Cabovers

Swedish crash tests demand 15 tonnes per cab pillar, there is 6 of them ! There is a great pic by 8989898 of a local Scania that went down a hill with the driver asleep, crashed at 75 mph, well really u need to see the result, doubt a truck with a hood could do much better

 

Anyway, we're talking about "Cabovers". I guess that in this dicution could be included also the special purpose COE trucks. Well, anybody remember the awesome on/off road tactical vehicle of the 1970's produced in Czechoslovakia, a COE, the renowned Tatra T 813 8X8 Kolos?
Oh man! They were 20-30 years ahead of their time in the drivetrain engineering. The 17L airkooled naturally aspirated V12 at 60*v was grossly under powering the truck at only 250bhp, but the absolutely phenomenal gearing and increased ground adherence due to the independent swing half axle design, in my opinion, made that truck the best in it's class in the world at that time. But then again, 250bhp truck engine in the 1960-70's was considered big power.
I'd love to have one of those things here, you know, just to terrorize the neighborhood in the weekends....

 

is that this one i am not very familiar with tatra , i take this picture last year in september so forget what truck is this and it was far so i take zoom on phone so quality is bad and i cant determine which model is , army was removing pontoon bridge from river

few trucks were there , i was on other river bank drinking beer

 

Yup I remember them ! Great truck! Unfortunatly bought by DAF. Lately' great machine tho!!! Best off road chassis of all time!

 

98989, can u get the pic af the crashed Scania that was crashed head on when the driver fell asleep going down hill? I know a bonnet would be better but that pic u had shows how much design matters in a crash!!

 

speed difference was 50kmh

 

Deutz engine I think ? I'm no expert on this one! I know tatra from the Paris dacar rally! Other trucks were highly modified but tatra was just tatra (as far as I know)

 

Thats the one! Anyone who knows of engineering can see how good this is! It's not bonneted territory but #### close!!!

 

The idea that trucks with hoods are safer is a fallacy. In a case of headon collision between two trucks traveling towards each other at high speeds there's no survivors even if you'd build a truck with 2"steel plate and a 20' hood. Same goes in the case of hitting bridge pilons, concrete walls, or rear ending a stopped truck at high velocity. If you don't get crushed you'll be dismembered by the deceleration forces of a huge mass in motion at a high velocity that decelerates in fractions of a second.
In the case of headon collision with a small car os even a SUV from the truck perspective there's little or even no advantages to the conventional design verses COE. In the conventional truck you have to worry about the engine protruding inside the narrow cab that positions the driver almost right behind and just about at the same level with the engine assembly. Also in the case of set forward front axle there is an increase danger in having the bumper (metal usually) cutt directly into the steering tires and causing complete loos of control. Further more, the axle suspension assembly, shackles and such, being directly at the front in the imidiate impact area, have the tendency to fail easily and the result has catastrophic endings.
In most COE trucks, in the case of collision with low profile vehicles, the advantage is in the fact that the cab is placed in a higher position thus the bulk of the damage happens below the truck cab occupant's feet. There's one more advantage to the EU COE design that futures better front end reinforcements and a set back front axle position which reduces the risc of catastrophic loss of steering control during the collision (unless the velocy of the vehicles involved in the collision is at the level which overcomes the normal resistance parameters incorporated in the design required by the safety standards).

In the roll over situation there is no advantage that could be allocated to the conventional configured truck over the COE.
Any elevated safety futures are only determined by the strength ratings of the materials used in the fabrication and the smart design that incorporates crumple zones to take and dissipate enery and the cage zone that ensures extra protection to the occupants, regardless if the cab is intended to be placed in a conventional position on the truck frame or COE.

I welcome any debate on this issue at any time!

 

Yup, that's Tatra all right, but a later model that started in 82, the T815. Some improvement but ugly cab design. The old T813 looks were much better.