Hiya…I remember taking the trailer leg winder home(they weren’t bolted on back in the day)to stop it getting pinched…trying to turn the shaft with mole grips was a ball ache… also carrying palm coupling converters when collecting Norfolk Line tilts.Cheers bubbs
Clip on light, red one side clear glass the other, one of those sold in accessory shops for cars…remember when coppers would sometimes decide to ticket unlit cars parked at night?..but with a 24v bulb in place, so when you left the lorry overnight in a layby with that on the mirror arm and croc clipped to the battery, and hitched a ride home you didn’t come back to find a parking ticket attached.
Few lorries would start in the morning if you left the sidelights on all night.
All side marker light lenses were clear front red rear, something i don’t think should ever have been changed, amber lights should be indicators only.
Clouds of white smoke that would obliterate an entire lorry park when half a dozen motors (Gardners mainly but Volvos could provide their share too) were started on a cold morning, and that nice slight trace of black smoke just as you went under power again after an upshift on a turbocharged ■■■■■■■■ when they did that they were running just right.
Radiator venetian blind opening and closing on the front of a Scammell as the thermostat did it’s work.
ERF A series mainly, yards of thick draught excluder glued in place inside in a vain bid to stop the freezing cold wind coming in through the umpteen gaps of the cab.
Turning the ignition key to Pre Heat before starting the engine.
Juddian:
(snip)
ERF A series mainly, yards of thick draught excluder glued in place inside in a vain bid to stop the freezing cold wind coming in through the umpteen gaps of the cab.
I remember tipping at a site on Raynesway, Derby, early one winter morning back in the 80’s and the Police were there attending to a day cabbed A series ERF unit that was parked outside the gates. The driver had taped all the gaps in the doors up to stop draughts, left the engine running all night and had sadly died from Asphyxiation. 
Pete.
Two speed axle operated by cable and push button engine starter. Strangely enough the latter is back in fashion!
windrush:
Juddian:
(snip)
ERF A series mainly, yards of thick draught excluder glued in place inside in a vain bid to stop the freezing cold wind coming in through the umpteen gaps of the cab.I remember tipping at a site on Raynesway, Derby, early one winter morning back in the 80’s and the Police were there attending to a day cabbed A series ERF unit that was parked outside the gates. The driver had taped all the gaps in the doors up to stop draughts, left the engine running all night and had sadly died from Asphyxiation.
Pete.
Sad indeed Pete, one wonders if it was deadly fumes being pumped in via the heater fan or should he have taped up around the bonnet seal instead of the doors?
Not sure drivers who have never experienced those old motors can envisage just how the cold they could get or how quickly, a worse problem for night trunk drivers in some ways as inevitably they were day cabs (almost all lorries were) but without any form of curtains as basic insulation and chances are the trunk driver only had a normal coat with him, no bedding of any sort to wrap up in, so a breakdown lasting several hours in minus temps you could soon be in trouble, ask me how i know this 
Juddian:
Sad indeed Pete, one wonders if it was deadly fumes being pumped in via the heater fan or should he have taped up around the bonnet seal instead of the doors?Not sure drivers who have never experienced those old motors can envisage just how the cold they could get or how quickly, a worse problem for night trunk drivers in some ways as inevitably they were day cabs (almost all lorries were) but without any form of curtains as basic insulation and chances are the trunk driver only had a normal coat with him, no bedding of any sort to wrap up in, so a breakdown lasting several hours in minus temps you could soon be in trouble, ask me how i know this
The last truck I drove (in 2002) was an F reg (1988) Foden which, compared to trucks 20/30 years older, was fairly well insulated in the cab. However the heater radiator sprang a leak and the gaffer removed it until he could find a replacement rad, I was running tarmac to the M1 on nightwork in winter and the windscreen kept freezing up on the inside even when travelling. Never been so cold in a truck, I can appreciate how drivers from the fifties etc must have felt when heaters were unheard of? My old man drove a FG cabbed Foden in the fifties for Thermalite and was out all week at times, but in those days digs were found so at least he would have a reasonable bed for the night, although he would possibly be sharing it at times with some form of insect livestock! 
Pete.
jakethesnake:
push button engine starter. Strangely enough the latter is back in fashion!
On the floor where the exhaust brake switch would be expected to be in the case of the Merc.
While don’t pull the stop cable on the Bedford TM or you’ll have to tilt the cab to reset the emergency stop on the engine air intake.Use the key to stop it. 
Juddian:
Not sure drivers who have never experienced those old motors can envisage just how the cold they could get or how quickly, a worse problem for night trunk drivers in some ways as inevitably they were day cabs (almost all lorries were) but without any form of curtains as basic insulation and chances are the trunk driver only had a normal coat with him, no bedding of any sort to wrap up in, so a breakdown lasting several hours in minus temps you could soon be in trouble, ask me how i know this
I always wore my own clothes under the company uniform even in the Summer because I’ve always hated synthetic materials either in the heat or the cold.Or at least two decent thick brushed cotton shirts and two pairs of thick wool socks and two decent coats to put on one over the other in the winter before we had company uniforms,even with the more modern trucks of the 80’s/90’s.Knackered heater fan motors was a common fault with the old DAF’s both the 2300/2500 and the 2800 meaning they got cold quick when you stopped for any reason and when parked in the yard during changeovers.I often used the night heater in the 2800 in that case eventually resulting in that deciding to give up too.
