N14 Celect Plus - Manual to Auto Conversion with AS3 - Possible?

Hi everyone, first post here—so be gentle!

I’m currently looking at the possibility of auto-swapping one of the trucks in my fleet that’s in the middle of a refurbishment. The truck is an ERF EC14 Celect Plus cabover, previously rated at 410 HP and around 2500 Nm of torque. It has a brand-new Cummins Celect Plus engine fitted less than 10,000 km ago.

Right now, it’s a 6x4 chassis, and once refurbishment is done, it’ll have a flatdeck body and a rear-mounted hydraulic crane. Its primary job will be hauling bricks and blocks, up to about 16 tons.

At the moment, it has an Eaton gearbox—probably a 13-speed with a twin-splitter shifter. While this gearbox is fine, I’m exploring swapping it out for another gearbox I already have.

I have an RTLO-20918A-AS3 gearbox that was originally a spare for an Argosy ISX530 (which I no longer own). It’s mostly complete except for the XY shifter on top and the TCU. Since it’s just sitting unused, I thought it might be worth retrofitting it to this ERF.

Here’s where I need advice: I know that N14 Celect Plus engines came from the factory with AS2 gearboxes. Is it possible to retrofit an AS3 box to a Celect Plus engine? Specifically:

• What software would be required?
• What modifications would need to be made electrically to make the swap work?
• How do you get the AS3 and Celect Plus to communicate properly, given that both use J1939 but I only have engine calibrations for AS2-equipped N14s?

The motivation here is practical: finding a driver who can decently operate the twin-splitter Eaton has been a challenge, and replacing the truck outright isn’t feasible—an equivalent auto truck would cost nearly 10x as much, and trucks aren’t my core business.

Any guidance or experience anyone has with this kind of retrofit would be massively appreciated!

Thanks for reading.

 

Based out of South Africa. Thanks for the reply!

 

My truck is VERY similar to this truck.

https://www.truck1.eu/img/auto/fullview/1095/1095_5751443950.jpg

Hopefully that helps.

 

Anyone?