I was the chap chosen by our company to attend the Eaton 12-speed Twin Countershaft Gearbox Driver’s Course (it’s official title) at Sandbach. The idea was that one driver should be sent on the one-day course, then he would return to instruct the rest of the employees. Didn’t really work as planned- we were running 9, 10 & 13-speed gearboxes at the time with not a single twin splitter in site!
My old girl [Foden] has a ETS and came complete with a cassette informing you how to drive it. Keep rolling up to anywhere and use ‘kickdown’ to accelerate away. Brilliant. What i want to know is what is the concept of the 2 gear sticks Gear change, seen it on you tube but being a mere woman don’t understand it. How do you drive them and how does it work please?
bradfordlad9999:
Lawrence Dunbar:
0This EC ERF We had with the ETS, Was a good performer, IMO The gear box was great, But of course it had to be used the way it was designed to be used, and I new some drivers that couldnt get the hang of not using the clutch, But having said that I new a lot of drivers that couldnt get the hang of driving a motor no matter what gear box it had, Regards Larry.this ec12 looks odd with the E series wind kit on roof Lawrence nice picks what engine is in the roadtrain?
It was a 330 Crossflow with the alloy sump, slightly different from the DAF, with a steel sump, It as a good old motor did us well the 5 years we ran it, Regards Larry.
hallo boys, i have no experience with twin Splitters, but the 13 speed fuller was a dream to drive.The only thing I preffered with a 13 speed that it was with an overdrive and no underdrive,and certainly not with a knock through gear lever but with a switch for range changing.
So is there a lot difference the drive and changing them.A time they were sold in belgium but I never had the luck to drive one, and it was dropped for the Roadranger again.
Lots of drivers here on the continent hated Fullers because they cloudn’t drive them,they called them the trucks with the bad boxes. But the only I can say and still do that the Fuller changed lots better as a ZF crash box.
I always say you only can be a good driver if you can manage a Fuller box. Of course a Scania or volvo box are good boxes too, but you must be more carefully with them. That’s why some operators changed Scania’s with Fullers exspecially with the V8, but Scania couldn’t live with that so no warranty anymore. They never wanted to understand that you needed more speeds as 10. They were already wrong with there first 10 speed splitter boxes because of you only had 9 different speeds out of it, because fourth high and low fifth were identical.The splitter was already a planetary gear against Volvo’s range was still a gear unit. But now Scania do like others with more speeds.
It was always the same with Scania they never listened to there customers and were overpriced, they thought that there high day’s would last for ever and stay the experts and customers have the listen to them. And of course I loved the Volvo 16 speeds as well,you must be more carefully with them but that’s the same with everything if you want the it lasted long.What you had with a volvo 16 speed box you could change in the lower range who made them quicker with low powerd engines with heavy loads on steep long climbs from stand still starts.a F89 was a real flyer and let the LB140 behind him.
Greetings Eric,
I loved the ETS box. It always mede me smile bunny hopping my way up through it. You had to think when you were driving with a Twin Spliter 
Fantastic box. As was 13 speed. I’ve just replaced a 16 speed in an alpha with a twin splitter
14 ltr:
Fantastic box. As was 13 speed. I’ve just replaced a 16 speed in an alpha with a twin splitter
we did same thing with an alpha it went well after we poped ets in
Lawrence Dunbar:
0This ERF Which my son Nigel drives has a comfort button on the gear stick and changes gear very quickly with no loss of power & pulls like a train at 40 Tonnes, Regards Larry.
Does he get the silly message on his dashboard telling him to “press the clutch pedal” every time he does a quick shift? 
Here’s a business idea for a handy fitter:
- Buy up a load of TS or Roadranger 'boxes. Recondition them as necessary.
- Fit them into wagons with dodgy electronic ‘boxes, either customers’ vehicles or ones with duff 'boxes from the auction.
- Repair the whiffy electric 'boxes or flog them for spares.
Your customers are:
- Operators who don’t want the expense of getting the main dealer to fix the complicated rubbish, or the unreliability of it in the future.
- Operators who want to keep the vehicle as standard but don’t want the cost of fitting a new electrobox.
Excellent idea,anorak.BUT,and there’s always one 
I’m pretty sure that engine and gearbox ECUs communicate with each other,so what would happen if the engine couldn’t talk to the gearbox?.However,to blow myself out of the water (maybe) ,the two Foden Alphas seem to be working well.I wonder what age they are,and when electronics will beat ingenuity,if it hasn’t already happened?
