Axors in the wet

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

How bad are the Axors in the wet :open_mouth:
Couple of times already I’ve nearly had the back end skip out on me - once on the elevated section of the M4 :open_mouth:

2

Tyre type, pressure, condition, uneven load (trailer loaded heavy behind the axles) causing the tail to wag the dog, imbalanced brakes, 5th wheel too far forward, could be stacks of reasons for a vehicle to be skittish.

To be fair Axors, especially the 430, are torquey motors and easy to promote wheelspin, but i found them a throughly competent lorry for general use and handled quite predictably.

3

Must admit that on the elevated M4 I was caning it 'cause I didn’t want to do that run :laughing:
But last night I was driving like a true Tesco driver and it still happened :laughing: :laughing:

4

The type of work they do, usually but not always supermarkets which means the gross weight is quite low the 400 motor produces around 2000Nm of torque more than enough to spin the rear wheels.

I find them good for the job they were designed for far not a patch on the FM but better than a CF, i find almost without exception the only drivers who have issues with them are the 5 minute veterans. By this I mean if you haven’t done the job for quite some considerable time you aint driven a bad truck.

5

Bloody crap in the wet - no grip on the drive axle unless it’s well loaded at the front, frightening on roundabouts no matter how gentle your right foot. You have to train loaders to keep the front heavier; easier teaching a dog to play the trombone :wink:

We only have the one and I’ve been driving it on and off for 3 years - compared to all the other Mercs it is crap. But it pulls well if properly loaded.

6

Better get used to them as a load of 63 plate axor’s have started being used in Reading as off today

7

selby newcomer:
Better get used to them as a load of 63 plate axor’s have started being used in Reading as off today

That will be the last of them, going over to the Antos or the FM next year.

8

There’s a rygor Mercedes vmu at reading, so can see them sticking with mercs for the foreseeable.

You lads got volvos at Magor now??

9

selby newcomer:
There’s a rygor Mercedes vmu at reading, so can see them sticking with mercs for the foreseeable.

You lads got volvos at Magor now??

As far as I know production of the Axor has ceased, and is being replaced by the Antos as of next year, we were told via a newsletter a couple of months ago about new trucks coming at the beginning of 2014, these would either be FM’s or the Antos, sounds like you get the Merc.

My depot (AV) still has the Axor and a dozen or so DUF’s.

10

mike68:

selby newcomer:
There’s a rygor Mercedes vmu at reading, so can see them sticking with mercs for the foreseeable.

You lads got volvos at Magor now??

As far as I know production of the Axor has ceased, and is being replaced by the Antos as of next year, we were told via a newsletter a couple of months ago about new trucks coming at the beginning of 2014, these would either be FM’s or the Antos, sounds like you get the Merc.

My depot (AV) still has the Axor and a dozen or so DUF’s.

Yeah it has stopped, fella from Rygor said the units that turned up were left over stock. They weren’t supposed to go on the road until December but we’re struggling for units, there’s been no units left from 10am.

When you say Antos, do you mean Actros??

11

selby newcomer:

mike68:

selby newcomer:
There’s a rygor Mercedes vmu at reading, so can see them sticking with mercs for the foreseeable.

You lads got volvos at Magor now??

As far as I know production of the Axor has ceased, and is being replaced by the Antos as of next year, we were told via a newsletter a couple of months ago about new trucks coming at the beginning of 2014, these would either be FM’s or the Antos, sounds like you get the Merc.

My depot (AV) still has the Axor and a dozen or so DUF’s.

Yeah it has stopped, fella from Rygor said the units that turned up were left over stock. They weren’t supposed to go on the road until December but we’re struggling for units, there’s been no units left from 10am.

When you say Antos, do you mean Actros??

This will replace the Axor youtu.be/7NbyVRL9w8Y

12

gardun:
Bloody crap in the wet - no grip on the drive axle unless it’s well loaded at the front, frightening on roundabouts no matter how gentle your right foot. You have to train loaders to keep the front heavier; easier teaching a dog to play the trombone :wink:

We only have the one and I’ve been driving it on and off for 3 years - compared to all the other Mercs it is crap.

+1. Crap in the dry too, It’s by far the worst truck I’ve ever seen & ever had the displeasure of driving, complete heap of zb…!

13

DAF95XF:
Must admit that on the elevated M4 I was caning it 'cause I didn’t want to do that run :laughing:
But last night I was driving like a true Tesco driver and it still happened :laughing: :laughing:

Whoa - Tesco and “caning it” doesn’t seem to go together, what you really pushed it and did

49 mph :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Steady.

14

Socketset:

DAF95XF:
Must admit that on the elevated M4 I was caning it 'cause I didn’t want to do that run :laughing:
But last night I was driving like a true Tesco driver and it still happened :laughing: :laughing:

Whoa - Tesco and “caning it” doesn’t seem to go together, what you really pushed it and did

49 mph :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Steady.

No, what I meant was I was bang on the limit cause I didn’t want to go into London :wink:

15

selby newcomer:
Better get used to them as a load of 63 plate axor’s have started being used in Reading as off today

So I saw… :wink:
Had a look at one last night to see what one looks like without any damage on :laughing: :laughing:

16

But ain’t you the expert bus smasher from way back. :slight_smile:

17

I always found the Actos’s I used to drive to be dire for traction in anything other than bone dry conditions. Compare that to the Daf95 XF that was superb. The only difference between the two trucks were that the Daf had a mid-lift that was also twinsteer and the Merc was just a standard midlift. That twin steer made a hell of a difference.

18

It has ■■■■ all to do with the lorry, Juddian listed a number of reasons, uneven weight distribution being in my top two in your case. Number one is mechanical, there’s a nut loose behind the wheel :laughing:

19

Juddian:
Tyre type, pressure, condition, uneven load (trailer loaded heavy behind the axles) causing the tail to wag the dog, imbalanced brakes, 5th wheel too far forward, could be stacks of reasons for a vehicle to be skittish.

To be fair Axors, especially the 430, are torquey motors and easy to promote wheelspin, but i found them a throughly competent lorry for general use and handled quite predictably.

Just as I’ve found.
I’ve learned not to gun it coming off a roundabout in the wet or the back end will break away.

20

newmercman:
It has [zb] all to do with the lorry, Juddian listed a number of reasons, uneven weight distribution being in my top two in your case. Number one is mechanical, there’s a nut loose behind the wheel :laughing:

Its down to how the truck is set up as the hAcksaw is basically the same chassis as the old Actros.
If the fifth wheel position is to far to the rear that will send it straight on in the wet, especially if theres to much weight bias dialed into the mid-lift. Unfortunately the midlift issue can only be rectified on the dealers plug in computer, and no ones keen on paying dealer prices for a few minutes diagnostics just to keep drivers happy :confused: