ive been driving a volvo fh for over 10 years ,moved to a new company all they have are crappy knackered dafs ,I cant reverse the bloody things tho I could get any trailer in with the volvo even blindside is it me or are dafs different ? or are they just ■■■■■ as I suspect
Vile things
You got ZF’s Arsetonic box in it with the famous on/off switch clutch operation?, if so thats yer answer…it’ll only take you about 2 years to fathom out just the right amount of throttle feathering so you don’t ram the loading bay at full pelt… 
I’m surprised I haven’t ripped many a pin off a trailer whilst trying to get under a fully freighted one courtesy of our friends at ZF
PaulNowak:
I’m surprised I haven’t ripped many a pin off a trailer whilst trying to get under a fully freighted one courtesy of our friends at ZF
Going back a year or two now, i was loading, oil funnily enough, at Castrols Ellesmere in a previous life and watched spellbound amazed incredulous etc the antics of the yard shunter.
He was driving if i recall correctly a Guy BigJ tractor (well definately a Motor Panels cab anyway) and his method of picking up a trailer was to get in front of it about 15 feet away (obviously nearly all tractors in those days were day cab with rear windows, BigJ no exception), then reverse flat out straight under the trailer, loaded or empty and the ensuing bang and violent stop shook the very concrete, should have snapped his bloody neck and i can still see the sod doing it in me minds eye.
Dropping a trailer, loaded or empty again at full speed…remember these were the days of perma seized cable parking brakes on the trailer and before spring brakes so if the air had drained away he could have shot a bugger 30 feet easily.
To this day i’ve never seen anything like it, how an empty didn’t bounce up the ramps and over the 5th wheel i shall never know, would have killed him almost certainly if it had.
Anyway the point of all this cobblers is that King Pins are bloody strong, especially those Castrol fitted. 
Dodgy
As
F…
orcadian:
ive been driving a volvo fh for over 10 years ,moved to a new company all they have are crappy knackered dafs ,I cant reverse the bloody things tho I could get any trailer in with the volvo even blindside is it me or are dafs different ? or are they just [zb] as I suspect
Do you mean that the mirrors are ■■■■■■ The split side windows are out of the Ark which adds to the crap vision, Daf windscreens are ■■■■■ too, like looking out ya letterbox, have you ever noticed how most of the foreign side swipes ( and the Arclid powder tanker that pushed that car without even knowing ) involve Dafs ?
Only drove an XF super space cab briefly…Albeit a left ■■■■■■. But I too thought it was horrible. Even being a manual I thought it was pants! Now downgraded back to class 2, and what do I get…? Daf CF! 
I quite like the DAFs!
Sure, I agree the gearbox is absolutely shocking. It’s a basic truck. But I like that.
I’d have more of an issue with a blinged up Scania.
For a truck that’s so low to the ground and aimed at the distribution sector, the all round visibility is ■■■■ poor in the CF. I feel more comfortable taking my Bigspace Actros into tight places than I am one of our CFs. And why do i always bang my right elbow on the drivers door when steering the truck? Worst traction in any truck too. Was out in a CF last week and i could still light up the drive wheels in 10th gear with gentle throttle and middle axle up. It was wet but never suffered this in any other truck. Never liked DAFs that much anyway.
Ps.Sorry for slagging your marque if you are reading this Norb.
S’funny though, my last motor was a manual 460 CF and i’d rate it as a proper working motor, pulled like a train handled well comfortable, never had a spot of bother manoeuvering the thing…those fitted with arsetronic box are a polar opposite, utterly pointless.
Juddian:
S’funny though, my last motor was a manual 460 CF and i’d rate it as a proper working motor, pulled like a train handled well comfortable, never had a spot of bother manoeuvering the thing…those fitted with arsetronic box are a polar opposite, utterly pointless.
This ^^^
Did my test in a manual CF… Though it was alright really! Not glamorous, but it’s a truck and doesn’t need to be!
But what we do our tests in isn’t what we get handed to us at work.
PaulNowak:
But what we do our tests in isn’t what we get handed to us at work.
Don’t be daft. I’ve driven as many Dafs (Cfs and XFs) when actually working, as any other make of truck. Granted usually autos though.
So it certainly is in my case!
Nowt that much wrong with the 105 XF cabs plenty of space if your tramping, the gearboxes, manual all the way the auto is crap, the thing that i think that lets them down is the lack of a bigger engine there is little/no difference in power between the 460 and 510’s fully freighted climbing Dover hill they are guttless, obviously they where designed for Holland as it is flat over there
Juddian:
You got ZF’s Arsetonic box in it with the famous on/off switch clutch operation?, if so thats yer answer…it’ll only take you about 2 years to fathom out just the right amount of throttle feathering so you don’t ram the loading bay at full pelt…
I very much like my brand spanking new 106 Super Space… But then I know how to master the gearbox. I am the driver, not the box…
Im pleased others agree wiv me .
But i dont think they are just bad …
I think they are dangerous with terrible visiblity .
The XF is just a big A strato cruiser cab with a roof pod . and its none the better for it
the nodding donkey:
I very much like my brand spanking new 106 Super Space… But then I know how to master the gearbox. I am the driver, not the box…
I got on with an auto on a CF Construction, no problems. Definitely better than their earlier versions, if we get a new one I’d rather have an auto even though I like Daf manual 'boxes. People say Dafs are gutless yet I have no trouble in our 8wheeler and that’s “only” a 360. We’ve got an old 310 and that goes pretty well too.
No issues with going off road either.
boredwivdrivin:
Im pleased others agree wiv me .But i dont think they are just bad …
I think they are dangerous with terrible visiblity .The XF is just a big A strato cruiser cab with a roof pod . and its none the better for it
If you prefer a windscreen tall enough to go star gazing, I suggest you start driving coaches.
The XF also has much better mirrors, with much less of a blind spot.