[zb]
anorak:
An interesting snippet from the Truck magazine article posted above:
Was that a valid criticism?
Of course it was not valid criticism,typical bloody truck magazine garbage ! They seriously had a problem with
Volvo trucks for some reason always built them up on a pedestal and then proceeded to know them back down. 
windrush:
[ anorak]An interesting snippet from the Truck magazine article posted above:
Was that a valid criticism?I have no experience of anything made overseas but one haulier (who ran neither make) once told me that Volvo were a poor mans Scania! “Volvo use rivetted chassis, Scania are bolted and that’s a sign of quality!” he used to say, Volvo were perhaps cheaper to buy as well? To be fair many UK built trucks had trim (and especially seats!!!
) that were not exactly built to last but I don’t think that would be the most importand criterior when purchasing a new truck!
Pete.
Thanks for your comments Pete.
(Rant time) 
Obviously that haulier never knew what he was talking about,especially as he never
run either make 
Probably wrote for truck magazine in his spare time !
Build quality of the 2 Swedes was far better than any other manufacturer of that era in my opinion. I am not saying
there were not other good makes obviously, but i think if you did a poll with European drivers of that era they would
both be at the top of the list.
I remember Ralph Davies telling me that the first run they did to Tashkent,they sent 2 x 143 Scania’s and 2 x F12 Volvos.
When they returned bearing in mind how bad the roads / tracks were the Scanias were in the workshop for 2 days being
repaired and the Volvos were in there one day ! I hate to think how long certain makes would have been in the
garage.
You have to also take into consideration that Sweden has the most stringent saftey tests in Europe for vehicles that they
have to pass before they can be manufactured. From memory the cab test involved a 1.5 ton lump of concrete being
swung into the windscreen pillars and a lump of concrete being placed on the roof which weighed 7 tons !
When Volvo built the FH12 range they invested 600 million pounds on the development ! How people can question
the build quality is beyond me ! I dont believe there has been another manufacturer that has invested more time in
building a vehicle with driver saftey and comfort in mind.
Heres an article from 1978.
Click on pages twice to read.
bald:
Dean, once again, thank you for taking the time to putting it all on here, highly appreciated .The electrical cover, the dash and grille did last actually quite long, I presume, because they were made of plastic in stead of metal, it might have given the first impression of being flimsy.
So, with hindsight (allways easier
Thanks for your input and comments “bald” 
rigsby:
On the subject of chassis bolts , a firm I worked for had about 20 new AEC light 8 wheelers . The fleet engineer took every one in turn in the workshop and had the chassis bolts checked , 50% needs tightening and quite a few were scarcely more than finger tight .
Sounds like dodgy build quality to me “rigsby”
“Buzzer” has run transport all his life and had a large fleet of trucks. Funny enough the 2 makes he operated were wait
for it Volvo and Scania !!!
Obviously Buzzer run them for a reason and i reckon they were the following.
- Reliability.
2.Build quality = reliability.
3.Driver acceptance.
4.Re sale value.