Why do so many Americans hate European trucks?

I remember one old Mercedes Benz, the model was 2232, 22 tons 320HP, V10 with individual 10 heads, so you can only change the head gasket that is bad, these were diesels with mechanical pump, not pump Duse. And believe this model has a 10 speed syncronised transmission with a knob on the stick for selection from 1-5 and than 6-10. These were from 1981.

 

where are you from since you rememember this one? yes this is mercdes ng73 with om403 16L engine this engine was based on modular family it share parts with v6 v8 v12 engines

gearbox was 5s110 or unsyncronised 5k110 8+c gear range,

engine first time appear at 1970/1971,rear axles 1971 ,cab chassis and rest 1973 it was produced until 1982 for european market atrough it was made until 1986 for export markets

it was succeeded by ng 80 in 1979 so this model was pretty much outdated

models until july 1978 have single H shifting, after that mercedes introduce double H

 

btw only known problem on this engine except enormus fuel consumption was not equal cooling on al cylinders ,so having individual heads was pretty nice thing those engines were very reliable on those bad roads from that time some trucks did 2.5mil without problems, you can still saw them, mostly v8 models

 

I was your neighbor back then, Bulgaria. So you saying these weren't syncronised ? I never drove one, but I was just finishing school and was send for practice in the largest truck shop in town. I have seen many Bedfords, Berliet, Volvo, but the most popular in that time was the Mercedes.

 

oh make sense they were very common in Bulgaria back than, and you guys had strong fleets connecting west and middle east , many of those models were used here as well...

5s110gp was syncronised , but there was option for unsyncronised 5k110gp k stands for klauengetriebe , s for syncronised

but those gearboxes could be shifted without clutch , and many people did this because most of them did not had air assisted clutch

22 dont always stand for 22t it more describe truck configuration than actual weight, for example there was 2232 in 6 different weight configuration

6.5+8+8, 7+8+8, 7.5+8+8, 6.5+9+9, 7+9+9, 7.5+9+9

you could buy 2632 with same weight but completely different configuration

2232 had small 10t axles with 233mm diff, 8x22mm springs,small bogie, and single frame
2632 had large 13t axles with 300mm diff 14x18mm springs , big bogie, and double frame ,also it could have 16ton axles with large sahara springs but it was not available in this 22t version

but i am confused about this:

with a knob on the stick for selection from 1-5 and than 6-10. These were from 1981.

did it have shifting like this:



or it had double H? to shift into high group you would slap gearstick

because from 1978 they use this double H shifting, except serbian models they still have single H

mercedes opt for double H to prevent drivers were using C gear in high range , many drivers used to cheat on this way to use high C instead 4th,

but even after they put double h if you slap it and shift to C very fast or when low air pressure it was possible to put it into fast C

 

Yes, I remember clearly, the stick had a white plastic knob/switch, when you flip it - you can here the air, like on the Eaton manual 10 speed.

 

Like everywhere it is very competitive.
A lot of labor issues as we are the strike capital of the world.
Durban is about 600km away from where we operate and is our busiest container port.
We are close to the biggest container port in the world not on a waterway (called City Deep).
I don't move many containers as there is no money to be made.
If you if you just truck containers to Durban from Johannesburg where I am and back you can expect to make about an Euro per KM.
Diesel costs about an Euro per liter.
Not worth the bother in my opinion.
With general type trucks I charge at least 30% more then this and charge in both directions if going to a dead area.
There was good money taking freight in to other African countries but the rates have really come down in the last 5 years.
Today the rates in to the DR Congo from SA are about 60% of the rate I was getting in 2008.
I was charging too much back then but its not often as a transporter you get to overcharge.
Back then there were only a few of us willing to go there but now the roads have improved a lot and hundreds of companies compete.
I now only do specialized cargo and have fight for good rates.
We used to be one of only 2 companies that had air suspension trucks and got good money on those bad roads.
At least 2 Euro per km on a 5000km round trip back in 2008.
Each truck did 2 to 3 trips per month so things were really good.

 

Nice talking with you. I can only imagine drive on the other side of the road and changing gears with left hand. How much is a good 5-7 years old truck,
500hp, air suspension, tandem drive axels. Probably all you have there is cab over. Are you manufacturing any heavy trucks in South Africa? I know you have factories for BMW, Mercedes, Nissan, Fiat.

 

yes yes like this ,than this is old model from 10.4.1974, new model with such configuration appears on 16.8.1978 , some models get on market in july, my father had one of very early new models produced just 13day after new models were appeared


here is 2636 v10 dont remember year but it is model from 1985-1988 it was bought new,
man 19??1 we had 3of them as tipper one was blue one orange and this one,this one is from 1983+ and below 360hp that is all i can see from pic
2626 from 1978 ( that one described above) , in 1987 it was fitted with V10 engine, which was not smart, it breaks input shaft on gearbox 3timmes even my father was very careful and never let any driver to drive it because of that






do you remember details about door handles ,mirrors,wipers and , handles when you climb to access windshield and model type on door? ,if they were chromed than this is model until 1976 , if it have black door handles and black handles at windshield and white mirrors than this is model from 1977

 

1€/km? tell me more do you have to return empty container or loaded container or this is only in one direction

here fuel what we have filled in last 5months is average 1.3€/L ( we have now variable prices)

normal trucks get about 1€/km,

some idiots drop prices for some jobs to 0.6-0.7€ , there are some idiots that haul 25t of salt , 27ton of wood over mountains for 92€ 165km, in this job it is heavy to hold fuel below 38L , toll cost 39€

those people who reduce prices just to have backload are worst of all

on same distance containers are about 300€ and you must return it empty , only heavy 40ft containers are ok , 400-450€

grain is 1-1.4€/km

international is little bit better, my cousin haul only bosnia to italy he get 1.25-1.8€ depending on load and destination

we have too big expenses to compete with east guys, and we are too little some of them haul even at 0.4€