Why do so many Americans hate European trucks?

typical greek thing 2+3, using same body and trailer for many years....


they are famous for running old trucks that nobody else use anymore....
1994 143m 500 on its way to west europe


1980 141, this one can be seen regularly here bringing fruits


there are even some photos of greek 140s from early 1970s in germany

 

From ATHS by a driver who drives (or drove) the stacked piggy-back trucks:

There are two types of axle saddles. It will depend on the type of chassis your moving.
The king pin style thats used must have a fifth wheel and be a short wheel base or a single screw tractor. swing clearance and frame contact are deciding factors. The second is a frame swivel mount. Attached with u bolts on the frame side and axle clamps on the towed vehicle axle.

Another factor will be the height and length of the chassis. They now allow 4 units. It used to be three at 65 feet max. I'm sure the length increased also.

Air lines are run to the brake chambers quick release valves on the axle that is on the ground on the rear vehicle to provid required brake effort. Another axle can be braked if a long or really heavy make up. You want to have the rear unit braking to keep the train in line, just like a trailer.

A second line can be run to the air driers or the primary air tank to supply the air bags. Some operators will use a Schrader fitting in the bag feed to avoid this procedure.
The second line is for the parking brake operation, and it must be there. It is rigged up the same way. The tow lead unit has control over the trains' brakes just like a normal tractor trailer.

Lighting must loosely follow FMVSS lighting standards.
Besides the normal 7 red to the rear, a mid side marker or two needs to be on the sides.

Most outfits pull two axle shafts on non powered axles instead of the drivelines, But you can cheat on pulling just one.
They use a plywood cover that has a rubber side to seal the wheel ends up. I used to scoff them up when we got new iron in to use them on the busted iron I drug home. I've seen some new plastic covers lately.

The first time you drive one of these trains, you have a few naugahyde moments. The center of gravity is high and they handle like a set of triples. One old hand told me to "just don't look in the mirrors to often". Yea...right. They will wiggle, and you better pay attention where you want to park or go. Backing them up in most cases is just not going to happen. Backing a short distance isn't too bad, but out of a tight spot ...your day isn't going to be fun. They simply won't follow like a wagon.


Nothing mentioned about ABS, but I guess as long as key is off and ABS module is not powered, it won't do anything anyway. With the service line connected directly to the brake chambers they will brake like any other (non-ABS) air brake.

A dead truck behind a tow truck will not have functioning ABS either I would guess. Even if ABS was powered, it would not work properly because of the missing wheel speed missing from the wheels that are off the ground.

 

Forget in what year but my 06 had a update done that would intervene in case the turbo blew.
The trouble with the turbo was fixed when a titanium coated turbo was installed.
The old style turbo would start by having small cracks in the vanes.
There was a window off more then 1y before those cracks would cause turbo failure.
I replaced my turbo when i saw the first cracks which were easy to spot(less then 10 min work)
Nobody in my area had a blown turbo with their MX's.
Paccar EU so Daf also had a recall about those turbo's.

 

Friend worked at DAF dealer untill end of November (now at Iveco).
They still had one run away couple of months ago. Don't know if it was updated or not.

I visit an independent truck repair shop often, mainly DAF and Scania.
The owner says they have a few every year They simply replace engine with slavage yard engine. He says situation is getting better. Maybe more trucks are updated, or just less of them on the roads.

Of course it is just a very small percentage of engines out there, and it can (and does) happen to other trucks as well. Just seems to happen to these engines more often.

It is probably like with a lot of other things, if you check and inspect on regular basis, you can prevent disasters from happening.

 

Made with inexpensive labor....



In Europe I’m sure they pick and choose the less expensive labor countries to make parts in. Then ship them.......

 

From a technical standpoint I have my doubts about the ABS being operational. On a 4S4M system you have a speed sensor and modulator on each steer tire and either the front or rear drive axle will have the other two speed sensors. The remaining 2 modulators control braking for each side of the drives. 6S6M has a sensor and modulator for each wheel end. What the ABS module is looking for are wheel speeds at each sensor to be approximately equal (tolerances built in for tire wear of course). When the ABS module detects a wheel that is turning slower, it assumes that wheel is starting to skid. It responds by dumping air from that brake so that wheel speeds equalize. In theory, if you could lock every wheel on a truck at exactly the same time, the ABS system will do nothing, since all wheel speeds are exactly equal.

Now by having any wheel with a speed sensor on it off the ground, the ABS module will assume it is locked up during every brake application. It will try and actuate the steer axle modulator valves (which does nothing because they don't have any air plumbed to them). It will likely send no signal to the drive axle modulators since both left and right will be turning the same speed.

 

True, but that is an unplanned emergency situation, and usually only for short distances.

 

I just went to my garage and looked at the box containing a full service set.
No country is mentioned.
Want i can tell you that Daf has the cheapest replacement and service parts off all brands.

 

Whether you run a old truck or a brand new one,maintenance is required.

A while back there was a TTR member that had a International with original paint on the airdryer cartridge.
Truck was 7y old iirc.
It is sometimes amazing what some people neglect in regards to maintenance.

 

Yes, I'm sure. They may have them made in less prosperous countries of the EU, where wages are lower. And I'm glad they do, those people have every right to a more prosperous life, just as the people of the richer EU countries have. And whne they are richer, they can afford to buy more of the products we produce in our richer countries.