Sir +:
Excellent idea,anorak.BUT,and there’s always one
Hmmm… This is where my knowledge of the details runs a bit short. Presumably, the gearbox ECU overrides the accelerator position sensor, when the thing changes gear. That sort of thing. You would need to know which wires to twist together, which ones to short to earth and which ones to leave open circuit! There must be technicians who do diagnosis on these systems, who would know how to disable them. Failing that, would it be possible to convert the injection pump back to mechanical? That would be a very saleable conversion for many operators- a modern engine with all the power and durability improvements that have happened in the past decade, but without all the stupid gimmicks, including the emissions garbage.
There is an opportunity for someone with a solid grounding in the workings of modern vehicles, to make them cheaper to run and repair. Some sort of work-around for the emissions checks may be needed. The man who can solve the problems will not be short of work.
We’re de railing the thread slightly,but it’s interesting.My knowledge of details is also a bit lacking lately,but I think that the days of bypassing systems are behind us,because most important functions in today’s vehicles are interdependent and (God help us) software based.There will be someone who can eventually work around this,but manufacturer’s CAN bus codes have to be cracked first.
[zb]
anorak:Sir +:
Excellent idea,anorak.BUT,and there’s always oneHmmm… This is where my knowledge of the details runs a bit short. Presumably, the gearbox ECU overrides the accelerator position sensor, when the thing changes gear. That sort of thing. You would need to know which wires to twist together, which ones to short to earth and which ones to leave open circuit! There must be technicians who do diagnosis on these systems, who would know how to disable them. Failing that, would it be possible to convert the injection pump back to mechanical? That would be a very saleable conversion for many operators- a modern engine with all the power and durability improvements that have happened in the past decade, but without all the stupid gimmicks, including the emissions garbage.
There is an opportunity for someone with a solid grounding in the workings of modern vehicles, to make them cheaper to run and repair. Some sort of work-around for the emissions checks may be needed. The man who can solve the problems will not be short of work.
It seems to me that 300bhp in old school motors maybe equal to 500 bhp ( theoretically electrically possible) in these new fly by wire heaps !
Sir +:
We’re de railing the thread slightly,but it’s interesting.My knowledge of details is also a bit lacking lately,but I think that the days of bypassing systems are behind us,because most important functions in today’s vehicles are interdependent and (God help us) software based.There will be someone who can eventually work around this,but manufacturer’s CAN bus codes have to be cracked first.
Derailing the thread? We’re plotting the resurrection of the Twin Splitter, and all other things old and good! 
Presumably the CAN bus loom must be retained for some functions- lights, horn etc. I guess it will need someone who can programme the software to just do this, so that the mechanical stuff can be controlled by muscle and steel. It would be beyond me, in any case. I wonder how the Africans are getting on with their ex-European Actroses etc?
I love the twin splitter my self although not so long ago many firms were getting rid saying no one would or could drive them anymore my brother has trained up 2 21year olds they have driven the DAF with 16 speed zf and ECX with 16 speed eaton and both lads like the twin splitter in the EC best so its days are not quite over yet.
This R Reg Daf has a ETS, It belongs to my mate David Lowdon Who rates the wagon & the ETS as first class, Regards Larry.
Loved my Twinsplitter, the best box by far, a ■■■■ site better than the ultra slow and stiff shift in the FM 460 i’m currently driving!!
STRAIGHT EIGHT:
Loved my Twinsplitter, the best box by far, a ■■■■ site better than the ultra slow and stiff shift in the FM 460 i’m currently driving!!
I will second that , can’t beat an ETS by far anything that is on the market at the moment. Stuff all the auto,s that are forced upon us. My hand and brain can multi task far quicker than any auto box. Can I have an ETS back tomorrow.
Sir +:
Excellent idea,anorak.BUT,and there’s always one
yes the foden alpha was on a 1998 S plate it had the eaton 16 speed in well it had 3 of em in 2000 we put a ETS straight in no probs it served till 2010 with no problams the truck is now in malta
The ETS was one of the finest inventions ever made so light to use no need for clutch once you set off and very short throws between stick changes and no electronics to go wrong
cheers Johnnie