Regular Vs. Car Hauler Spec Suspension Differences

I don't want to haul cars.

I don't want to haul cars.......

 

i would not agree with this,italian products are made without much sense , in my opinion only good thing on rolfo is they can attach normal semitrailers while other have 5th wheel on back of chassis , here largest company use this feature very often they use same tractors to pull cars with euroformula bodywork and trailer and also they use semitrailers for truck/tractor transport and sometimes even normal curtainsiders

interesting , thanks for explaining

here in europe we have 2setups for hauling cars

traditional is 2axle rigid truck pulling 2axle centralaxle trailer , truck have long wheelbase about 220-225inchs ,capacity up to 10cars( truck fit 5cars(3above 2down) and trailer fit 5cars (2above 3down))

new combination is 2axle tractor with lower chassis and low cab and bit longer wheelbase(153inch) with removable body capacity 3-4cars , trailer have capacity of 7-8cars this give space advantage since trailer is much lower than truck compared to first setup , but problems with overloading axles, in recent years weight of cars is increased so many trucks have small pusher axle to avoid overloading drive axle

trucks usually have 315/60r22.5 tires trailer 245/70r17.5 double or 275/70r22.5 single when car can fit in between tires , most usually when single tires are fitted than trailer is 3axle


trucks have little bit lower(on suspension) chassis than normal (60mm) but this is not lowest chassis available total with lower tires 80mm , but it is still 100mm higher than lowest chassis

trucks have full air suspension, drop front axle is normal on all on road trucks in europe , suspension can raise some 170-190mm depending on manufacture and lower by some 60mm

cab is generally 2.7m from ground level some trucks have high cab but this make problem with those who order transport

 

semitrailers by lohr and kassbohrer for russian market are build in serbia , i know some of guys who drive them to russia , some bodyworks for rolfo are build in croatia

in europe we dont use semitrailers for car transport , because length is 16.5m and for car carriers is 21m and 4.3m height here

video,

 

The trailer company is called Damsen and they have a trucking company as welI. I got a quote from them last year on a 53 with can locks. French is their primary language and it took several requests to get a response. The standard can locks can only accommodate an empty though. Deck height is right at 48" or so depending on the lowered tractor. The cost is about 2X that of a Mac or Reitnouer, which derailed my plans.

OP, for a low truck the easiest are the Western Star Low Max or a Pete with low low air suspension. This is the low air with brackets drilled higher on the frame rails. Fairings on a standard low or mid roof truck will give you better fuel economy than a low rider.

 

Must not be the one I'm thinking of. French Canadian yes- 255 size tires that run up into the rub rail. Very low. I would imagine they are expensive, everything "custom" seems to have a big "custom" price attached lOl
low front ends do look good.
MA friend of mine just installed an air suspension system on his steer axle. It can be raised or lowered (in transit or any time there is air pressure) ; however even in the lowered position it's still quite high (International 9900I)

 

this isn't a euro car hauling thread

 

Thanks, I'll check out those trailer with my poor boy budget

I'm thinking a bellypan would be a big help and I really want a aero cab truck.

9900I rides tall and proud

 

The only two companies that built them that I know of are Alutrec Capacity (no longer building them as reported here) and Damsen. Truck wise, with 255's and a low profile 5th, you can get to about 40" fifth height being very careful not to chew up drives. That will give you a 44" platform height with both of the above trailers. I'd prefer to have at least 6" above the tires personally. With 19's you can go lower, but you get the drawbacks too.

 

I hear the 19" chew themselves up as trailer tires. I guess they would be even worse as drive tires.

I was really hoping to be able to haul step and flat with some double drop loads on a single trailer. We have some 10'6" loads that pay well on 1400 miles.

 

yep, on our market 20 m from bumper to bumper limit, so we can use longer trailers.

US car hauler trailers are like we use here