robert1952:
Wheel Nut:
robert1952:
hurri67:
It was a B Series day cab, it came back from Basingstoke on the back of our wrecker.It was an experimental trial.
Nice one. I was always a fan of both B-series ERFs and Eaton Twin-splitters! Robert 
I remember the B Series with a Twin Splitter. It was automatic and called SAMT. Semi automated manual transmission. AS Jones had some in their fleet
The Eaton Twin-splitter didn’t come out until the ERF E-series was on the scene. I have to say, I’ve never heard of any B or C-series ERFs with a Twin-splitter. However, you are right about the automated Twin-splitter being called SAMT. Many operators had them converted back to manual, which says it all really! Cheers! Robert
That is exactly what I did on my 520 EuroStar, all the electric crap went in the skip and a stick went in its place. It wasn’t the easiest conversion as the shift pattern was upside down, 1st was where 2nd should be and 3rd was in the 4th position, a linkage from Seddon Atkinson fixed the problem, but they were as rare as, well full width IVECO cabbed Seddon Atkinson Stratos!
The switch to a manual Twin Splitter didn’t make much difference TBH, yes it was a faster shift, but with that big V8 in front of it, changing gear didn’t happen much anyway. I could play all the tricks on a TS and didn’t often find one of the 47 neutrals that they could have, but I preferred the 13spd in the 48 TurboStar that I had before, as Robert says, they were a very good installation, the gearstick was right where you wanted it and it had just the right amount of travel between each gear and neutral, so it was easy to float between gears.
I’ve got a 13spd in the Volvo VN I’ve just bought, now that installation is as good as it gets, the stick is mounted right on top of the gearbox, the flat floor means a 2800 Daf length gearstick, but again, that gives a decent amount of room between neutral and a gear, so it makes it easy to shift, the Volvo engine is not very well suited to the box, it’s a bit revvy, but a gentle right boot and you can avoid crunching 99.9% of the time, but you really have to be on the ball until the oil warms up in the box.
13 speed roadranger behind 14 litre 400 ■■■■■■■ tweaked to 440.
littlerichard:
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13 speed roadranger behind 14 litre 400 ■■■■■■■ tweaked to 440.
The bhp is of no concern, it is the torque that the ■■■■■■■ produced that gave it the pulling power. Some beast I am envious.
Back in 1996, I drove this 1989 Iveco 190-48T for a month. Pictured here parked alongside my garden, it was a brilliant lorry fitted with a 12-speed Fuller box; no idea if it was the Roadranger model, though.
I remember the first 4 gears were obtained by revolving a ring-like switch on the stick to one side. Turning the switch on the other side would give gears 5 to 8, with a splitter only on these 4 gears, which didn’t need to press the clutch pedal. Many drivers couldn’t get used to it, but I found it very easy and pleasant. Sorry, it’s my only picture of this lorry.
Just a pity the soundproofing of the cab was perfectible…
Froggy55:
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Back in 1996, I drove this 1989 Iveco 190-48T for a month. Pictured here parked alongside my garden, it was a brilliant lorry fitted with a 12-speed Fuller box; no idea if it was the Roadranger model, though.
I remember the first 4 gears were obtained by revolving a ring-like switch on the stick to one side. Turning the switch on the other side would give gears 5 to 8, with a splitter only on these 4 gears, which didn’t need to press the clutch pedal. Many drivers couldn’t get used to it, but I found it very easy and pleasant. Sorry, it’s my only picture of this lorry.
Just a pity the soundproofing of the cab was perfectible…
Sounds like a 13-speed Fuller to me, Froggy (the crawler gear counted as 1st). They did offer them as optional on those Turbostars and there are more examples earlier in the thread. Cheers! Robert
robert1952:
Froggy55:
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Back in 1996, I drove this 1989 Iveco 190-48T for a month. Pictured here parked alongside my garden, it was a brilliant lorry fitted with a 12-speed Fuller box; no idea if it was the Roadranger model, though.
