Having spoken to one or two relief drivers recently who drive for operators in the same line of work as ourselves, I must say it was well interesting to hear their perspectives on driving both Volvo’s and Scania’s when the going gets rough and the traction is poor. A straight answer is seldom to be had from the actual owners of said trucks who are very much pro their own make (sound familiar? ).
I always had my concerns about poor traction from Scania’s when we used to get stuck pretty often when we had one a decade ago, would I be correct in saying that the root cause of the problem is down to their use of 2-bag rear suspension, and even more specifically, down to their particular design with the bags behind the axle line as opposed to the way Mercedes used to have the bags out front?
I’d like to hear your views on this, but also for people to elaborate on the thread topic, the pro’s/con’s of each type setup, and not just the traction problem that I have mentioned above; costs, maintenance, ride comfort, weight, etc.
The 4-bag setup on our Volvo’s is fine with regard to traction but they do cost a lot in maintenance on our work with the need for regular replacement of v-stays/bushes and drop links. Having said that, we run an older version 1 FM12 with the heavier design rear end (big thick anti-roll bar hanging out the back) and that only costs a quarter of what the later type costs to maintain. That particular design which was available up till about '01 was nigh on perfect, but I guess they weren’t selling much in the way of replacement parts so shelved it and replaced it with the current lighter design with its poly bushes and dainty drop links, which is fine on motorway work but not much use to my pocket when our trucks run equally as much on poor rural Irish roads.
Having spoken to one or two relief drivers recently who drive for operators in the same line of work as ourselves, I must say it was well interesting to hear their perspectives on driving both Volvo’s and Scania’s when the going gets rough and the traction is poor. A straight answer is seldom to be had from the actual owners of said trucks who are very much pro their own make (sound familiar? ).
I always had my concerns about poor traction from Scania’s when we used to get stuck pretty often when we had one a decade ago, would I be correct in saying that the root cause of the problem is down to their use of 2-bag rear suspension, and even more specifically, down to their particular design with the bags behind the axle line as opposed to the way Mercedes used to have the bags out front?
I’d like to hear your views on this, but also for people to elaborate on the thread topic, the pro’s/con’s of each type setup, and not just the traction problem that I have mentioned above; costs, maintenance, ride comfort, weight, etc.
The 4-bag setup on our Volvo’s is fine with regard to traction but they do cost a lot in maintenance on our work with the need for regular replacement of v-stays/bushes and drop links. Having said that, we run an older version 1 FM12 with the heavier design rear end (big thick anti-roll bar hanging out the back) and that only costs a quarter of what the later type costs to maintain.
I do a bit of off road work with Scanias and Dafs, fields in different types of soil/sand and inclines, manuals and autos…Never been stuck in a manual Daf
I drive alsorts, perks of being an agency driver. Been stuck twice and both times were auto’s (Volvo and Scania). I’m sure it would have been three times if it wasn’t for the fact i was in a Manual (Mercedes Actros).
I have not yet proved to my self whether an auto in manual would lead to me not being stuck.
As for how many bags each has, never considered it, I try and drive what ever I have been given safely, considerately and not to get stuck, but do believe in manual over auto, every time.
Oh I could have sworn they were releasing 4 bag not long after I bought mine about 6 year ago with the new r series release, sure I read that in a brochure.
Silver_Surfer:
Oh I could have sworn they were releasing 4 bag not long after I bought mine about 6 year ago with the new r series release, sure I read that in a brochure.
IIRC the R-Series was offered with four bag as an extra-cost option while the G-Series comes with two bag as standard. All the R-Series I tested after the launch were four bag and gave a definite improvement in handling, but when cash is king it’s no surprise that most bosses (who aren’t driving the trucks themselves) will settle for the lower priced alternative.
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