as willie.willie is a member on here but i dont know his username.he has stoped driving now because of an accident he had in france.

hallo richard i stopped working in 2006 i had i fall from the back of the trailer in dieppe badly damaged my thigh and ankle but have recovered now this year i had an operation for cancer in my right kidney and i am all clear now still recovering from it i have been lucky as they found it through a ct scan so there. i still keep in touch with sinclair ian roy alex millar and young jim 1970 his son sadly Mr Barbour passed away 2007 .barbour european now belongs to geodis young stewart is transport manager now but it is not the same job now. the good old days are gone this is the first time used trucknet tell Angela i was asking after her have a great xmas and a happy new year my user name is william munro best regards willie

Hi Willie,
Great to hear from you,Angie and I still talk about the good times we had with you and the other lads,we didn’t know about your accident and your problems with the big C,sorry to hear about Duncan (R.I.P.)
The many evenings we spent in routiers with you,and Barry Stafford drinking his “Macon Tea” at 7am !!
Angie sends her love,and all the best for Christmas and the New Year,we’ll try and get up to Scotland soon and see you.
Regards
Richard

[retired_old_fart]

Hi, Crow, Yes, I was reminded at least once a week of the 4,000 quid gearbox by my employer of the time. He was so nervous about it that he compiled a list of breakers within a hundred miles who would be likely to have one, “just in case”!
To be honest, I spent more time adjusting p*ss-poor brakes than I did worrying about failing gearboxes!

[ste_sleds]

Brady’s had 3 F88’s and so did Athersmith’s (owned by Brady’s)