I remember the first 4 gears were obtained by revolving a ring-like switch on the stick to one side. Turning the switch on the other side would give gears 5 to 8, with a splitter only on these 4 gears, which didn’t need to press the clutch pedal. Many drivers couldn’t get used to it, but I found it very easy and pleasant. Sorry, it’s my only picture of this lorry.
Just a pity the soundproofing of the cab was perfectible…
Sounds like a 13-speed Fuller to me, Froggy (the crawler gear counted as 1st). They did offer them as optional on those Turbostars and there are more examples earlier in the thread. Cheers! Robert
There may indeed have been a crawler facing the reverse gear on the stick; that’s now… yes, 20 years ago! I also had a bonneted Iveco 330-30 (Magirus cab) fitted with the same kind of gearbox. With a good ear, you could pass all gears without using the clutch, provided the engine was kept at the right rpms. Another brilliant lorry with an athletic engine and comfortable cab. Cheers! Paul
Just had this come up on my Youtube thing:
youtube.com/watch?v=To0wN9LjBF8
I get them automatically. Once it works out what you like, it gives you more and more of it, without your having to lift a finger.
Punchy Dan:
A bit of news for this thread ,I’ve heard that over on Rofs patch that the only Erf Ecx N14 unit built with a low roof is being fully rebuilt for use again with a 18000nm torque 13 speed fuller from America .
WHO? WHERE?? And how much are they paying?? 
littlerichard:
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13 speed roadranger behind 14 litre 400 ■■■■■■■ tweaked to 440.
Nice pic, and I know where it is- A87 on the Skye side of Cluanie hotel. Sorry, nothing to do with Fuller gearboxes 
[zb]
anorak:
Just had this come up on my Youtube thing:
youtube.com/watch?v=To0wN9LjBF8
I get them automatically. Once it works out what you like, it gives you more and more of it, without your having to lift a finger.
He being an Italian, I can forgive him all the flamboyant and fussy revving and hand-crossing on the wheel; but why is he blipping the throttle to upshift when he should be letting the revs die to match the cogs. He’d never have got thro’ a Class 1 test in Blighty with a Fuller 'box in our day! lol 
. Robert
ERF-NGC-European:
why is he blipping the throttle to upshift when he should be letting the revs die to match the cogs. He’d never have got thro’ a Class 1 test in Blighty with a Fuller 'box in our day! lol . Robert
There is some method to that madness Robert at least on the flat.Just like matching the revs when you’ve shifted into neutral as part of a clutchless/floated upshift.Or possibly even having missed a shift,leaving the choice then of either re match the engine road speed perfectly or stop and start again.IE it’s just a method of rematching the engine speed if the revs have fallen below the road speed during an upshift.
On that note listen to the soundtrack on the Bullitt car chase.( By all accounts dubbed over the scene from an actual race car and driver ).Of which I sometimes did/do a reasonable impression with everything from the TM and Fodens to the old Clydesdale to the Jag.Especially in the case of the Detroit engine which had similar characteristics to a race car engine ( or a Jag road car with an aluminium flywheel 
),regarding the almost instantaneous way that the revs drop off a cliff,when you release the accelerator.You’ve probably spent too long around ■■■■■■■ engines in that regard in which case the problem would probably be more often that of the road speed falling faster than the engine speed. 
youtube.com/watch?v=no7XR7s8Z7o 1.08 - 1.54
While it’s easy to discern the split upshifts from some of the rev matched full upshifts in this vid.
youtube.com/watch?v=ZmytwZnXgjM
Carryfast:
ERF-NGC-European:
why is he blipping the throttle to upshift when he should be letting the revs die to match the cogs. He’d never have got thro’ a Class 1 test in Blighty with a Fuller 'box in our day! lol . Robert
There is some method to that madness Robert at least on the flat.Just like matching the revs when you’ve shifted into neutral as part of a clutchless/floated upshift.Or possibly even having missed a shift,leaving the choice then of either re match the engine road speed perfectly or stop and start again.IE it’s just a method of rematching the engine speed if the revs have fallen below the road speed during an upshift.
