Why do so many Americans hate European trucks?

I am on work, quite busy.
At home my display of pc is dead, i have to change capatitors on power suply , one of them got bulge

So i dont think i will be able to do this today

 

Good points.

First of all, they do very fine on the highway. Independent wheel suspension with combined steel and air springs give an excellent ride. I recently posted a video of a 10x10 Tatra 60 tonne tipper driving very fast on a dirt road.

Conventional all wheel drive trucks are technically not very nice designs. You have the engine with the main gearbox, with a drive shaft to a central gearbox. From that gearbox you get one drive shaft to the rear axle(s), and one to the front axle(s). And between the rear axles (and front axles) there are more drive shafts, all with homokinetic couplings.

Tatra has a very different approach. They have a big central tube consisting of segments, and inside that tube are the central drive shafts. At the end of such a tube segment is a differential for an axle, or better two swing axles. If you want an axle more, just connect another tube segment + differential.

So you can start with a 4x4 chassis, add an extra segment for a 6x6 chassis, one more for 8x8, one more for 10x10, then 12x12, and they have even build a 16x16. Segments can have different lengths, the swing axles can be steering or non steering. It's a simple building block principle, adding axles doesn't increase complexity.

The central tube will also make the whole truck completely rigid, the axles will compensate uneven terrain surfaces. That means it is easy to put a structure that should not flex on top of the chassis , like for a fire engine, or even a camper.

I think that Tatra is one of the most amazing and undervalued truck manufacturers in the world.

 

I have driven one off road.. ....they are smooth .

 

I will.
However putzmeister is in sany group, cifa zoomillion , sermac is free, and schwing stetter.
China pumped more concrete in 3years than america in 100years few years ago, i will not be surprised if it will be now 2years.
I think it is matter of time when all pumps will be produced in china instead of germany and italy.
only Scania sold 810 concrete pump chassis in 2012 trucks to china all 48-63m.
I have no idea how much rest of world get pumps but certanly not even close.

Google for scania zoomillion 101m, worlds largest concrete pump 331ft, 212400lbs.


Largest pump in europe is 80m long


Sermac 70m

 

Mercedes have concrete pump domination.
Few reasons, quality, german brand so good comunication with pump manufacturers. Wide range of chassis solution and powerfull PTOs

Mb have option of up to 900Nm from engine, plenty of PTO from gerarbox up to 1000Nm (competitors got better) double PTOs etc. And live PTOs, got 587hp 2500Nm.

Nobody got even close. Scania offer 340hp live pto, volvo and renault dont have it. Iveco one is fragile, man and daf is not even close.

 

If you dont have live pto or not powerfull enough . Than you need split shaft solution, they got problems with vibration balance and resonancy.....

 

Btw in future we will see nearly no concrete pump chassis with front driven axle, mb trucks become too high and heavy due to emission euro6

 

MAN and DAF now have the ZF Traxon transmission, and it has a mechanical PTO module option of up to 2000Nm. There's also a Hybrid module option that can be used as a 120kW generator for electric energy.

 

I know this, however this is nothong special. Mb have 2500 at 1.196:1, while zf is at 0.98, so we are talking about 50% more at mb

 

Some plow trucks and concrete (agitators ?) have a Pto off the front of engine like right of crankshaft damper......