There’s a chance we might be putting an 8 wheeler on the road soon, I’ve got some input (I’m telling the boss what I want) but the I’d say it’s a fair bet it’ll be a day cabbed 
P420. I’d be happier with a G420 or an FM and quite like the look of the new FMX.
So just out of interest what would you choose, it’s only day work approx 300km’s a day with a fair amount of site work. 2 choices.
No Iveco? 
I knew I’d forgot something, probably a reason for it though. 
the FMX has a construction chassis, and for your work the weight penalty over a road going chassis would be a bit much, my personal choice woud be the CF, its got a proven drive line, decent enough cab and assuming you are going beaver tail a strong enough chassis. saying all that, at that point in the market all are capable and lot will come down to personal prefernce for a marque
If the vote is to be based on more than just looks which obviously it needs to be. More info is needed such as:
what type of work?
what type of body?
gearbox?
manual/auto?
fuel consumption?
how long is it expected to be kept?
is residual value important?
price?
warranty?
R&M deal?
cost of spares?
outright purchase/lease/lease-buy?
and so on.
Guess your only looking at it from a driver’s point of view? In which case you want the most comfortable/user friendly.
Yes I figured the FMX would be too heavy, we’re on a bit of a mission to try and balance the weights. I want an Andover body rather than some flimsy crap made out of KitKat wrappers but they are heavy. We’ve also got a 20t/m crane to squeeze on and we want to carry 14t excavators, sounds do-able enough until we weighed one of our Hyundai 140’s with 4 buckets = 16,380Kg.
We’re not going to be far off, but it’s going to be a mission nonetheless. I did find an 05 series 4 R cab sleeper 8x4 with 20t/m crane, Andover body and Andver drawbar trailer, all built together for a utility company. IMO that would be a great piece of kit, but the boss has gone cold on the idea.
Driveroneuk:
If the vote is to be based on more than just looks which obviously it needs to be. More info is needed such as:what type of work?
what type of body?
gearbox?
manual/auto?
fuel consumption?
how long is it expected to be kept?
is residual value important?
price?
warranty?
R&M deal?
cost of spares?
outright purchase/lease/lease-buy?and so on.
Guess your only looking at it from a driver’s point of view? In which case you want the most comfortable/user friendly.
It’s for shifting construction plant about on so will have a heavy fold flat beavertail body and a 20t/m crane. I’ll likely have very little sway in the decision process but I’m trying to make sure that I get something usable and comfortable. It’ll likely be new with a new body and the crane will be removed and refurbed from a current motor. I’d plump for a manual box as I’ve not too much auto experience but I hear a lot of people saying they’d rather have a clutch for site work.
The vehicle will probably be kept for 10 years or so and purchased through a finance company and maintained on a R&M deal. I’ll not be party to the costings but I want to make sure that the vehicle is a good sound investmentm for the company.
At the end of the day I’m going to be driving the thing so I figure I can request and suggest certain things, I just wanted a feel for what other drivers rated vehicles. I’ve had a series 4 P cab sleeper for 3 years and have nice FM before that. I’ve driven a few other motors but never really enough to get a feel for anything else. Except Iveco’s which is perhaps why I forgot about them.
Ah i see. Thanks for the explanation 8wheels. I knew you were involved with plant movements but other readers may not. (great previous diaries BTW).
DAF’s and VOLVO’s are always a nice drive with the Volvo possibly maintaining value longer, but then if being kept 10 years, residual values aren’t an issue.
Is there any way you can get to look at (and drive?) any of the trucks you are not familiar with?
The Renault could be quite comfortable & at a more reasonable price too.
I believe Hinos are a strong truck, no idea of driver comfort.
If its going to be on full R&M then i guess whole of life maintenance/parts cost is not an issue either.
I’d suggest you definately try to have some influence on the body as you have to work with that every day. Think of the small things that would make life easier such as number & location of lashing points.
It would seem like it will be a battle of the Swedes, we are a traditional Scania user but the boss is willing to consider Volvo too. He seems to be against DAF and feels that Merc, Hino and Renault and MAN dealers are not local enough. I’d personally think that if you found a chassis cab at a really good price but it meant the dealer was 30 miles away that’s not a massive problem. Either way I’m fairly pro Scania / Volvo.
Scania are proposing a day cabbed G400 which wouldn’t be too sad, as long as it is a day cab with the space behind the seats and not the short cab with the seats against the rear wall of the cab.
As for the body he was considering a local bodybuilder but I think I may have talked him round to staying with Andover. The price is a little dearer but in my opinion they are unbeatable for the task and having lashing points and rope hooks just where you want them. Something to be said for buying a plant body from people who just do plant bodies rather than a general bodybuilder.
I think I made a valid point that although they are not local, Andover are not a million miles away and it wouldn’t be the end of the world to run the crane down there after we had had it removed and refurbed locally. I’ve also suggested retaining our existing hydraulic winch and getting it refurbed too. At just shy of £4k it’d be daft not too as it gets so little use it is far from worn out.
