Driving with the Jake brake , John Davies and myself fitted this engine brake to the ■■■■■■■ in about 6 of our ERFs we had Two settings 2 -4 cylinders with the jake switch on the dash and 2 more switches on the clutch , and throttle ,they where bloody fantastic , the sensation of this brake and the noise it made was unreal ! You could drop down the box with it on , the clutch switched it off during the change The whole outfit just felt as if you had control of the steep mountain roads, and coming down Tief loaded it took 1,1/2 hrs this brake was a God send to Trans Arabia with 40 ton pay load , I know it don’t sound much but you have to drive this terrain to realise the task before you ,in the heat of Saudi the brakes could and would burn out to anyone who had the misfortune of having to heavy a load with unknown braking system , ( IE brake adjustment or poor linings )they had certainly had had some stick , the Brits where great and only a couple had brake fail caused through these mountain roads with outrages weights , going South towards Khamis, the Mac had a engine brake but this was not a patch on the Jake with hind sight this could have been avoided if the loads had been put on with a double header , the jake brake was without a doubt the best brake ever . I have driven coaches with electric magnet retarders ,and trucks that had an exhaust valve in the down pipe and it was not As good as the Jake I had great feeling fitting the Jake to our trucks , with the mountain outside our back door it was a taylor made to test them to drive was fantastic ,but there is a limit to even this brake , the transmission gave up on TC s ERF carrying 40 ton down this mountain ,and he was lucky to get back to Jeddah with the diff locked up , Ron
Thanks for the information about the Jake brake. Why were and are they still not common on lorries? Cheers Johnny
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Hi Johnny , braking with heavy loads on steep mountain roads ,for long periods of time in red hot conditions is a recipe for disaster , but with the help of the engine brake it takes the strain out of the braking system , and allows the driver to control the braking to a minimum ,this in turn stops the the heat friction build up so the brakes will still work ? But of course in Saudi the conditions are always hot , our drivers where great using there skills to eliminate any trouble, the loads we carried put Trans Arabia on the map ,the company paid the price in the loss of the trucks that had been sacrificed in learning the hard way . The magnetic fly wheel retarder to which I have driven mounted on the back of the gearbox is quite heavy and open to the elements, gave me the feeling that it there was something quietly holding the coach back !! But nothing as good as the Jake , the Jake was loud and noisy ! In fact very loud and not to be used in some built up areas ? Also depending on the weather could lock the drive wheels in Ice ? But it’s a brake that not only sounded good it was good and a great asset for heavy rigs Ron
Hello Backsplice I’m only trying to get to the top of the next page before you do , oh and a (HAPPY NEW YEAR ) to all , your new year is before ours so you may have the honour ? Ron
OK Ron … I,ll better wish you a Happy New Year now or I might forget …all the very best old mate !!! 2017 makes it 40 years since my KSA adventure …seems like yesterday ■■?
Mah Salahm
The memories of Saudi Arabia are as clear as day in that hot Sun and blue blue sky , it was the ERF truck that started it at S Jones ,and it was the ERF that ended it at TASECO TMS covering the desert from Jeddah to the Gulf and the mountains in the South . It was the truck that took me on this journey for 6 1/2 years thanks for that .and thanks to all the lads that I have met along this long road of life they are great memories , there is no limit to the life of trucks ,alas there is for us mere mortals , we can only pass on our jeans ,mine have a few holes in but they seem to be back in fashion ,thanks to all you truckers home and abroad , Ron. Ps I still haven’t reached page 60 
Ron …
سنة جديدة سعيدة
sunnat jadidat saeida
good health for the next 12 months … better to wear out than rust out ■■?
I,ll see your 14 ERF,s and raise you 30 F89,s
Mah Salahm
Hold on a second I will see your 30 F 89s raise you140 ERF s and wait for it 290. C/ F trailers , Ho !! and and 2 GMs. And one cadilac with in the sugar in the Tank , you can either Stack um and fold um ? Or play, it’s your call Backsplice!!! this game could go on till next year you know I don’t bluff , Ron
Happy New Year to Merlin, KenB, Ron, Backsplice. Anyone who did overland and ‘internals’ and all those who worked within the ‘Magic Kingdom’ back ‘in the day’.
