Did anyone tyhink the eaton splitter was a good gearbox?

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
41

Bking:

cruisin comet:
Best setup in a truck with a twin splitter was the Ford Cargo 2838 but as has been said, the Fuller Roadranger 9 speed was one of the best boxes, fitted into a Leyland Bison I had.

No other box had that “sweetness” when you got it right.Like driving a racing car but as with all things worth doing it took time and practise. And coupled into a 290 big cam ■■■■■■■ I used to leave those F12 boys for dead.Will never forget the sound of that range button air shift.Music to my ears.

Jesus im going all soft and weepy eyed forgive me gentelmen .sob

Yep, the first truck I drove with an Eaton Twin in it was the 3828 - it’s a love affair I’m still ‘guilty’ of!! The second truck was an ERF E10 325, but it didn’t have quite - not quite - the same punch as the 3828 with the Eaton TS in. My Cargo has an Eaton/Fuller RT11609a 9-speed in it (aka old Roadranger box). It’s a nice box, though requires consummate skill to operate; but I’d still have preffered one with the Eaton TS in. Oh well. .

42

The twin-splitter was banned as too noisy (drive-by rather than in-cab noise)

Any one remember the Eaton S16 synchro box that came in to replace it? Nice action by all accounts but there was an assembly problem with it that meant that all the early ones failed, so MAN and the Brit truck makers dropped it for ZF.

Eaton is now trying to get back into the European heavy truck transmission market,which should at least keep ZF honest with its prices.

truckingtopics.co.uk/eatoniaaultrashi.html

43

GasGas:
Eaton is now trying to get back into the European heavy truck transmission market,which should at least keep ZF honest with its prices.

truckingtopics.co.uk/eatoniaaultrashi.html

Good stuff; as I’ve noted spares are a ■■■■■■’ nightmare to get hold of and I guess the day will come. . . Aren’t Eaton based in Poland nowadadays or somewhere similar!■■?

44

Eaton is massive, and stated up about 100 years ago making axles in the USA…it now seems to make just about everything you can think of.

They used to have a factory in Manchester making Roadranger gearboxes for the USA, I think that one went to France or Poland.

45

Drove one shunting on agency a few months ago for a few weeks. Loved it, never even seen one before until I jumped in it, i got the hang of it after a few days even though i didnt get above 30mph!! Not that anyone needs reminding but I took a few pics on my phone as I doubt I will ever see one again.

46

hitch:
the gearbox that tells you when your tired

Kerbdog:
My first long term truck was a Seddon Atkinson Strato (with the DAF cab) 325. Its reg was K602 VNA and had a twin split Eaton gearbox. It took me a day to get used to it but at the time it was ok. The best thing of all was that on a rare occasion somebody else would have to drive it they wouldn’t be able to ! The Eaton twin split has to be one of the best anti theft devices on any vehicle ever !

Two good statements there, Gents. I hated that gearbox with a passion for the first week,then kind of got used to it,but not happy.Then,it all came together after I plucked up enough courage to try bunny hopping.Lightning fast,mostly redundant left foot,but bit you for the slightest misdemeanour.Most satisfying box ever. :smiley: :smiley:

47

Cold Up North:
I think Alan Firmin had one of the 1st SAMT ERF’s, it was in one of the magazines in the early 90’s

That was it SAMT, thanks. I quite liked it for the single week I drove it. It was much quicker than the early Merc semi automatics of the same era.

48

In reply to the OP! I prefer the Ishift meself! :sunglasses:

49

FarnboroughBoy11:

That picture is just crying out for a woman with a vacuum cleaner and a damp cloth. :wink:

50

the best gearbox ever made, it would even give your auto’s a run for its money in the right hands

51

scotstrucker:
the best gearbox ever made, it would even give your auto’s a run for its money in the right hands

Agree, I had one fitted to a Sudden Accident that I drove back in the day and I thought it was a fantastic gearbox. I seem to remember that they died out not because of any mechanical shortcomings but simply because they were noisier than a ZF syncromesh box.

I suppose they really were the first automatic gearbox in that you only had to use the clutch when pulling away, I remember Eaton advertisements at the time headlined “London to Birmingham without moving” and showing a picture of a clutch pedal.

52

Hexhome:

Cold Up North:
I think Alan Firmin had one of the 1st SAMT ERF’s, it was in one of the magazines in the early 90’s

That was it SAMT, thanks. I quite liked it for the single week I drove it. It was much quicker than the early Merc semi automatics of the same era.