Over the last couple of years I’ve considered the idea of setting up as an OD in the plant moving game, but can’t really afford to take the risk of giving up a steady income and shelling out a fairly big sum of cash just to get started with some shonky old motor. Over this time I have been thinking about exactly what sort of truck I’d specify if I were able to build the ultimate for my job. If I can get this one headed in the right direction then it’ll be good. V8 Topline excluded
I’m a Volvo fan & owner but where I park have got a fleet of MAN 6x2 rigids on site work & general & I reckon them to be a good lorry, thry’ve got big axles on the front & steel bumpers & seem to take a bit of hammer. But I do like the look of them there Hinos they’re the dogs to look at.
Fly sheet
Trucks that do a lot of on site work such as tippers tend to have straight front axles rather than standard axles which sweep up at the ends. Like this:
Straight axles give a higher stance giving more ground clearance and more rugged appearance…
I’d say a Volvo or MAN and they seem good hardy trucks. If you look at Hino, they only come as a small sleeper, so no day cab, giving you a bit more room, but if your anything over 5 foot 8 you might find it hard getting comfortable.
Dont get the Axor 8 wheeler,theres two pumps for the power steering and a maize of pipes,too complicated and they give trouble. The FM is a mighty tipper but MAN always did and still do build an excellent 8 wheeler.I’d sway german for comfort but the steering lock can be poor check it out before you buy.
If the boss has plenty of dough, then I’d go for the Volvo - they are a lovely truck and very well made. However, I believe they are a little heavy, which may cause you problems. They just seem really well made and are the nicest truck inside IMO.
For me, the Scania is over-priced and I think their daycabs are ridiculously cramped. I believe they go well though and obviously it seems your boss is comfortable with them.
The Daf is a good tool but I don’t like the rear ends on them. I ran one for 4.5yrs on quarry work at 26t and only broke one rear spring but others who I know have broken numerous rear springs. Apparently the design is from the 70’s, when gvw’s were much lower?
Of cash is tight, go for the Hino. There are loads about 2nd hand and you get LOTS for your cash. If you don’t mind a manual change and a bit of a dated interior then you can’t go wrong. They are thirsty if you rev them but they’ve got loads of torque so you don’t need to and I find them a relaxing drive.
I suggested Hino may be worth a look a while ago as they are reputed to be as tough as old boots, although I feel they may be heavy, he wasn’t all that keen on the idea though.
I had a look at the spec on the Scania it seems reasonable and the cab quoted is a G model day cab, at last I’d get a flatter floor and some space behind the seats, that’s leaps and bounds better than the short cab P series. I had a Volvo FM previously before with a day cab and it was a good comfortable drive although a little more space would have been handy. As for pricing who knows, Scania want £88k for the G400 with 12+2 gearbox, opticruise if wanted and heavier front axles. They have also quoted for the heavier chassis which may need dropping. An Andover body is approx £18k plus the cost of removal, refurb and refit of our existing crane. Nothing will happen for a week at least as the boss ha disappeared on holiday now.
I know it was a while ago, but things haven’t changed much in the last 10yrs well not in the fundamentals anyway, but in 01 I was the road tester at TRUCK magazine’s TipIn, I did the heavy duty (straight beam axles) 8 wheelers, the best by far was the Actros, the following year another tester did the 8 wheelers & he also had the Actros as the best 8 wheeler, not only that but it was voted the truck of the day out of every tipper on test (from Transits up to artics) & the actros has been voted truck of the decade recently, it’s gotta be worth a look 
newmercman:
I know it was a while ago, but things haven’t changed much in the last 10yrs
Not disputing your findings or that they are a decent motor. However, people just don’t seem to buy them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in the flesh, on quarry work at least. I wonder what it is (apart from tipper owners conservatism) that puts people off?
hammer:
Not disputing your findings or that they are a decent motor. However, people just don’t seem to buy them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in the flesh, on quarry work at least. I wonder what it is (apart from tipper owners conservatism) that puts people off?
I would suggest having done a couple Commercial Motor “Tip In” tests the biggest thing is payload, the DAF is light
On this years Tip IN I was the test driver for the DAF and was impressed, although the test truck for me was over specced and and hope I conveyed that in my report.
My personal winner was the Iveco Trakker, which I felt covered all the needs well, but a lot of the points for the test are on more than personal feelings
hammer:
newmercman:
I know it was a while ago, but things haven’t changed much in the last 10yrsNot disputing your findings or that they are a decent motor. However, people just don’t seem to buy them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in the flesh, on quarry work at least. I wonder what it is (apart from tipper owners conservatism) that puts people off?
Here’s one that will be put on the road shortly.Not an Actros,but an Axor.
I already mentioned the steering issues with the Axor,not sure if the Actros is the same. I do know the Actros is a heavy truck so thats one black mark also owner drivers are unable to maintain them without MB diagnostics-another black mark. Driveshafts and axles are sealed bearings and although they work well,its hard to sell this theory to a grease happy owner driver.
Biggest problem with the Actros is its over engineered-still takes some beating thou.