Kenny1975:
Had a 380 Scania 06 plate speedo went on it one night coming up the M6.
Normally hauling an empty double decker trailer would be crawling up the hills having to drop down in 11th gear.
With a load on noticed with no limiter it sitting at about 1450rpm hitting the step hills give it a bit of juice and flew up the hills in top gear.
Guess thats why engine sizes were smaller back then.
I had a p reg fh380 that pulled like a train “off limiter” yet wouldnt pull you off the bog otherwise. Not speed related either really… it would just pull like a train at normal speeds to.
Back in the eighties a firm workin out of our yard reckoned they could get 110 out of MANs. They used to do Sheffield to Glasgow and back on night trunk but couldn’t understand why the super singles kept blowing on the trailers. Hmm tad too warm me thinks.
just going back to the original post it says why is it frowned upon now for irish etc to go 65. Now because 99% of the trucks on the road are limited to 52-56 mph and you get one doing 65mph then it becomes dangerous. But as said above back in day eveyone was doing that speed and also the traffic back then is nothing like today.
I don’t see how its dangerous doing 65mph i can understand someones anger at people flouting the laws when other people are forced to sit at 55mph.
infact can understand someones anger when ive read from cases about peoples trucks being PG9’d for the truck being limited to 59mph rather 57mph and then see others flying past you. Its likes why can these people get away with this.
but i still don’t see the danger in doing it. see more danger in a 10min overtake espec in windy conditions.
As late as 1998 I had a Renault Midliner M180 recovery truck (11 ton) with no limiter. Used to cruise on the red line @ 77mph. Could do Dover to Manchester and back overnight (booze cruisers with laden transits) in just under 8 hours including loading time.
It was rumored that an Iveco Turbostar 190-48 that I used to have would do over 100mph, but that was only a rumour & even if it was over 6 months ago there is no way that my Dad would follow me in his car up the A2 & tell me that I was doing 105mph according to his speedo, No officer, no way would that happen
i heard a story of a driver who was pulled on the m6 many years ago.
he was driving for a meat company in ireland called hallal meats.
they ran turbostars and 141 scanias.
the policeman told him he was spotted doing 106 miles per hour.
the driver replied.
the truck is due in for service,the mechanic might locate and fix the problem when i get back home.
i never heard what happened in the end.
nowadays we are all speed limited and running at up to 44t.
on 5 and 6 axles.
back in the good or bad old days,
we ran 32 ton on 4 axles,and at all sorts of speeds.
i am inclined to think,the accident rate is not any lower now than it was back in the pre limliter days.
there was a lot less traffic then of course.
i am happy enough driving on the limiter now and even drive my car a 55/60 on the motorway.
what do the other members thinks.
has the limiter cut down the pro rata death rates?
im not sure things are any better now.
having said that.
you would never get a good run from knutsford to corley services now doing 70mph.
inevitably you would get caught up in traffic somewhere along the line
morelike stop start.
greg50 I would say you’re right, too much traffic for big speed nowadays, I used to cruise at 65 in the days before limiters, faster to get a run at a big hill, but now we have 400hp in local distribution lorries which can sit on the limiter up hill & down dale, there wasn’t a 400hp lorry made when I started out so we probably didn’t average out any faster.
Limiters get blamed but are not the cause of drivers sitting up peoples chuff either, nor do they cause lorries to sit side by side for miles on end ■■■■■■■ everyone off, that’s down to the clown behind the wheel not accepting the limitations of his/her vehicle, can you imagine the damage they could do in an unrestricted lorry, bloody scary mate
i have another question about limiters.
i have driven a lot of trucks in my time.
since the limiters became law.
i have only driven one that it never worked on.
that was a long time ago.
my point is.
last week i went up the m62 from liverpool to warrington in my car.
i was doing about 60/62mph.
i always watch the fuel and keep the pedal off the metal in truck or car.
i had a truck behind me all the way,
an xf daf.
i said it to my wife.
his limiter isnt working too well.
i notice this any time i go on the motorway in my car.
its not just this car i have now,but others i have driven as well.
so its not a problem with my speedo.
all the time on motorways doing 60 plus and i am getting tailgated by trucks.
i cant do it when i drive a truck.
they are set at 89/91 kms per hr.
are the car speedos all wrong or am i missing some point?
Truck speedos have to be calibrated, better then cars (%). All too often you’re going through roadworks signed at 50mph and you’re thinking why are all these zb car drivers doing 45■■!! They’re not! On their speedo it says 50
robB39:
Truck speedos have to be calibrated, better then cars (%). All too often you’re going through roadworks signed at 50mph and you’re thinking why are all these zb car drivers doing 45■■!! They’re not! On their speedo it says 50
Car manufacturers normally set the speedos low, it makes the mpg look better
I think they are required by law to set car speedos 10% higher than they are actually doing, so if the calibration starts to go out a bit, people can’t start trying to use the excuse their car speedo was saying they were doing 70mph when they were caught doing 80mph.
Someone told me it was law before, but even if it isn’t its what new cars typically will be set at.
Unfortunatly truck speeds seem to be going the same way espec MAN trucks, most of them seem to over read. 55mph in them in most case seems to be more like 52-53mph with brand new tyres.
yesterday i was driving my car in a 50 mph zone.
i drove at the required speed.
there is a warning sign which was reading 46 mph as i drove past it.
my clock was showing 50.
its musy be true about car clocks set at 10 percent
used to do 70mph regular up and down the 6 in my e-reg scania, i felt it was much less tiring than sitting at 56mph for 4½ hrs, drunk the diesel though…
They’re not! On their speedo it says 50 
