My employer is about to replace its fleet of 64 plate Mercedes Actros for brand new DAF CF sleepers.
As you can all appreciate the ride quality in the Actros has a lot to be desired, so I am curious what the ride quality is like I the CF?
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Don’t know about the ride quality but those funny door glass set up will pee you off and the thought of why didn’t they just get XF’s
also the Collison avoidance is more touchy than the Merc
blue estate:
Don’t know about the ride quality but those funny door glass set up will pee you off and the thought of why didn’t they just get XF’s
also the Collison avoidance is more touchy than the Merc
We’re just grateful they got sleepers and didn’t opt for day cabs instead [emoji23] we can only dream of them splashing out on the more expensive XF’s
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XF is more replacement for the Actros …CF is a Axor or whatever they call it nowdays …CF is good for the maket it is aimed at …wins plenty of awards ,and is joint ruck of the year with the XF so not too bad for 2 old cabs…I will add read the drivers manual for the heating system otherwise you will be well confused lol
If the set up is the same as on the xf.Then the ride quality is far better than the mercs.
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daftvader:
If the set up is the same as on the xf.Then the ride quality is far better than the mercs.Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
A old hand cart is a better ride than an Actros 
blue estate:
daftvader:
If the set up is the same as on the xf.Then the ride quality is far better than the mercs.Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
A old hand cart is a better ride than an Actros [emoji38] [emoji38] [emoji38]
A bucking donkey is a smoother ride than the Mercs [emoji106]
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Read in a trade mag earlier this year that DAF out sells any other truck on the UK market hands down - I’ve driven pretty much every chassis, axle and engine/trans type that Merc has in this country including 4 x 4 and Unimog and I think they could do better - fuel consumption is good on the units but I use a 4 x 4 dropside with a hiab and it does around 9 mpg 
Occasionally I get seconded to another firm and drive their CF’s - to me even tired ones are better than Mercs offerings.
stuwozere1:
My employer is about to replace its fleet of 64 plate Mercedes Actros for brand new DAF CF sleepers.
As you can all appreciate the ride quality in the Actros has a lot to be desired, so I am curious what the ride quality is like I the CF?Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk
I drive the Daf CF quite a lot. I am not a fan of Daf CF’s per se but they are ‘ok’ and that is about it. IMO the XF and MANs are flyers but the CF is a good plodder.
The most irritating thing about the new CFs is the suspension adjuster. The old square ones were fine but they have brought in these quasi hexagonal shaped things that sit in a holder with small plastic lugs. Frankly they are stupid because they break easily. Why can’t they do a Scania type one which is metal and just magnetizes to the side of the base of the seat? To activate it you have to press the button for a few seconds.
Daf have also changed the cruise control/limiter switches. In the 64/65 plate CF’s the first switch was the over limiter speed switch which could be set I think up to 5 or 6kph over the speed set, the middle one was the limiter and the outer one the set/resume for cruise control. In the new ones you use the middle one to change the amount of over/under the cruise you want the limiter kicking in or resuming. Can be a bit of an *rse when your speed drops to rock all on the m-way and you try and suss out why! It is also quite difficult to work out how you do that because you have to use the down or up keys on the inner switch to actually change the default.
Personally I like having a crawler reverse option on the auto control. Never figured out why some drivers think coupling up should be done with the deftness of a British Rail driver in the 70’s bashing his class 47 into a bunch of sleeping carriages just to make sure.
I find the mirrors ok on the Daf but it has an irritating window arrangement and often you’ll find the near side mirror arm and the attached mirrors can be a pain because part of it can be obscured by the ‘inner window frame’ if the arm and mirror is not set right. OK if you’re the only driver but if you are not allocated a truck and share it it is not so easy.
The heater can be a bit of a ■■■ to work out on the new ones but so long as the handbook is still in the truck, on the rare occasion you are not on a break or supervising the loading/unloading one can work it out.
Hopefully you’ll get one with the fridge incorporated. I find them comfortable enough to sleep in and the night heater is fine.
Be grateful your not getting more Mercs.
I’d have anything rather than a horrid Merc.
CF will be a nicer ride without doubt, not Volvo territory but way better than a Merc.
Well after today I can say with 100% certainty the DAF CF is infinitely better than the Merc. After 4 years of driving a CF from 64 plate to 18 plate I got the joy of driving a 66 plate Actros with just 41k on the clock. Back ache by the time I got to the other end of the M18, seasick from being bounced around all over the place and who the hell thought to put the switch for the rear cab working light near your right shin? And the thing is as noisy as hell. Apart from bings and bongs for everything you do it deems it doesn’t like it seems to want to make hisses and all kinds of wierd noises and there’s a lot of engine noise too.
I did 600km in it today in a 12hr shift and tried to find a redeeming feature from a driving point of view. Only thing I could come up with is the wide angle mirrors are a whole lot better than the DAF but that positive is cancelled out by the fact the mirrors are so bloody big you can hide a truck in the blindspot.
I’ve got another 4 days to suffer the bloody thing and then hopefully that’ll be it.
Nothing wrong with the CF,but personally I’d go for an XF space cab (not the Superspace cab).
I had the choice of Merc Actros CF and a Volvo FH’s. Personally, the Merc was okay, didn’t do long hauls in it, so not the best judge, the CF was always for me a local tractor unit, easy to get in and out of quickly when used on multi drops…sore back if on longer hauls, the Volvo is sweet, comfy reliable, and in winter months good on unsalted roads.