Well yes, of course: all of us who drove constant-mesh 'boxes understand that! And I did it when necessary. Italians did it all the time though. I remember listening in amazement to the their progress up from Dover through Kent in the old days! Robert
ERF-NGC-European:
Carryfast:
ERF-NGC-European:
why is he blipping the throttle to upshift when he should be letting the revs die to match the cogs. He’d never have got thro’ a Class 1 test in Blighty with a Fuller 'box in our day! lol . Robert
There is some method to that madness Robert at least on the flat.Just like matching the revs when you’ve shifted into neutral as part of a clutchless/floated upshift.Or possibly even having missed a shift,leaving the choice then of either re match the engine road speed perfectly or stop and start again.IE it’s just a method of rematching the engine speed if the revs have fallen below the road speed during an upshift.
Well yes, of course: all of us who drove constant-mesh 'boxes understand that! And I did it when necessary. Italians did it all the time though. I remember listening in amazement to the their progress up from Dover through Kent in the old days! Robert
Some might say it’s a matter of pride and keeping sharp and in practice in being able to instinctively recover and match a shift every time even if you’ve missed one.
Or on the other hand necessity because the driver ain’t quick enough in being able to catch the gear in time before the revs have fallen away too far and then seems to manage to recover it more by luck than judgement.
On that note I like the Italian driver’s style who seems to fit the former.
As opposed to this example who seems to fit the latter as two stroke diesel power rightly says.
youtube.com/watch?v=Lqvv1GecnrQ
Although look on the bright side still better than many Brit drivers whingeing about having to stop and start again because they’d missed a shift.
Not really fuller roadranger, but it reminded me of a story from my youth. (I have driven 9 and 13 speed fullers) - ‘4 bars, 6 bars, big mother******s that go Tschh when you hit the brakes!’ I bought my first lorry to carry timber from the borders, mainly to Wigan, in 1969. This was on behalf of my uncle Jack. Jack had worked for George C Croasdale, driving a Leyland Beaver pole trailer and then became manager of George junior’s St Boswell’s mill before leaving to set up on his own. We used to move around the borders with the ‘fellers’ in caravans cutting the timber and me in my Leyland Comet, then in a BMC 6 wheeler, followed by a Mastiff Artic, carrying it South.
I shared a Caravan with Jack when on site and he used to regale me with trucking stories. Once, when he was manager at Croasdale’s mill, George had asked him to visit someone in George’s E type Jag. Jack was wearing wellingtons. He could tell a tale better than me, but there was a good straight as you left the yard and Jack’s foot got stuck on the accelerator beneath the brake and the vision of him fishtailing down the A7 at 120 mph, trying to extricate the wellies has stayed with me!
John.
CF is right about the big FIAT V8 dropping rpms quickly, they need a very fast shift to avoid crunching, or you do it the Italian way and feed it in gently with a light throttle, the former being a bit brutal TBH, meaning the latter was the better way in my opinion. The Volvo and the Paccar (Daf) engine with the Fuller box are the same, they require really fast shifts.
I just watched it again (Bloody hell, the sound quality is good). He’s definitely blipping the pedal to try to keep it just lit enough to synchronise the next gear up. The whole film is just great- the driver, his lad, plus that lorry. When I grow up, I’m going to have a 190F35. ■■ 141’s.
Well, not having ever driven a V8 Fiat, I cannot speak from experience. I completely accept that some engines were better suited to Fuller 'boxes than others; and that some manufacturers installed their Fuller 'boxes much better than others using the same engines! I must say that Fiat’s old 14-litre straight-six 420 lump was a dream with a Twin-splitter 
in my old Eurostar.
Robert
Never had a V8 Fiat either Robert but no doubt you are right about the different engines.
However I think that there is very much more ‘theorising’ about the use of constant mesh boxes than experience like we had actually punching one up and down the road week in week out.
Personally I have some really wonderful theory’s about, for example, driving multi fuel gas turbine engines but none of them have even an ounce of actual experience.
But like it or not the truth is that when Mr Scania or Mr Volvo gave us good syncro boxes life became a lot easier.
David
