I think I can help you out there, DD-
The “push” and “pull” that Robert was posting about refers to the pull or push actuation of the clutch, NOT the I.B. operation knob.
All clear, matey?
Retired Old ■■■■:
Hi, John & Saviem,
Loath as I am to criticise such a acknowledged expert- and what a memory!- I think I can toss a gentle correction back across the court on behalf of Robert:
The Thorneycroft 6-speed 'box as fitted to the Big J, certainly when mated to the ■■■■■■■ 205/220 was fitted with an excellent inertia brake, air operated on the rear of the gearbox. Quite a lot of Big J drivers complained about the slow gear changes with this set-up, not having found the inertia brake which was engaged by pressing the clutch pedal all the way to the floor. A quick demonstration by a driver “in the know” and the former moaners were amazed by the rapid upward shifts, even when accelerating uphill with a load.
The only problem I encountered with the Guy installation was a tendency to remove the left thumb against the dashboard, particularly when selecting reverse! I later had a number of opportunities to sample an almost identical vehicle, this one fitted with a 9-speed Fuller. It had a much shorter throw on the gear lever- easier on the thumb!- and had a small white button in the top of the gear knob to operate the aforementioned inertia brake.
Evening all,
ROF you have taught me something! All the Big Js that Ive had through my hands, and I never knew that about the 6 speed ones!..universally they were hateful things to drive around the Black Country with its sudden banks, and traffic lights strategically placed on sharp inclines!..Yes I do remember the thumb pincher…and the gear lever that wanted to occupy the space that your left leg was in…nice indicator switch though, and the fact that it did not self cancel I thought ideal…particularly when trying to thread a trailer into a space designed for a Victorian horse dray, on a murky rainy day, with that useless nearside vibrating mirror.
In desperation Ive had the clutch pedal right on the floor many a time…but the change was always slow…(maybe those I had through my hands were…not in the prime of youth, perhaps. I remember that set up on the Fuller versions, but personally I never really rated the Fallings Park installation…yet those botchers up in Oldham gave the Sedon 32.4 Rolls 220 a superb Fuller installation…pity that they could not get the throttle correct…roar…roar…However gentle you drove, the b thing made you sound a right cowboy…Overall Fallings Park`s lorry was a better one!
Cheerio for now.
tonyj105:
robert1952:
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the clutch-activated intertia brake was fine with a ‘push’ clutch mechanism; but with a ‘pull’ clutch mechanism on the Guy Big-J it was necessary to locate the switch next to the range-change switch on the 9-speed Fuller stick, as illustrated by this picture taken by Fryske. Robertshow that gearstick to a few of todays attendants and there’d be right wobbly,
You can still get 'em - this is an 18 spd RR box, range change switch, splitter switch & clutch brake switch on the stick.
A Blue Peter badge to whoever can identify the truck! Oh, and it’s not my regular truck, anything I drive is spotless inside & out.
kmills:
01tonyj105:
robert1952:
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the clutch-activated intertia brake was fine with a ‘push’ clutch mechanism; but with a ‘pull’ clutch mechanism on the Guy Big-J it was necessary to locate the switch next to the range-change switch on the 9-speed Fuller stick, as illustrated by this picture taken by Fryske. Robert2
show that gearstick to a few of todays attendants and there’d be right wobbly,
You can still get 'em - this is an 18 spd RR box, range change switch, splitter switch & clutch brake switch on the stick.
A Blue Peter badge to whoever can identify the truck! Oh, and it’s not my regular truck, anything I drive is spotless inside & out.
hino F700
tony
Retired Old ■■■■:
I think I can help you out there, DD-
The “push” and “pull” that Robert was posting about refers to the pull or push actuation of the clutch, NOT the I.B. operation knob.
All clear, matey?
Thanks for clearing that up ROF.
Saviem:
Retired Old ■■■■:
Hi, John & Saviem,
Loath as I am to criticise such a acknowledged expert- and what a memory!- I think I can toss a gentle correction back across the court on behalf of Robert:
The Thorneycroft 6-speed 'box as fitted to the Big J, certainly when mated to the ■■■■■■■ 205/220 was fitted with an excellent inertia brake, air operated on the rear of the gearbox. Quite a lot of Big J drivers complained about the slow gear changes with this set-up, not having found the inertia brake which was engaged by pressing the clutch pedal all the way to the floor. A quick demonstration by a driver “in the know” and the former moaners were amazed by the rapid upward shifts, even when accelerating uphill with a load.
The only problem I encountered with the Guy installation was a tendency to remove the left thumb against the dashboard, particularly when selecting reverse! I later had a number of opportunities to sample an almost identical vehicle, this one fitted with a 9-speed Fuller. It had a much shorter throw on the gear lever- easier on the thumb!- and had a small white button in the top of the gear knob to operate the aforementioned inertia brake.Evening all,
ROF you have taught me something! All the Big Js that Ive had through my hands, and I never knew that about the 6 speed ones!..universally they were hateful things to drive around the Black Country with its sudden banks, and traffic lights strategically placed on sharp inclines!..Yes I do remember the thumb pincher…and the gear lever that wanted to occupy the space that your left leg was in…nice indicator switch though, and the fact that it did not self cancel I thought ideal…particularly when trying to thread a trailer into a space designed for a Victorian horse dray, on a murky rainy day, with that useless nearside vibrating mirror.
In desperation Ive had the clutch pedal right on the floor many a time…but the change was always slow…(maybe those I had through my hands were…not in the prime of youth, perhaps. I remember that set up on the Fuller versions, but personally I never really rated the Fallings Park installation…yet those botchers up in Oldham gave the Sedon 32.4 Rolls 220 a superb Fuller installation…pity that they could not get the throttle correct…roar…roar…However gentle you drove, the b thing made you sound a right cowboy…Overall Fallings Park`s lorry was a better one!
