HI FOLKS, We ran 4 , s 39 tractor units 3 with 180 /Garners and 1 with a 150 ,the 150 had a 5/25 diff and would tank a bit 58 mph ,two with 180 s had 5/75 diffs about 52/54 mph ,but the daddy of them all had a 4/2 diff 64 mph ,wat a flyer , We also an 8 wheel tipper d/drive , so we put a new set of tyres across back axle so out i go after about 1 hour she came to a sudden stop locked solid put hand on first axle very warm but the rear axle you could fry eggs ,found out it had permenent diff lock had toget the fitter out so we could swap the tyers corner to corner ,by then it had all cooled down away we went had a luckey escape , just a bit of usless info ,Cheers Barry
The more this goes on the more comes back. Our workshop normally required the vehicles to be reversed in and then turned so that they were parallel with the doors. There wasn’t normally room to shunt back and forth once inside, so we had to be a bit careful when jacking up or undoing anything that could have got wound up because it could give a bit of a kick.
windrush:
Bewick:
Never had any lumber like you describe Pete with the Eaton/Kirkstall/Scania/Volvo/Guy/Group and Rockwell diffs,in fact I can’t recall ever having trouble of any kind with these diffs,but had the odd shaft break on the little 82’s and of course quite a bit of lumber with the Group hub reductions but no diff failures on the Seddon diff,sounds like running Fodens was a real bundle of laughs
Well Dennis, when you have a fleet of 40+ eight wheeler tippers on heavy work, getting bogged down on sites etc, breakages are par for the course. These lads who only go ‘off road’ when they turn into a lay-by have no such problems! To be fair Fodens own diff gave few problems apart from occasional bearing collapse and was very strong but not free running like a Hypoid axle so less economical. By far the worse diffs were the Eaton ones in the Sed Ak 400’s and I think that every one of ours shed teeth off of the rearmost crownwheel, yet the later Fodens with the same Eaton back end after they changed from Rockwell ones (they were too heavy) gave no trouble at all. I remember visiting the Commercial Show at the NEC and on the Eaton stand was a sectioned diff assembly, I said to the salesman that it was unusual seeing one with all its teeth intact and he just nodded and admitted that they had a few issues with them but hopefully they had sorted it!
Pete.
Fair comment Pete as we were always on the hard,maybe a few dodgy cafe car parks 
so I agree our problems would be minimal,which they were of course,Cheers Dennis.
Are these Fodshed diffs ?
Yes.
Pete.
windrush:
Yes.Pete.
Aye & plenty of meat on the crown wheel too. I used to use Amber Gear Oil on ours, It was very thick and awkward to pour so we used to boil water up and stand it in for a while which made it easier to pour, Plus we never had any problems at all, Regards Larry.
windrush:
Larry you are quite correct, the single drive rigids did have that extra capacity diff bowl but then they usually had the reduction hubs as well which I assume would take more oil that the standard ones, maybe that was the reason? The Albion eight legger from the fifties (Caledonian?) had a similar shaped diff bowl I believe?Pete.
The ‘high speed arrangement’. Roller bearings rather than plain to the hub reduction unit.
Finally cured my N/S rear hub seal issues with a SKF version of the Stemco type. Chuck the double lip seal carrier away and fit the new oil seal straight into the hub. The factory solution would last for a couple of years or 5000 miles at best, and only half full of oil. Replacement has lasted for 6 years now with full hubs.
Dan Punchard:
012Are these Fodshed diffs ?
Transmission hand brakes too.
Lawrence Dunbar:
Aye & plenty of meat on the crown wheel too. I used to use Amber Gear Oil on ours, It was very thick and awkward to pour so we used to boil water up and stand it in for a while which made it easier to pour, Plus we never had any problems at all, Regards Larry.
Our ones never looked as good as those in Dan’s pic Larry, some of the bronze was eaten away and badly pitted. We blamed the BP (nats ■■■■) synthetic oil for that, never had that problem when we used Silkolene, but the wheel’s never failed despite that and would be refitted with new bearings.
Pete.
windrush:
Lawrence Dunbar:
Aye & plenty of meat on the crown wheel too. I used to use Amber Gear Oil on ours, It was very thick and awkward to pour so we used to boil water up and stand it in for a while which made it easier to pour, Plus we never had any problems at all, Regards Larry.Our ones never looked as good as those in Dan’s pic Larry, some of the bronze was eaten away and badly pitted. We blamed the BP (nats ■■■■) synthetic oil for that, never had that problem when we used Silkolene, but the wheel’s never failed despite that and would be refitted with new bearings.
Pete.
Well they don’t look as if they have done a lot of work, Ive seen them worn that far down you could cut yourself on the razor edges on them, Regards Larry.
Hi Dan them wheels were there like brand new , i had to by one the best i could find in Walshes yard the teeth were that sharp you could shave with them ,i paid a hundred and fifty quid ,put in it went tell we sold the unit ,just abit of useless info ,Cheers Barry
b.waddy:
Hi Dan them wheels were there like brand new , i had to by one the best i could find in Walshes yard the teeth were that sharp you could shave with them ,i paid a hundred and fifty quid ,put in it went tell we sold the unit ,just abit of useless info ,Cheers Barry
Quite right Barry, They were sharper than a 7 Oclock razor blade, & of course worth a lot of dosh when the were sold for scrap, Mind you I never had to scrap any of ours they seemed to go on forever, Regards Larry.
I don’t know where the diffs came from ,auction perhaps ,they were lying in the yard at commercial services sandbach last week with some other fodshed bits ,there was a 8 wheeler from up nr mr Dunbar ,Eddie Simpson I think the tipper said on it .
Dan Punchard:
I don’t know where the diffs came from ,auction perhaps ,they were lying in the yard at commercial services sandbach last week with some other fodshed bits ,there was a 8 wheeler from up nr mr Dunbar ,Eddie Simpson I think the tipper said on it .
Aye, Dan I know Eddie Simpson he is from Thropton Nr, Rothbury, He drove for Tilcons for a lot of years and fired up on his own, He is a great lad Eddie, As far as I know he is still going along with his son doing tipper work out of Harden Red Stone Quarry at Biddlestone, Regards Larry.
Hiya…them diffs look new and just sat around, what do you think Pete. thet flat half inch bit on the crown
wheel should be like a razor. its a pity there was no worn diffs Dan to take a photo of.
quick one…Dan you know Clive Allman (old Foden Atki and others,) his lad works at Elworth
with the Foden lads.his names Sam.
John
Hi FOLKS ,WHEN we bought diffs the were sold on the thickness of the wheel ,a good thick one was any thing up to 500 quid the cheepest as i say was 150 quid but you could shave with the teeth ,only ever had one brake up into big lumps ,had a tidy price for scrap , Cheers Barry
These look like potential runners to me seems a shame to let them go in the pot when they might get someone out of trouble.
Maybe a silly low ratio…
FodenS80:
Maybe a silly low ratio…
You could well be right there as at least one of them has the larger 12 bolt companion flange fitted which was used in dumpers around that time.
Pete.
Those Foden Diffs .At Kendrick’s Walsall, Young Horace would sit and watch you take out the diff from the S80’S , Remove the worm wheel and wash out the pan like a gold panning and scurry them of to his office . He was like a magpie. Don’t remember him missing any. Then again they didn’t fail that often. The servicing at Kendrick’s was the best I have seen on any fleet maintenance. Saying that S Jones was pretty good at maintenance enjoyed my job there under the eye of Mr R Hawkins dam good Forman and mechanic (hate the word fitter) .