windrush:
Juddian:
Sad indeed Pete, one wonders if it was deadly fumes being pumped in via the heater fan or should he have taped up around the bonnet seal instead of the doors?Not sure drivers who have never experienced those old motors can envisage just how the cold they could get or how quickly, a worse problem for night trunk drivers in some ways as inevitably they were day cabs (almost all lorries were) but without any form of curtains as basic insulation and chances are the trunk driver only had a normal coat with him, no bedding of any sort to wrap up in, so a breakdown lasting several hours in minus temps you could soon be in trouble, ask me how i know this
The last truck I drove (in 2002) was an F reg (1988) Foden which, compared to trucks 20/30 years older, was fairly well insulated in the cab. However the heater radiator sprang a leak and the gaffer removed it until he could find a replacement rad, I was running tarmac to the M1 on nightwork in winter and the windscreen kept freezing up on the inside even when travelling. Never been so cold in a truck, I can appreciate how drivers from the fifties etc must have felt when heaters were unheard of? My old man drove a FG cabbed Foden in the fifties for Thermalite and was out all week at times, but in those days digs were found so at least he would have a reasonable bed for the night, although he would possibly be sharing it at times with some form of insect livestock!
Pete.
^
i used to wimp out in a j4 with a 180 where heat was either none whatsoever,or sahara spec depending on the type of day you wre driving it as the 90 blankets over the hump were either sublime or ridiculous.
i had one of those wee tiny tin of beans gas stoves and every now and then would light it and place it at the back of my legs for 5 mins or so to try and kid myself on i wasnt dying of hypothermia.
all id did was make the ice on the inside of the winddscreen mist up though lighting it and driving at the same time with no power steering did pass the time for a few mins. 
bubbleman:
Hiya…I remember taking the trailer leg winder home(they weren’t bolted on back in the day)to stop it getting pinched…trying to turn the shaft with mole grips was a ball ache… also carrying palm coupling converters when collecting Norfolk Line tilts.Cheers bubbs
I still have to do both of those things now
Anybody remember trying to press the throttle pedal extension on the offside of the grille at the same time as pressing the cold start lever on the opposite side of the grille of the ford D series fitted with the Ford engine, or trying to check the oil of a Commer Commando without the dipstick splashing over the inside of the cab as you pulled it out of the hatch in the cab floor?
Fat Controller:
Anybody remember trying to press the throttle pedal extension on the offside of the grille at the same time as pressing the cold start lever on the opposite side of the grille of the ford D series fitted with the Ford engine, or trying to check the oil of a Commer Commando without the dipstick splashing over the inside of the cab as you pulled it out of the hatch in the cab floor?
i do , we had loads of d series over the years from d reg to v reg
tonyj105:
Fat Controller:
Anybody remember trying to press the throttle pedal extension on the offside of the grille at the same time as pressing the cold start lever on the opposite side of the grille of the ford D series fitted with the Ford engine, or trying to check the oil of a Commer Commando without the dipstick splashing over the inside of the cab as you pulled it out of the hatch in the cab floor?i do , we had loads of d series over the years from d reg to v reg
I remember locking myself out of a D series, and a guy showing me if you stuck your arm through the front air vent you could reach the inside door handle to open it…in other words it was pointless locking the ■■■■ thing.
Blue Airline, Crash Gearbox, Leyland Roadtrains. Double-Declutching, No Speed limiters…
These were all my very first experience of driving solo after I got my licence.
robroy:
tonyj105:
Fat Controller:
Anybody remember trying to press the throttle pedal extension on the offside of the grille at the same time as pressing the cold start lever on the opposite side of the grille of the ford D series fitted with the Ford engine, or trying to check the oil of a Commer Commando without the dipstick splashing over the inside of the cab as you pulled it out of the hatch in the cab floor?i do , we had loads of d series over the years from d reg to v reg
I remember locking myself out of a D series, and a guy showing me if you stuck your arm through the front air vent you could reach the inside door handle to open it…in other words it was pointless locking the [zb] thing.
and dont forget to screw the locking bar down after tilting the cab
And before you got paid you had to wash the truck, grease up and adjust the brakes on Saturday morning. We only ever ran in on a Saturday, nobody went off on a job, maybe a local shunt to the docks.
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Anybody drive a D series with the ■■■■■■■■ V8. I did occasionally. 
And stuffing everything you’d need or might need on the passenger side as there was nowhere else to put it. Bottle jack, wheel brace assorted tools, cans of oil and ropes, lots of ropes and chains if you were lucky enough to find any which were hard to keep where i worked.
Sixties boy:
Tooley St used to be coach park by day and truck park at night and is now the site of the Mayor of London’s building, ironically!When that closed started parking at Vallance Road, Whitechapel ( birth place of the Krays!) used to park in order of departure eg late starters at back, as you were treble parked.
Drivers moved more freight when parked there, then they did while delivering, you could buy nearly anything there.
Vallance Road, how could you forget the Jamaican lad who did the evening shift with his own roll of car park tickets. Drinking in The Blind Beggar pub and the Jewish bakers who used to open up at 10 o’ clock at night so you could eat a fresh Bagel on the way back to the car park. Irish Bridget The Midget who would do anything for a bottle of Mackeson. Walking around the corner with a bunch of drivers to the Y.M.C.A. doss house on Whitechapel Road with your washing gear to a get a wash. Walking down to see the stripper at The Red Lion in Aldgate or a dozen or so drivers catching the tube to go and see Jimmy Jones at The Montague Arms in New Cross and petrol engined Bedford T.K.'s with the choke cable sticking up just behind the gearstick.