Cheerio for now.
Vindication at last, courtesy of Saviem ! Those 220 RR engine Seddon 32/4’s were really the “pits” and were the nastiest cheapest 32 tonner money could buy in the late 60’s early 70’s. There was a local Paper Mill near Kendal that ran a fleet of the poxy things ( about 12 or 14) and it was at a time when they were not enjoying the best trading conditions but they still insisted on maintaining ancillary “in house” services which they could have bought much more cheaply and efficiently from outside suppliers ( Bewick Transport :wink) cheers Bewick.
robert1952:
Retired Old ■■■■:
That illustrates the difference between the two gearboxes. Even the Fuller 9 had two different buttons.As I’m sure you’ll remember ROF, there were at least three! There was the knob with the range-change crudely jubilee clipped to it; there was the knob with the range-change switch in the top of it; and there was the chromium-topped ‘bicycle bell’ knob which could be twisted (like the 13-speed version). [Then there was the knob who could remember all the 9-speed Fuller gearsticks, but we won’t go there!!
]. Robert
That twisty bicycle bell clutch brake switch must have avoided me- I never experienced one although various Mk 1 & Mk2 Atkis that I had the misfortune to drive did have the bike bell gearstick knob operating 10-speed Fullers.
Retired Old ■■■■:
robert1952:
Retired Old ■■■■:
That illustrates the difference between the two gearboxes. Even the Fuller 9 had two different buttons.As I’m sure you’ll remember ROF, there were at least three! There was the knob with the range-change crudely jubilee clipped to it; there was the knob with the range-change switch in the top of it; and there was the chromium-topped ‘bicycle bell’ knob which could be twisted (like the 13-speed version). [Then there was the knob who could remember all the 9-speed Fuller gearsticks, but we won’t go there!!
That twisty bicycle bell clutch brake switch must have avoided me- I never experienced one although various Mk 1 & Mk2 Atkis that I had the misfortune to drive did have the bike bell gearstick knob operating 10-speed Fullers.
Hiya,
ROF,you as well as I should know a proper driver and I’m not talking
semi-skilled steering wheel attendants here, can operate any gear-
box immaterial of make or change method including the old gate-
change of the old Scammell’s with the gate removed, bring em’ on.
thanks harry, long retired.
kmills:
01tonyj105:
robert1952:
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the clutch-activated intertia brake was fine with a ‘push’ clutch mechanism; but with a ‘pull’ clutch mechanism on the Guy Big-J it was necessary to locate the switch next to the range-change switch on the 9-speed Fuller stick, as illustrated by this picture taken by Fryske. Robert2
show that gearstick to a few of todays attendants and there’d be right wobbly,
You can still get 'em - this is an 18 spd RR box, range change switch, splitter switch & clutch brake switch on the stick.
A Blue Peter badge to whoever can identify the truck! Oh, and it’s not my regular truck, anything I drive is spotless inside & out.
poxy hino
Hi, H, most of us learned to use the old gear boxes because a) it was a matter of pride that we did our job as well as we possibly could and b) it was all that was available! Although there were a few “drivers” who, rather than ask for advice, insisted on wrecking perfectly good gearboxes. I managed to get a lift from Ross-on-Wye to Newport early one morning (yet another "dodgy!) with a chap from the midlands driving an ERF. The lorry obviously had the six-speed DB gearbox and our pal complained that the engine was so underpowered that it wouldn’t accelerate after he had changed into top gear, which, he said, also had a problem because it made an awful crunching sound every time he changed gear. I spent the next hour giving him an in-depth lesson in double de-clutching, matching the engine revs to the gearbox and enlightening him to he fact that not ALL vehicles had “normal” H pattern gear changes.
A habit I have is to select every gear before I pull off for the first time at the start of a shift, give the cogs in the gearbox a drop of oil before they’re under any kind of load. I don’t know if it does any good, but I was told this by a Ferrari mechanic when I picked up a friend’s car from a service, I thought that he would know what he’s talking about, so I started doing it from that day.
Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
GUY big J 8 potter in at LEYLAND plus GUY big J with 180 in plus mite be a GUY big J double drive with 250 in 1 of only 6 made 
Great British Lorry Day at H C V M LEYLAND 
Lance Biscomb:
GUY big J 8 potter in at LEYLAND plus GUY big J with 180 in plus mite be a GUY big J double drive with 250 in 1 of only 6 made
Mr Wall’s vehicles iirc – the double drive is a Big J6T - originally ■■■■■■■ 220 powered - not one of the 44 tonners - made up to look like the rarer ones
Did you get a pic?
Lance Biscomb:
GUY big J 8 potter in at LEYLAND plus GUY big J with 180 in plus mite be a GUY big J double drive with 250 in 1 of only 6 made
It’s photographic evidence we want Lance not suggestions and if’s and buts 
Cheers Dennis.
One of Champs finest lol
pv83:
Found this old advertisement, don’t know if it’s been posted before though…Cheers, Patrick
Hi Patrick, Any info on whats under the bonnet ■■?, Regards Larry.
Lawrence Dunbar:
pv83:
Found this old advertisement, don’t know if it’s been posted before though…Cheers, Patrick
Hi Patrick, Any info on whats under the bonnet ■■?, Regards Larry.
Haven’t got the slightest idea I’m afraid, just stumbled upon it by accident really…
Hiya,
Larry, definitely not an eight pot Percy that low loader swan neck would shear
the back two pots off at the first corner.
thanks harry, long retired.
