Pre-Speed Limiters

[Kenny1975]

What kinda speeds did trucks do before speed limiters were introduced.

Spoke with a few people about this in the past at work.

Guess it depended on what kinda work they were going, some said they were crusing at 55-65mph, other said stuff like they were doing night trunks from Glasgow to Liverpool and basically hammer it down the road and back up as fast as possible. Tales of being off the speedo coming down off Shap on the M6 etc...

Vaguely remember driving a car back then and remember seeing some trucks and especially coaches flying by in lane 3 of the motorway.

Where things a lot more dangerous back then, just ask because these days someone doing 65mph in a truck i.e. Irish or Dutch seem to be looked down upon as really dangerous and thinking of other countries like the US where there is no speed limiters.

Heard before the accident rates for HGV's were purposely hard to find after speed limiters came out because in theory the lower speeds should have lead to less accidents caused by excess speed but in reality there was an increase in the amount of serious accidents due to the forced lower speeds and people loosing concentration and getting tired.

[jayeastanglia]

my grandad is always telling me that when he drove artics he was regually doing 80/90mph loaded...and how he tells me the amount of tyres that went bang at that speed...I got a merc 817 that will do 80ishmph if the limiter is disconnected (but not on road.was on private airstrip(boreham track)

[Shrek]

Back in 1988 I did Dover docks to north Leeds in 4hrs 40mins of continuous driving. I needed to be home, so I did it....70+ mph all the way up. That was in a Merc 2035 unit with a triaxle tilt bodied trailer containing 20t of chewing gum from Germany. Never got bothered by plod, it wasn't really an issue in them days.

OK, I know that was very naughty of me but it's over 6 months ago, so I can't be done!

[andy187]

i passed my class 1 in 1988
Did agency work for 6 months, no limiters.. fresha bread in leics had MANs that would sit at 1000 RPMs at 70mph !!!


1st proper job was euro work after 6 months, G reg merc V8 350.. used to cruise at 60-65 no probs with plod as said.
dover to leics was possible in 3 hours at 3am

in euro no problems again as long as you wern't silly with speed.. regular down to spain at 95kph in france, pulled but never fined

[Kenny1975]

Had a 380 Scania 06 plate speedo went on it one night coming up the M6.

Normally hauling an empty double decker trailer would be crawling up the hills having to drop down in 11th gear.

With a load on noticed with no limiter it sitting at about 1450rpm hitting the step hills give it a bit of juice and flew up the hills in top gear.

Guess thats why engine sizes were smaller back then.

[ROG]

What kinda speeds did trucks do before speed limiters were introduced.

CLICKY

[Coffeeholic]

Tales of being off the speedo coming down off Shap on the M6 etc...

The limiter doesn't prevent that happening today. A couple of weeks ago I had the raging hump about something and hit 80 mph coast bound on the M20 in a truck with a working limiter. Not big, not clever, but it sure was fun.

[HAIRYGORILLA]

[quote="Shrek"]Back in 1988 I did Dover docks to north Leeds in 4hrs 40mins of continuous driving. I needed to be home, so I did it....70+ mph all the way up. That was in a Merc 2035 unit with a triaxle tilt bodied trailer containing 20t of chewing gum from Germany. Never got bothered by plod, it wasn't really an issue in them days.

OK, I know that was very naughty of me but it's over 6 months ago, so I can't be done!

[/quote]

the speed cameras then had a guy that lit the flash so by the time it went off you was well gone i know speed cameras wasnt about then

[Twoninety88]

In between re-incarnations (ok, we went bust ) a few of us ended up with Collease truck rental Iveco 190.38's, these were the 380 BHP V8 Fiat lump, and I can state categorically, that these would reach and maintain speeds that would frighten a zombie!
Irresponsible behaviour and it was not clever

[toowise]

In between re-incarnations (ok, we went bust ) a few of us ended up with Collease truck rental Iveco 190.38's, these were the 380 BHP V8 Fiat lump, and I can state categorically, that these would reach and maintain speeds that would frighten a zombie!
Irresponsible behaviour and it was not clever

I had an ex Irish reg Iveco 190.38 re registered uk in 1989
Used to do Burslem (Stoke on Trent) yard to Dover Docks in under 4 and 1/2 hours have a break on the Ferry and then make south of Luxembourg in a 10 hour shift .
Once I was coming down the M6 at Shap at about 2 a.m. Dont know what speed i was doing as it was off the clock. Car pulled alongside and flashed blue lights. My heart was in my mouth as you all have probably experienced at some time or another.
When i looked down the smokie waved his hand and mouthed ..........

" F******** Slow Down"

I did what he said till he was out of sight and then it was pedal to the metal again.

Like every one says NOT big NOT clever but a hell of a lot of fun!!!

[tc trans]

I used to have an F10 that would do 70 mph on the throttle, yet if you pulled the hand throttle out you could get it up to 75 mph,, you just had to hope that you never needed to stop a bit lively though, its a bugger trying to find the hand throttle to push it back in when your trying to stop the motor.

[mark h]

my dad used to drive for a fim called EFL (used to b part of freightliners i think)
and he had a foden 4500 on a j reg with a 450 rolls royce engine, and if he took the hazard light fuse out this would disconnect the speed limiter was used more than once i do admit but as said in previous posts this was over 6 months ago haha

[Darby Flyer]

I used to do agency out of TNT retail at leicester about 12 years ago.

They had just got some new 'N' plate MAN 7.5's and before the limiters went on, they would happily do 80 /85 on the motorway. They were regularly weighing in at 8 ton loaded so I thought that was prettty good going for a smaller engine.

