V8 Passion:
it was the best thing that happened when ERF FODEN LEYLAND and all the rest of the british attempters called it a day and left it to Volvo
Quite agree there 
Attempters being the word…
I’m with you both on it, of the drivel I post on this site most of it is slagging off ERFs, nasty pieces of hastily cobbled together crap the lot of em, many years ago it was a different story, so I’m told anyway, unfortunately that’s where the design departments stayed, stuck in the past 
there was only one reason J R stopped buyin ERFs, its because they were no longer an ERF, they were a re-badged MAN. He wanted to buy a product built in Britain, and once the the ERF lost its own cab, then learned that the ■■■■■■■ was on its way out too, what was the point.
As usual, because the cab has plastic panels, they automaticly think that its not safe, in fact they are one of the safest cabs about, and , they have even passed the Swedish impact tests (just like SCANIA, VOLVO), the only difference being that you could still open the drivers door after impact, unlike the Scania. Steel cabs crumple, thats how there designed, the plastic on the ERF cabs absorbe the impact then explode it outwards away from the driver. The plastic panels on a Scania would do the same thing, but they keep falling off!!! ( little joke about those silly hinged corner panels that Scania sell so many of!)
Like ive said in the past, the continentals are nice ol places to spend the day, very comfy (particulary the the latest Dafs, little and large), but ERF must of been doing somthing right for MAN and the like to be so keen to get rid.
My Favorite Euro’s were the mk1 and mk2 F12s, they were nice n comfy, reliable and strong, The 113 comes in for alot of praise, they were very good motors,and very reliable, one of the best made. MAN, with the F90/F2000 cab was another good tool (apart from the 1 powered by that 5pot donkey engine), brilliant all-rounder.
We could argue for months on this subject couldnt we eh■■? 
got to be the V8 scania what a truck 2nd has to be the great volvo F16 then more moden has to be the FH16 
143 450 scania was the dogs bits
Oh, there was another favorite, we had an ex-Russell Davies 388 non-intercooled 142 tag lift on Heavyhaul, that was a good motor (except for the brakes), re-plated at 80ton, used to do allsorts of work with that, never let us down. Think the reg was VRT 23X, sadly it was written off when a volvo car decided to try and pass underneath the front bumper!!! a mistake he never made again!
Used to drive a 290 F88 mid 80s on tippers and quarry work and it used to seem the more you put on the better it went,so long as you didn’t miss a shift with dash mounted cable operated splitter(overdrive?)in which case everything i’d passed shot by again,used to smoke terrible when reversing/shunting tho’
Afew points about British lorries
Yes the manufatures laid back on their lorrels & said you wiil wait but we bought chep imports & killed our own jobs in return
A close Freind of mine has an ERF which when new belonged to Gibbs of Fraserburgh local runs being to London then on to a new owner Eric Vick who only trusted it on runs to M E & north Africa still no trouble. Its last operator from Cambridge used on a bulk waste trailer by day & London fruit markets by night. You guess how many click shes done.
Also ERF & Foden produced sleeper cabs , air con & night heaters long before Scania & Volvo
Meeeeowwwww! :
ERF & Foden made sleepers before Volvo & Scania?
Prove it, I don’t want to pee on your fish but surely the 1st sleeper ERF was the B series of the mid 70s & late 70s for Foden & the Haulmaster range, even the Sudden Accident 400/Leyland Marathon/Scammel Crusader were day cab only for the first year or so, The Transcon was the only one available as a sleeper from the start & that was in 1974.
The LB76 & F88s of the mid 60s all came with factory sleepers as did many of the German marques, Merc, Man, Bussing, Honomag Henschell etc, also the Daf of the period, pre 2600, the 684 Fiats, the corrugated cab Pegaso & the Unics/Saviems/Berliets, even the oddballs like the Saurer & Berna from Switzerland.
I have no ides about night heaters but being that Eberspacher is a German company I would suggest that a German marque had the 1st ones, logically that would be Magirus Deutz owing to the air cooled engine.
OMG I’m a nerd 
ERF and Foden had sleepers in Australia in the early 60’s don’t know if they were add on’s though.
dieseldog6:
ERF and Foden had sleepers in Australia in the early 60’s don’t know if they were add on’s though.
We ain’t talking about Australia though! Mind you it does make a good point, English manufacturers used to export worldwide, then the continentals fine tuned our ideas & then came back & kicked our arses with them, I think the phrase is ‘resting on your laurels’
Don’t get me wrong with all my anti ERF/Foden/Atki etc rants, I would love to rave about our home grown products, the sad fact is that I can’t because they just weren’t good enough, I can be Patriotic or use common sense, but not both at the same time
ERF offered sleeper and crew-cab options on the KV and theLV that replaced it. the coachwork was by Jennings, who, at the time were a wholly owned subsidary of ERF.
STRAIGHT EIGHT:
ERF offered sleeper and crew-cab options on the KV and theLV that replaced it. the coachwork was by Jennings, who, at the time were a wholly owned subsidary of ERF.