Roger Bettley had the first SAMT box in a Foden that was on the Eaton gearbox contract . he did all the trials on it for them .

53

Harry Monk:

FarnboroughBoy11:

That picture is just crying out for a woman with a vacuum cleaner and a damp cloth. :wink:

It’s the truck driver’s equivalent of Tracey Emin’s ‘Unmade Bed’

54

A brilliant box if it was in good order, a nightmare to learn and a nightmare if the box was mullered !

I had one which used to jump out of top gear if you hit a bad bump lol, right pita that was :stuck_out_tongue:

55

The argument has been done & won several times :stuck_out_tongue:

They were a fantastic gearbox, the SAMT was tried by many, rejected by a few. Tanker work is a difficult proving ground but the ETS coped well as does an iShift.

The noise issue was caused in drive by tests between buildings, not the selectors or inadvertent crunching :stuck_out_tongue:

56

Mt tuppence worth-

I loved it too, used it on a couple of ERF’s I drove. Good positive shifts with well stepped ratios.

57

Drove an 8 wheeler eurotrakker that was hated by all the other drivers when i started a new job about 14 years ago.
Waited till the yard was empty before i took it out.
Talk about making a wee boy out of me :unamused:
Great piece of kit once i got used to it though and i was sad to see it go,especially as it was replaced with a man. :frowning:

58

Phantom Mark:
A brilliant box if it was in good order, a nightmare to learn and a nightmare if the box was mullered !

I had one which used to jump out of top gear if you hit a bad bump lol, right pita that was :stuck_out_tongue:

Thats what happened to the Iveco I drove once. I was warned about the problem by the fitter before I left the yad though. But still, never again.:frowning:

59

Bking:
Remember I once rebuilt a Spicer and got the counter shaft timing wrong.

:smiley: Had just sat down for me dinner one day, apprentice walks into the bait room with 3 large screwdrivers in his hand.
Cocky little git said " some fitter you are, you’ve jammed these screwies into that box you’re rebuilding ".

Ahh, well that was a waste of time, start again after dinner…

60

kr79:

Bking:

Retired Old ■■■■:

Bking:
Do you mean the twin splitter? Never really got on with those too “faffy” but the 9 or 13 speed Eaton fuller gearbox with the square box change was a joy to drive.Could outshift any crap syncroed unit once you got the feel of it.Another good box was the Spicer with overdrive but they tended to chip teeth if you were a bit rough with them…

Use to love repairing them nearly as much as driving them.Real truck gearboxes even the old crouts used to fit them in MANs rather than the usual ZF rubbish.

Main reason they died out was that there is no way you can link them into an electronic or semi automatic shift system.Like a motorbike you have to match engine speed with road speed and no super dooper ECU can beat a human being at that.Even the split had to be timed right never mind the range.But you could beat any syncro box truck off the line because you actualy shifted the gears not the syncro hubs.Memories!
Remember I once rebuilt a Spicer and got the counter shaft timing wrong.Started the old sedack up all was fine went to get a brew while it was ticking over on the pit,came back and a very strange noise but just was not quick enough to turn the motor off before the gearbox exploded. [zb] Awesum like putting a grenade in a biscuit tin.All that was left was a bit fastened to the prop and the front of the box and bell housing.OH [zb]

If I may be allowed to jog the memory a bit- Eaton DID actually bring out a semi-automatic box using the twin splitter as a base. They had a working mock-up at a Commercial Motor Show in the 1980s and both my workmate and I had a go on it. As long-time users of the Roadranger series, we found the semi-auto box a brilliant piece of kit to use, although I believe it never got into production due to cost and weight. Eaton also had a mock-up of a semi-auto version of the Roadranger 9-speed, but I assume that went the same way, for the same reasons.
To return to the original question, I thought the twin splitter (or more correctly, the twin countershaft) gearbox was, and still is, the best thing since sliced bread. But then, I was brought up on “decent” gearboxes without namby-pamby things like synchromesh or electronics.

ALL Eaton heavy transmissions are twin counter shaft,single input dual output.Only real difference between the twin split and the fuller was 2 torque springs and a logic box.The twin split was really the begining of the end for the crash box.It sowed the seeds of its own destruction.

There was a automated version of it offered called SAMT someone here had a thread going on here about it I think they done an article about the early automated boxes for a magazine. Newmercman had an Iveco fitted with it. Was quite troublesome so was retrofitted with a standard twin splitter