Forget any personal disagreements. It was a wonderful time to be alive, and we all prospered.
I hope 2017 will be a good year for all of us.
John.
Thanks John likewise all the best to you too …Now Ron are you sure you don,t want to fold ■■? I,ve still got a couple of recovery trucks and a lot more !!!..plus a couple of big things in the kitty !!!
Mah Saalahms
Stepping back in time , the crash box on all the old trucks was a slow change waiting a few seconds for the revs to die down , this was practice that made perfect and varied on how cold or warm the transmission was . The double De clutch was and still is something that you automatically did , changing down was the best to feel the gears sliding into mesh ? Or cringe when you rarely got it wrong ,timing was trick , dropping down the box was faster than going up about 1500 RPM I remember driving Sam Satterwaites Foden recovery truck to Sandbach for spares after an engine rebuild that I did in situe new blocks and with split ring compresion for the Pistons on the 5 LW gardner engine was as good as it could be ? But what a drive !! It was worth the rebuild ,this must have been the very last time this truck went up the M 6 from Streetly and a drive that was full of Rattles and draughts just brilliant , Ron
Hi Ron
A crash box seems a long way from the smooth automatic boxes of today.
I saw the perfect table and chairs for you a couple of days ago. The seats are made from oil drums and the table from an engine block.
Cheers, Johnny
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For you Ron, it would have to be a diesel engine, ■■■■■■■ or Gardner
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jsutherland:
For you Ron, it would have to be a diesel engine, ■■■■■■■ or GardnerSent from my Hol-U19 using Tapatalk
.
The only A C we had was Alternate current Ron
backsplice:
Ron …you,ve got a great album ■■?Mah Saalahm
Excuse me, I can see a box on top of the cab which delivered cold air! You lucky Bar Steward.
Real men didn’t eat quiche or have air conditioning! We had a ‘cool box’ which contained ice, bought at the ‘Kaki Kola’ factory in Dammam, in which we put water bottles and Pepsi (no coke in Saudi). Although I loved the taste of Vimto, ice cold, it gave me severe stomach cramps, so I avoided it!
We had those pathetic fans on the dashboard, which since the air was hot, blew hot air at you! At the height of summer I could be seen with a towel, which I had dipped in the melting ice in the cool box and hung over my head. If I remember correctly, it would be dry in about 10 minutes.
Why do I still remember these days through tinted specs? I think it was because we were still young!
John.
John !!! on the inside of the roof were a couple of vents which could oscillated in various directions …it was a good idea to have the guard cage from a domestic fan suspended below said vents in which the chauffeur could store several of his cans of container brand Vimto for cooling purposes … therefore having enough coldies for the trip to Riyahd restocking for the return journey …our little fridges on the floor of the passenger side never ever seemed to work ■■? but were good for storing cans etc … we had it tough ■■? I too had rose coloured specs ■■?
Burkrah Inshallah
Hang about you pair ? You will have me crying in my beer , we had A/Cs that din’t work ,they could not cope with the heat and the hot air from the windows burnt your earholes, and ask for stomach cramps !!! We did not have stomach,s !! there was a chain round the fridge , 1/2 way up the stairs at Trans Arabia ,and the food went straight through when we eventually got fed, we all had the King Fizals in turn , the system was full of cockroaches they got more food than us , we had a pet gecko that crawled up the outside window called Henry , the drivers threatened to kill him in retaliation for not getting enough to eat , but they backed down !! They where better than that ,so they put a split link on the chain out of sight instead , thats how the Mazola chicken escaped into the locker of 114 Mac and got burnt to death at 6000 ft ■■? I suppose it was some sort of Poetic Justice in a funny sort of way ,Ron
