Has Mercedes Always Been This Bad?

Carryfast:

acd1202:

Carryfast:

ERF-NGC-European:
But SKs had the modified NG cab with the ‘ironed out’ quarter-light window and a better appointed interior. They also came with more modern engines (no problem there) and - this was the defining characteristic - EPS transmission. EPS was truely awful, as described in this forum on legion threads.

It seems to be only in the Powerliner 2 where it became standard fit ?.I guess ours must have been at the cut off point of Powerliner 1 where proper shift was still available.

No, no. Firstly EPS was only standard fit on right-hand drive, our continental cousins had to pay extra for it. RHD Powerliner 1s all left the factory with EPS on a ZF 'box, Powerliner 2 got the new Mercedes in house 'box with the actuators inside the housing. EPS again was standard fit on RHD it was however a delete option, rarely taken; F Edmondson from Morecambe however did to my knowledge have a number (15?) 1838 G cabs with manuals, they were described as like stirring a suet pudding.

I certainly drove an early 90’s rhd 2534, whichever powerliner, with a proper manual shift.I also spent a long morning waiting for the linkage to be re welded for what seemed to be the umpteenth time in its life.When it wasn’t wearing out my left arm instead.
I’m guessing its previous drivers didn’t at least try to reduce the burden using double de clutched shifts.I also know the difference having done a driving assessment with an even worse piece of EPS junk and laughed at the thing’s incompetence.

Realistically the best improvement for a Merc would be only turbo V8 with a Fuller box conversion or 5 gallons of petrol and a match.

The '34 was a Powerliner 2 and therefore could be ordered with a manual. As for a Fuller, if people really wanted one they should have ordered them when the '28 was offered in the UK in the 80s with the option of a 13 speed Fuller and after 3 years on the option list they sold, so I was told by a Merc tech guy, the grand total of one so unsurprisingly it was withdrawn due to lack of interest.