Does anyone know what is involved paperwork wise in converting a 6wheel unit midlift to a rear lift rigid its a Renault Premium the steelwork is the easy part .
Afaik it would need to be re plated and “approved”.
I thought cut and shuts were being outlawed anyway.
The dvsa are extremly helpful over the phone, or have been, and you dont have to give names or numbera.
Concretejim:
Afaik it would need to be re plated and “approved”.I thought cut and shuts were being outlawed anyway.
The dvsa are extremly helpful over the phone, or have been, and you dont have to give names or numbera.
Hardly Cut and Shuts. Chassis extension is still necessary for many vehicles, it’s not just gas axe and welding a piece of angle iron to it,
They are welded, sleeved and plated using Bolts or rivets.
I would rather trust a conventional chassis stretch to the stretching a ferry or an aeroplane [emoji23]
More to the point - why?
You wouldn’t get much in way of usable body given the wheelbase of a unit.
Honestly can’t see what gain would be for all the hassle ?
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where i worked years ago we did it to a scania p92 , converted from a 2 axle unit to a 3 axle rigid . speak to dvla to get the correct forms,as previous poster said they are helpful with stuff like this,also whoever does the 3rd axle conversion will help you out with it no doubt.
once the fabrication and paperwork is done its a retest. word of warning though, you really have to flitch the chassis behind the the drive axle to take the torque of turning , we didn’t do it properly and the chassis rails kept splitting where the 3rd axle was attached. ours was a done by cutting the chassis from just behind the cab and putting in extended standard length scania chassis rails from there, make sure you end up being able to use a standard length prop shaft .ours was a really good job apart from the splitting at the 3rd axle.
A lot of companies have done it over the years. When there is a glut of good used tractor units available it is usually cheaper to buy a good used unit and have it stretched and bodied than buying a complete new rigid.
dcgpx:
More to the point - why?You wouldn’t get much in way of usable body given the wheelbase of a unit.
Honestly can’t see what gain would be for all the hassle ?
You stretch the bit between the axles and fit a longer propshaft.
My old FM12 with HIAB at Owens was a stretched ex-unit. 380 engine so plenty of grunt.
About 2005 i had an Xreg Renault Premium 400 converted from artic to rigid with a 28 flat Midlift was moved to the rear to make into a tag lift.The conversion was done by Ritetrak Engineering of St Clears West Wales the conversion was perfect never had any problem with the vehicle I ran the vehicle for a number of years before it was sold on to a livestock haulier then an engineering company and no one had any problems. As for paperwork it was all done for me took unit in and took 6 wheel rigid out
The problem with stretching units is the axle weights are quite low leaving very little room for error when loading ,also the prop shaft angles need to be spot on ,and mid lifts are a waste of time as it’s rare you can get the axle up without scuffing the shoulders on corners so make it rear lift is a good idea .
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You stretch the bit between the axles and fit a longer propshaft.
My old FM12 with HIAB at Owens was a stretched ex-unit. 380 engine so plenty of grunt.
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Would be interesting to know the unladen weight of the front axle on that conversion…
dave docwra:
Would be interesting to know the unladen weight of the front axle on that conversion…
Dunno, was over 10 years ago. Load bed was quite a way back though due to the crane.
I drove a scania p94 in 2003, it was sold on and converted to a three axle rigid. According to the dvla website it is still taxed and mot’d now!!!
I too was thinking of doing this a year or two back , as its difficult to get a high bhp high cab in a rigid from the second hand market, that time I had in mind doing it to a r500 Scania and putting a 28ft box on it
But I didn’t go through with it in the end , its still on mind to do it at some stage too, would be interested how you get on with this and the costs involved
My lot have done no end of them ,mid lift unit in to 8 wheeler rear lift ,midlift unit to 6 wheeler mid and rear lift ,4 wheeler unit to rear lift rigid ect using axles from where ever was avalible ,have done 3 Erfs 2 Dafs 3 scanias a Volvo ,the scanias after umpteen yrs use actually made more money than they cost to do ,most had cranes put on so strength was gained by having a good sub chassis and side plates for the crane bosses .
I once bought a three axle hook lift that had been converted from a two axle unit.
What a nightmare! The weight distribution was all wrong so the front axle was overloaded by a tonne, and that was just with dry wood chips as the payload. Had to give it back.
That said, the problem was that particular conversion, not the principle.