Cabovers

If you go in to the jungles / deserts of Africa you see these still running after 30 years.
The older round nose ones even longer.
On tracks (can't call them roads) that are truly unbelievable.
Blocks of wood wedged between the frame and the leaf springs so they can over load by 2 to 3 times.
You cant but be amazed by them.
I used to only run American trucks as there was a rivalry between fleets.
After seeing the abuse these trucks take year in and year out you just concede that they have earned and deserve respect.

 

No I was refering to the picture. It looks like a "bullet hole" in the front of the bed. I found 98989 choice of words and the picture funny.

 

no this is flash from my mobile phone .....

 

really I have an idea to purchase old US cabover later, with M11 ore N14 (celect +, may be recalibrated to Euro-II). They are cheap in Ukraine now.

One for sale)

 

That is the favorite 2nd hand import to African countries south of the equator.
When they were still available we would see orange Schneider and cream JB Hunt units in the hundreds coming through the ports.

 

Were they a good truck for your local conditions King Q?

 

We were not allowed to use them in SA as we are not allowed to import trucks.
They do manufacture them here and they have a healthy market share.
The ones from here are RHD and have heavier specification so on SA roads they do fine.
The imported ones go cross border then are allowed to to do cross border transport in and out of SA.
They then run way over design capacity on some poor roads.
These trucks suffer badly , everything except the engine and transmission falls apart.
Why they are popular is because they are cheap and simple.
There are bush mechanics everywhere with experience and parts.
Most drivers are able to keep them going with running repairs.
Mostly just tightening up parts that are falling off.
Part and parcel of being a bespoke truck , lots of brackets and bolted items.
Broken springs , UJ's,mounts etc are repaired by bush mechanics as there are these kinds of parts everywhere.
So although they aren't that good they are effective.

 

Very interesting King Q....so what you're saying is because thay are cheap,simple,rugged and easy to keep going,they are popular?

How do they compare to European trucks in the same conditions...or in other word what do find a good make model for that sort of abuse and punishment?

 

I'd say old cabovers were more tought the newer trucks. Both US and European. Frames were thiker, axels heavier, but engines weaker

 

The European trucks are put together way better.
The way I see it American trucks are all Bespoke so they have to designed with all possible permutations.
The down side is that there is a lot of bolt together parts.
This means a lot of potential for movement.
The up side is , they are easy to bolt back when they start falling apart.
On European trucks parts are purpose built with out a thought for another vendors part.
This means tighter tolerances and more fixed parts.
It also means more expensive and more sophisticated parts.

For rough roads the European trucks hold up better.
The American trucks are just cheaper and easier to repair.

The older Mercedes (before Actros/Axcor) are probably the best.
Renault and Iveco build good purpose built off road trucks.
Scania is well represented and Volvo also do well.