Well whoopie doo for Jennings & ERF seriously though, they didn’t exactly make a big deal out of it did they Even in the mid 70s the Brits were making a big deal about having heaters & radios in their lorries, power steering was still an option & the suspended seat was a far away dream. Non tilting cabs & the ‘this is the way we’ve always done it’ mentality didn’t help, the hierachy just buried their heads in the sand, now look at the damage that philosphy has done, we can’t blame the British Leyland empire & it’s drain on the lorry side of things for everything, a lot of the problems were caused by the blinkered attitude of the management & their reluctance to admit that times were changing.
As I’ve previously stated I have no prejudice against the Brits, quite the opposite, but I believe in calling a spade a spade (unless he’s bigger than me ) From an operators & a drivers point of view the continentals were better, if they weren’t, then we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
No, they didnt make a big deal about it. Alot of Bosses were against the sleepers when they 1st appeared, saying drivers should rest away from the wheel and should use diggs provided (Brian Harris’s father wouldnt have them anywhere near the yard!!), but they were offered. still continentals had much better sleepers until the B series and SedAtki 400 arrived. I love me brits, but given the choice outa a 110 with both its bunks and the jennings pod on the A series, the Scany would win hands down!!! Not sure about the F88, they were bloody freezing at night. 
When you take a look at any wagon archive it is surprising how much we have today that has already been done in a more basic form,and were available from UK manufacturers.One example being who AEC offered sleepers,including high-roof versions in the late sixties and semi-auto boxes on 8 leggers, let alone tractors, and locally built sleeper cabs were or could be fitted to vehicles supplied to Belgium/Netherlands at that time.
As some of you know, fellow member ERF ECX and i own a 83 C series, this vehicle alone is testiment to ERFs solid build quality. New as an ERF demonstrator, it was one of the 1st factory built 6x2-twinsteer models for the then new 38ton limit and was then slod to Walker Steels. after long service with them it was run by ACE-TIP of Honiton, Devon, who used her for long distance bulk tipper and tanker haulage for many years. After finishing with them it was purchased by the trailer maker Rothdean Ltd of Gloucstershire who used the vehicle for shunting purposes. We bought the ol girl off of Rothdeans some 6 years ago for a restoration project, although she didnt need much more than cosmetic attention and a oil and filter change. She now lives a varied life in Essex, but is along way from being retired!! as she is regulary used to haul trailers for local companies and is regulary borrowed by a local Fitter for testing trailers.
Driveline wise its a gem, still on its original E290 BigCam and Fuller Roadranger box, drving through a Kirkstall D85 rear axle ( wich will soon be replaced with a suitable Rockwell as its getting noisy after over million clicks) and is as sure-footed as when it was new.
Not as lavish as some of the euros, but for shear dependability, you cant beat it, we would not hesitate send her anywhere or on any distance, She just goes and goes and goes, the more weight on, the better!!
A million klicks is only just run in on a 14ltr ■■■■■■■■ But it’s taken you lot 26yrs to do that, I could be a total wind up & say that the mileage is so low because it’s spent so much time in the workshop having bits gaffer taped back on, but I wont Or I could recall the conversation with the fitter about the rear axle, Straight Eight ‘Hello Mr Mechanic, my lorry’s making a funny noise at the back end, what could it be?’ fitter says ‘It’s your back axle mate, it needs a new lorry’
Are you planning on showing it? If so are you doing a concours job or leaving it as it is?
Hello newmercman, thought i could relly on you for some imput! , she’s had e few tachos, so we are not sure how many trips to the moon and back she’s done!! We have shown the ol girl a couple of times at Gaydon on the REVS stand, but we dont get the time to do much else at the mo. We had her painted a few years ago, fitted a new front pannel and bumper and replaced the headlights, we keep her nice, but she is still very much a working wagon and thats the way she will be kept, we’r not into concours ourselves, we like em in working condition.
As time and money allow we’ll do a few more shows and would like to do some road runs with her. As for that back end, well, what can i say? its a kirkstall! Hub-Reduction, lots of moving gears, they dont last forever!!! Weve had some work done on it, just to tied us over, but its worn out and will get done a.s.a.p as we now have a suitable Rockwell replacement. Shes a good old work horse, and a nice lorry to drive, very smooth and pulls well, that’l do for us!!!
It’s my pleasure Straight Eight
Glad you’re keeping it in working condition, I like the concours old timers but personally feel that they should only been done like that when they’re really old & need a complete rebuild, I don’t recall seeing any pics of it so get scanning mate, I’ll be gentle with you, honest…
Will sort out som pics as soon as mate, got a few virus’s living in my PC at mo, and doing anything with photos has been nigh-on impossible because of em!
I’ve a shed load of pics to post, and as soon as ive sorted this bolox out i will be posting many,many photos!! (i know ya a closett ERF fan mate, you’ll just have to be patient! )