Cabovers

Discussion in 'Trucks [ Eighteen Wheelers ]' started by Wildcat74, Apr 3, 2011.

  1. daf105paccar

    daf105paccar Road Train Member

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    Are his trailers 100% led light?
     
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  3. king Q

    king Q Road Train Member

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    I remember the first time I drove a conventional after driving a cab over for about 4 years.
    At the first intersection I put the hood of the truck right in to the oncoming traffic lane while turning.
    Woke me right up to pay more attention.
    Two more turns and I had it but it defiantly is way different.
     
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  4. Down under trucker

    Down under trucker Light Load Member

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    Not sure mate, they are brand new, he said even with his fh540 with a single trailer if he doesn't push the button going up the range his will bog down to and if you don't catch it and start buttoning down the gears the thing really struggles.
     
  5. 98989

    98989 Road Train Member

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    can anyone explain me thing about US , fire trucks,

    why they are special brands and not big brands as normal trucks, where is engine? exact under front like on normal cabover or something specialč?

    what is so special about them,

    this is very strange thing for us, in europe and world wide we use truck chassis from common manufacturers and than independent bodybuilder make substructure on your wish ..............
     
  6. 98989

    98989 Road Train Member

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    Mercedes LP 2224 6x4 ,from my birth town in Bosnia, in typical surrounding



    with 3axle semitrailer, first 2axles are twin tired, last selfsteer single wheel axle, Italian or licence build Yugoslavian brand






    copyright Brian Eager flickr


    [​IMG]
     
  7. Pablo-UA

    Pablo-UA Road Train Member

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    I wanna remind u about difference of EU and US engrgy markets and different prices for sheet metal. In EU all truck cabins are made of steel. In USA aluminium is more popular.
     
  8. Exiled

    Exiled Light Load Member

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    Though I prefer NA trucks but I was impressed yesterday with a MBActross that a friend of mine has. He replaced his 6 injectors for 550$ which include parts & labors .
     
  9. vandy845

    vandy845 Bobtail Member

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    I can try to answer this, I have been a firefighter in the US for about 5 years. The engine is under the cab, usually directly over or slightly behind the front axle. You tilt the cab forward for maintenance just like on a normal cabover truck, but I'm not sure if a US fire truck can be called a cabover because the engine is mostly in the cab rather than under it.

    [​IMG]

    I've been mainly on Pierce and Seagrave trucks, and the engine tunnel takes up most of the interior of the cab, but we use it to mount laptops and other controls for the trucks. Us guys in the back usually use the tunnel as a table for our helmets. It makes the trucks really tight inside but since they usually only travel a short distance they aren't meant for much comfort. My pictures are on my other computer, but here is the best I could find of the engine tunnel from inside the cab:
    [​IMG]

    The engine tunnel goes beyond the bottom of this photo, into the backseats where there are usually two backward facing seats and one or two forward facing.

    As for why the US uses specialty manufacturers I'm not really sure, but I'd say it's because the design of US fire trucks is extremely traditional and the mainstream US manufacturers don't do anything with cabovers at the moment. Mack used to make fire trucks when they had their cabover trucks out, but the last one I saw was from the 1990s. I think some of it might also be the culture of the fire service, we take pride knowing the trucks are purpose built and don't share commonality with say, a road maintenance truck or something.

    Also US fire trucks are absolutely packed with gear, in every available compartment and space. Having the engine and cab sharing a space means that none of the truck's overall length is being wasted on a conventional style hood, instead they can maximize the use of available space for more equipment. Finally, US fire trucks are pretty maneuverable for their size, which again comes from being a cabover design rather than conventional. We don't have streets as small as those in Europe, but fire trucks here need to be able to get themselves around some tight corners and into some small spaces for trucks of their size.

    Hope this helps, sorry if I did a terrible job of explaining things :Fire-engine:
     
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  10. double yellow

    double yellow Road Train Member

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    What you see on TV are usually city engines and ladder trucks, but out west, away from the population centers, they use wildland engines which tend to be conventional:
    http://calfire.ca.gov/fire_protection/fire_protection_mobile_equip_fireengines.php

    [​IMG]
    No need for a ladder and a lot of hose when you fight fire with backfires & cutting fire breaks instead of spraying water or retardant through a hose. Instead they call in the big guns:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2015
    98989 Thanks this.
  11. DonRobbie

    DonRobbie Medium Load Member

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    The International 9800 has a small rise between the seats, maybe 1-3 inch tall. The set back axle "bus" variant isn't bad to climb into. The steps don't get ice and snow on 'em like a conventional. I've only driven the 110" flat roof version. I've seen pictures of the raised roof version's interior and I know some of them have a small cabinet. There isn't any storage. Floor bed, and two seats. There's maybe 10" of space between the back of the seat and the bed. Any organization is all on you.
     
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