Comfy and quiet too,

[robB39]

I think the Mercs and ERFs had the best 'gearing' for high speeds 80+. If you take the limiter off these days the 'gearing' is all wrong;-designed for lower speeds.

The yanks spec their own gear ratios so can achieve much higher speeds at sensible rpm 90 -100mph. (ZB me)

[renaultman]

65 mph was considered cruising
And we used to have journey times pre loads od bypasses and removed roundabouts, that nowadays people could only dream of.

[knowall]

I had a driver done for 79 mph fully freighted (38 ton) in a Iveco 220.38 on the M6.
I know cos I saw the ticket!

[Conor]

In 1996 I was driving a D reg Leyland Roadtrain with a 290 Cummins in that could quite happily do 70MPH with plenty to go if you weren't careful.

[Hombre]

My 290 F88 (OUX 518R) would pull at 68 on the flat fully loaded at 38 ton - that was about 1984. Then I was promoted to an F12 which only did 65!! And never any problems with the coppers.

[renaultman]

In 1996 I was driving a D reg Leyland Roadtrain with a 290 Cummins in that could quite happily do 70MPH with plenty to go if you weren't careful.

So could my Bedford TM especially when the Diff went and I changed it for a Sed Atk 401 one, you could drop it down a cog and still do 60, it was only a 9 speed box anarl. Was a [zb] to stop though

[Kenny1975]

Tales of being off the speedo coming down off Shap on the M6 etc...

The limiter doesn't prevent that happening today. A couple of weeks ago I had the raging hump about something and hit 80 mph coast bound on the M20 in a truck with a working limiter. Not big, not clever, but it sure was fun.

Tut tut

Guess lucky prob on a digi card lol , Volvo i was driving for awhile carrying about 35ton used to have to be careful not to rip the tachograph chart on some of the hills on the M74 and the A69

[JB]

Had a 380 Scania 06 plate speedo went on it one night coming up the M6.

Normally hauling an empty double decker trailer would be crawling up the hills having to drop down in 11th gear.

With a load on noticed with no limiter it sitting at about 1450rpm hitting the step hills give it a bit of juice and flew up the hills in top gear.

Guess thats why engine sizes were smaller back then.

I had a p reg fh380 that pulled like a train "off limiter" yet wouldnt pull you off the bog otherwise. Not speed related either really... it would just pull like a train at normal speeds to.

[Mr.Shep]

Back in the eighties a firm workin out of our yard reckoned they could get 110 out of MANs. They used to do Sheffield to Glasgow and back on night trunk but couldn't understand why the super singles kept blowing on the trailers. Hmm tad too warm me thinks.

[fuse]

foden rolls 265 70 easy all day but about 4 mpg i must have been mad

[renaultman]

foden rolls 265 70 easy all day but about 4 mpg i must have been mad

Aye but diesel would have been >30ppl equates to 12mpg+ now

[s2rich]

just going back to the original post it says why is it frowned upon now for irish etc to go 65. Now because 99% of the trucks on the road are limited to 52-56 mph and you get one doing 65mph then it becomes dangerous. But as said above back in day eveyone was doing that speed and also the traffic back then is nothing like today.

[Kenny1975]

I don't see how its dangerous doing 65mph i can understand someones anger at people flouting the laws when other people are forced to sit at 55mph.

infact can understand someones anger when ive read from cases about peoples trucks being PG9'd for the truck being limited to 59mph rather 57mph and then see others flying past you. Its likes why can these people get away with this.

but i still don't see the danger in doing it. see more danger in a 10min overtake espec in windy conditions.

[T_Trev]

As late as 1998 I had a Renault Midliner M180 recovery truck (11 ton) with no limiter. Used to cruise on the red line @ 77mph. Could do Dover to Manchester and back overnight (booze cruisers with laden transits) in just under 8 hours including loading time.

[newmercman]

It was rumored that an Iveco Turbostar 190-48 that I used to have would do over 100mph, but that was only a rumour & even if it was over 6 months ago there is no way that my Dad would follow me in his car up the A2 & tell me that I was doing 105mph according to his speedo, No officer, no way would that happen

[greg50]

i heard a story of a driver who was pulled on the m6 many years ago.
he was driving for a meat company in ireland called hallal meats.
they ran turbostars and 141 scanias.
the policeman told him he was spotted doing 106 miles per hour.
the driver replied.
the truck is due in for service,the mechanic might locate and fix the problem when i get back home.
i never heard what happened in the end.

nowadays we are all speed limited and running at up to 44t.
on 5 and 6 axles.
back in the good or bad old days,
we ran 32 ton on 4 axles,and at all sorts of speeds.
i am inclined to think,the accident rate is not any lower now than it was back in the pre limliter days.
there was a lot less traffic then of course.
i am happy enough driving on the limiter now and even drive my car a 55/60 on the motorway.
what do the other members thinks.
has the limiter cut down the pro rata death rates?
im not sure things are any better now.
having said that.
you would never get a good run from knutsford to corley services now doing 70mph.
inevitably you would get caught up in traffic somewhere along the line
morelike stop start.

[newmercman]

greg50 I would say you're right, too much traffic for big speed nowadays, I used to cruise at 65 in the days before limiters, faster to get a run at a big hill, but now we have 400hp in local distribution lorries which can sit on the limiter up hill & down dale, there wasn't a 400hp lorry made when I started out so we probably didn't average out any faster.

Limiters get blamed but are not the cause of drivers sitting up peoples chuff either, nor do they cause lorries to sit side by side for miles on end pissing everyone off, that's down to the clown behind the wheel not accepting the limitations of his/her vehicle, can you imagine the damage they could do in an unrestricted lorry, bloody scary mate