As already said F89’s were all made as left hand drive. Other externally visable differances would be the angle of the bottom of the sump due to the leaning over installation of the 12 litre engine.
Also the F89’s had a much wider front grille than the F88 240’s, the same wider grille was later used on 290 F88’s but stuck out a bit further from the cab in that fitment.
sorry that this is a bit vague but I believe its something to do with the front axle position, I won a T&D competition in the 90’s with the answer. I did’nt know so I went into Volvo at Edmonton and they told me, it was right as I won a Volvo day at Warwick but I don’t remember the full answer.
mikey1964:
sorry that this is a bit vague but I believe its something to do with the front axle position, I won a T&D competition in the 90’s with the answer. I did’nt know so I went into Volvo at Edmonton and they told me, it was right as I won a Volvo day at Warwick but I don’t remember the full answer.
Wouldn’t that be the G88 with the front axle set further foward? [steps behind wheel like an American cabover]
Wouldn’t that be the G88 with the front axle set further foward? [steps behind wheel like an American cabover]
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I was always under the impression that a G88 was a day cab version of the F.I only remember ever seeing one-pet. reg I think.Didn’t notice the step position though.
G88/89 had set forward front axle, they came in day cab and sleeper.
G88 had the set forward axle & went to oz nz ect there was one on Ebay last week .
to confuse matters futher the FB88 was a 6 wheeler tractor unit/rigid .looking through my old books it seems that the G88 was called a G88 if it was 2 axle or 3 axle! no GB88 it seems. 
on a similar note didnt the YEOMAN FB88 (southern comfort) have a 12 ltr motor fitted in it at a later date when it was still working for a living?i think they were told it would not fit as it was r/h drive but it did fit i think .(cab floor mods i seem to remember).bob.
I love an 88/89 question, gives me a chance to put on the anorak 
The F88 range was originally designed to be a ‘world’ lorry & was known as the ‘Tip Top’ due to it’s tilt cab.
F88, early ones had no air intake stack, top mounted windscreen wipers, stainless steel grille, red & gray interior & the wheel studs were to the US standard (in a smaller radius than UK/European ones) later models had a flat stack mounted on the left, bottom mounted wipers, black plastic grille & a blue interior trim.
F88-290, full width double thickness grille, the panel between the headlights was also sloped out at the top to line up with the grille, round air stack on the left, early ones had the blue 240 interior, later ones had a revised dash with a row of warning lights along the top & a brown interior trim, they also had the UK/European standard of wheel nut radius. These were only available in the UK to compensate for the lack of a RHD F89, which as was said was due to the engine cant getting in the way of the gear linkage.
F89, LHD only, full width grille, flat air stack on right of cab, UK/European wheel stud pattern, blue/brown trim depending on year.
G88, as F88 but with set forward front axle.
FB88/89, double drive.
CH230, Swiss only model with trilex wheels, flush front wings & door handles to get inside the Swiss 2.3m width limit in urban areas. AFAIK it was fitted with the F89 engine.
The 240 F88 was superceeded by the 290 in the UK, but the 240 was still available in all other markets, later models had the brown trim & wheel stud pattern of the 290 F88 & F89.
Cheers Mercman thats the kind of stuff that I was after.
So basically to build a model of a RHD British vehicle that I have a photo of, I need to decide whether its an F88 or an F88 290 going by the clues you have given?
Wolfie.
G’day
Interestingly the G89.which was avalable in Australia was right hand drive,but it also had the motor on a lean,I don’t know what the story was with the gear lever.
Anybody any ideas?
Cheers Jamie
The Aussie cab was G88 & far enough forward to miss the turbo etc
Lonewolf Yorks:
Cheers Mercman thats the kind of stuff that I was after.So basically to build a model of a RHD British vehicle that I have a photo of, I need to decide whether its an F88 or an F88 290 going by the clues you have given?
Wolfie.
The 290 had the wide grille where the 240 had the narrow (Hitler moustache) type.
Ross.
FB** was 3 axle combo of 6x2 ( as in Robert Armstrongs “road trains”) I cant remember what a 6x4 chassis designation was.
Cab position on the G88/9 no different to F cabs, only front axle positioning and mudguards. Shell had one floating around Southampton in the early seventies, possibly on approval.
I had heard the Aussies used RHD in F/G 88/9’s but didn’t know how they did it.
G’day
I found a G88 grave yard last year on a trip to the south Island,I counted 13 cabs and various chassis. On another property the same bloke has 7 others which are complete and a G89 which he has imported from Queensland.I was over the moon to find the place,there was an artice about the bloke in T&D a few years back.
Cheers Jamie
A G89 eh, can’t see how the forward set axle would affect anything other than maybe the sump design, be interesting to find out how they got the gear linkage in, it can’t be anything to do with the turbo location because the hot side of the engine was the left side so it wouldn’t affect a gear linkage on the right side, maybe Volvo GB were telling porkies about their reasons for not making a RHD F89.
Gazzer, I think all the 6 wheelers were FBs regardless of whether the axles were driven or not.
bigr250:
The 290 had the wide grille where the 240 had the narrow (Hitler moustache) type.
Never heard this one
by volvoguy
i have recently joined your forum and wondered if NZ Jamie can remember where he took the pictures of the cabs
on South Island.i am restoring an F88 and would like to contact the guy if possible
thanks volvoguy
NZ JAMIE:
G’day
Interestingly the G89.which was avalable in Australia was right hand drive,but it also had the motor on a lean,I don’t know what the story was with the gear lever.
Anybody any ideas?
Cheers Jamie
Interestingly the Titan Tip Top with the 330hp engine was used in right hand drive markets. The TD 120A was an altogether taller engine and the accommodate it under the tilt cab the engine was tilted over to the right. This did cause a problem with the gear linkage fouling so the RHD F89 was never built.
I am led to believe the G89 got around this problem by having the front axle and engine mounted further forward allowing the cab to clear the gear linkage.
Even the lower TD100A in RHD form was close as I still remember the bollocking I got when I lowered the cab onto the F88 gear stick and shattered it. I still have the broken pieces somewhere in a box. If the vehicle was not on level ground you had to guide the gearlever through the hole in the cab floor.
Newmercmans description was very good and I have the same anorak as him and can picture many parts of an F88 from the fuse cover/ document tray, to the isringhausen seat adjusters, colours and the little round warning lamp covers. I can see the little green light for the splitter in my dreams.
The door handle lock buttons, even the mirror rubbers.
So here is the bonus question.
What is this?
That’s an easy one Mr. Nut.
It’s a water seal, they went between the cylinder heads, most 6 cylinder engines had 6 seals, although i have seen a couple where there was not one fitted between the front of number 1 head and the thermostat housing, thus requiring only 5.
They were fitted simply by pushing them into place with your thumb or a soft tap from the end of a hammer handle and removed by prising out using a thin bar through the top hole.
It was amazing how many people would re-use them after doing engine work, then wondering why their expensive antifreeze was running down the side of the engine…They were cheap enough to renew each time.
Steve.