I’ve seen a few posts hereabouts commenting on the poor ride quality of the Merc Actros. I always assumed the posters were exaggerating a bit. Well, today I drove one and by god what they said is true - It’s shocking! Lurching and wallowing over ordinary A-road undulations like a demented camel. I was actually glad to bring it back to the yard and be sent instead to collect one of our rigids from the dealer workshop.
I take my hat off to those who drive these things all the time - How do you cope with it?
Funnily enough you kind of adapt to it and tune it out, you learn where every bump in the road is and consequently pick up your coffee prior to hitting it almost subconsciously. It’s only when driving another marque of vehicle that the enormity of what a badly suspended pile of dung the Actros is.
It’s not just the ride, i can’t think of one positive attribute, thankfully i get to drive one about once every three years and that’s once too often.
Could forgive the ride if the thing had any guts or if the gearbox wasn’t so utterly hopeless.
The Actros ride quality is second to none (for how bad it is). When we had some 64 plates turn up, fleet spec 4x2 I was quite impressed with the cab and was really looking forward to driving one. Well after been thrown around the cab for 8hrs driving time on the first day I don’t think I have ever been so disappointed in a truck in all my life.
The trucks are 400hp model and are so gutless and going across the M62 at about 30 tonnes you get about everything overtake you. I will be over the moon when they get traded in.
elsa Lad:
The Actros ride quality is second to none (for how bad it is). When we had some 64 plates turn up, fleet spec 4x2 I was quite impressed with the cab and was really looking forward to driving one. Well after been thrown around the cab for 8hrs driving time on the first day I don’t think I have ever been so disappointed in a truck in all my life.
The trucks are 400hp model and are so gutless and going across the M62 at about 30 tonnes you get about everything overtake you. I will be over the moon when they get traded in.
Only 30 tonnes?? I regularly go up Windy Hill at 44 tonnes in an Actros, if I don’t manually drop the gears it dies on its arse! Think I got to the top once at about 23mph!
I agree that the gearbox is rubbish, or more likely the software that controls it. Pull away empty, it selects 2nd. Gently roll up to a junction at 44T and it hangs on to 6th, bogs down, beeps, flounders around for a bit then finally gets something. I’m usually looking out for it sticking in 6th so I can knock it down.
Think the suspension in the big space is better than the littler fleet cab.
They did something to the suspension for a price going from two leaf to one leaf or something similar. Not an expert on these things. Think they have learned their lesson now. Well hope so anyway.
Don’t mind the deliberate lack of power going up hill as such as it supposedly saves fuel although you are watching your back doors like a starlet on a ■■■■ shoot to see if you are going to get rammed from behind when you are down to 30 mph at 44 tonne on the hills.
The gear box ain’t too bad although is very dated now compared to all the others. Just freaks out from time to time and won’t give you a gear for about 20 seconds. Fun if you are in the middle of a junction.
last fully auto 540 actros i bought was in 2005 and kept it for 4 years with only the clutch self destructing at 5pm rush hour after 2 years as a fault.
nothing else let me down apart from normal servicing repairs.
i spent a grand getting it hooked up to show 56 when doing 64 ,it went like a greasy stick up a dogs bum and could mostly keep up with anything coming off a boat with the tacho being on.
lifting and dropping trailers and general road holding was also without issue and i thought is was as good as anything else coming out of a factory.
once in a blue moon the box ■■■■ itself but a quick neutral and off we go again.
theres no bad trucks nowadays just some have more street cred than others,( ok,axors are dire),the main difference is the amount of snowflake nit picking drivers.
I guess I’m in a minority then, as I quite like my 66 plate 6x2 with 450 ponies. Admittedly not as good as my R450 Scania that got taken off me when the firm (Canute, the bastiches) went bump, but I don’t find it as bad as some.
I like the flat floored cab, plenty of power sockets, enough headroom to stand up in and a decent view from on high.
I don’t like the storage, two big under bunk drawers and a very limited overhead full width storage area. No top bunk, and the outside lockers are quite high up. I’m 6’1 in old money and I still find them a bit of a stretch, but I do like the lower external locker on the nearside. Just wish there was an identical one on the offside. Never had any issues with the ride quality though, which seems to be most peoples gripe. Maybe because I don’t drive it like I stole it, as so many people seem to do.
Serious gripes are reserved for the gearbox though. Coming up to a junction or a roundabout where you want to keep the whole thing rolling takes a lot of patience and planning. If I need to floor it to grab a gap in the traffic, the box’s ECU holds a committee meeting to decide what gear to provide me with. Then it puts it out to public consultation for approval, takes a ballot for the most popular choice, tries it, realises that the majority are idiots, says bugger it, and FINALLY gives me a decent gear. This can take up to 12 seconds, and leave me stranded with no drive in the middle of the road with my danglies flapping in the breeze!
I could also use a far better approach angle on it. Lack of it has cause some problems with the nature of the work I do.
But on the whole, I’m reasonably happy with it, and want to keep it.
FAR better than a Renault. Or a Daf of any description, that wont turn worth a ■■■■!
robroy:
I took out a 10 year + old Topline Scania on a day run while my year old Actros was being serviced last year…I wanted to swap it.
I actually did swap my Actros 16plt for a 14 plt MAN TGX
I never kept even a half full cuppa on the dash of the Actros as it would be all over it
I couldn’t drive for more than 2 hours constant or my bum started to complain
Only thing good was the 3 stage exhaust brake
I’ve only recently changed the TGX for A TGX XXL cabbed 18plt as a driver left so the driver of my current one moved to the truck which is a Traxon gear boxed TGX XXL and the one I’m in is a arsetronic boxed
WhiteTruckMan:
I guess I’m in a minority then, as I quite like my 66 plate 6x2 with 450 ponies. Admittedly not as good as my R450 Scania that got taken off me when the firm (Canute, the bastiches) went bump, but I don’t find it as bad as some.
I like the flat floored cab, plenty of power sockets, enough headroom to stand up in and a decent view from on high.
I don’t like the storage, two big under bunk drawers and a very limited overhead full width storage area. No top bunk, and the outside lockers are quite high up. I’m 6’1 in old money and I still find them a bit of a stretch, but I do like the lower external locker on the nearside. Just wish there was an identical one on the offside. Never had any issues with the ride quality though, which seems to be most peoples gripe. Maybe because I don’t drive it like I stole it, as so many people seem to do.
Serious gripes are reserved for the gearbox though. Coming up to a junction or a roundabout where you want to keep the whole thing rolling takes a lot of patience and planning. If I need to floor it to grab a gap in the traffic, the box’s ECU holds a committee meeting to decide what gear to provide me with. Then it puts it out to public consultation for approval, takes a ballot for the most popular choice, tries it, realises that the majority are idiots, says bugger it, and FINALLY gives me a decent gear. This can take up to 12 seconds, and leave me stranded with no drive in the middle of the road with my danglies flapping in the breeze!
I could also use a far better approach angle on it. Lack of it has cause some problems with the nature of the work I do.
But on the whole, I’m reasonably happy with it, and want to keep it.
FAR better than a Renault. Or a Daf of any description, that wont turn worth a ■■■■!
I had a week on the flat floor high cab 450 and yes its ok, not in the Scania Volvo league but I was happy enough driving it. Again the low cab one seemed to ride ok. I used on for the day but it was all motorway work. The worse one is the mid height cab one which the big blue chip companies use. I did drive a 18 plate couple of weeks ago, on only one run and it did seem better than the 64 plates I usually drive.
I have to disagree with you, I would rather have a Daf and I also liked the Renault when I used a 62 plate on day work. On nights out yes the Actros over the Renault, but over all out of the 3 a XF would be my choice.
I drive 450 & 480 versions of the Actros now & again.
Air suspension on front & rear axles (4×2). Both with air suspended cab and seat.
Like floating on Alladins carpet.
Can’t fault them in the respect.
Gearboxes have a mind of their own though.
You would think a brand like Mercedes would build a near perfect truck, if the cars are anything to go by.
The rigids are very good the larger cabbed Actros is decent enough if a little gutless then we get to the 1840 low cab version and the six wheel variant, the supermarket spec.
What a truly dreadful vehicle, 7 cup holders and a cuckoo clock for a gearbox attached to 10.7 litre engine the only improvement from the
Axxor is the fact it can go in a straight line if your lucky enough to get one that doesn’t pull violently to the left.
The reason why Tesco drivers drive slowly has nothing to do with anything other than the fact they don’t want detached retinas.
You can probably get 3 of these piles of ■■■■ for the cost of 2 decent units, they are vey good on fuel that’s why the big fleets like them.
