switchlogic:
Ha, this thread is hilarious! Well done chaps!
Yes luke and its all true,started driving 69 ret 2001 had many motors fitted above catagories,happy days. 
regards dave.
kr79:
taffytrucker:
Themoocher:
0One these babies
Automatic box and engine retarder with them
Need it with an army driver;-)
Pretty much the same as any modern driver then
I think in general you can tell the age of the drivers by the way they refer to their motors, most of us older lads used to drive lorries nowadays they tend to be referred to as trucks, personally never liked the word.
Ossie
I drove a 141 across the yard when I was about 9 on my own - dad was in the office and I thought I was being helpful when the forkies needed it moving. Does that count? I wonât go into detail what happened when he got back 
On a lighter note, I remember being in Germany with him with thick snow on he ground and no night heater - â â â â that was cold!
The last artic I drove without all those things and without synchromesh or power-steering either, was a Guy Big-J. Robert
I think the oldest Iâve driven was a 52 plate Merc puddle jumper.
my first motor was a good old d-series 7.5 tonner 5speed box no power steering then got moved to the luxury ? of a cargo 1718
dafdave:
switchlogic:
Ha, this thread is hilarious! Well done chaps!Yes luke and its all true,started driving 69 ret 2001 had many motors fitted above catagories,happy days.
regards dave.
Oh I wasnât doubting what anyone said. Just funny seeing everyone trying to outdo each other in the hardship stakes!
Funny you should say that Luke as I was thinking about lorries that were horrible to drive and there are two on my list that surprise even me.
One is an FH16-610, I was not that impressed with the performance, it was not much quicker than the 500 turbocompound FH I had before, but the worst part was the gear shift, it was bloody awful, I only had it for a couple of weeks before I came to Canada. It may have ticked all the boxes in terms of badge snobbery and had all the shiny bits and lights, but I never enjoyed driving it at all.
The other was the Kenworth I had when I first arrived in Canada, it was noisy, uncomfortable, unreliable and ugly, oh and it was septic tank green ffs 
Hi started in 1974 at national carriers on non HGV Bedford TK and Commer van,s then onto Ford D series unit,s
various ERF,s AEC Mandators,Guy Big J, over the years,
at McCall Bros Glasgow I had a wooden day cab Akti Borderer used to go to France in that! then joy-0-joy I got a Scania112,
various Volvo 86,s 88,s through the years,Owen
newmercman:
Driven a lorry without all of the modern Nancy Boy stuff?
Years ago, but a bus not a truck. Built in '77, gear stick was so far back you were lucky if you had arms long enough to find 1st - and if you did have to drop it down the clutch was useless so we used to do it on revs, took about half an hour to build the air up, rattled like a mofo if you managed to squeeze 56 out of it, seat like a church pew⊠I loved it!!
Then again I was 21 then, now being âslightlyâ older I do enjoy a bit of luxury 
switchlogic:
dafdave:
switchlogic:
Ha, this thread is hilarious! Well done chaps!Yes luke and its all true,started driving 69 ret 2001 had many motors fitted above catagories,happy days.
regards dave.Oh I wasnât doubting what anyone said. Just funny seeing everyone trying to outdo each other in the hardship stakes!
as against the horsepower stakes?
Juddian:
switchlogic:
dafdave:
switchlogic:
Ha, this thread is hilarious! Well done chaps!Yes luke and its all true,started driving 69 ret 2001 had many motors fitted above catagories,happy days.
regards dave.Oh I wasnât doubting what anyone said. Just funny seeing everyone trying to outdo each other in the hardship stakes!
as against the horsepower stakes?
Touché
Juddian:
switchlogic:
dafdave:
switchlogic:
Ha, this thread is hilarious! Well done chaps!Yes luke and its all true,started driving 69 ret 2001 had many motors fitted above catagories,happy days.
regards dave.Oh I wasnât doubting what anyone said. Just funny seeing everyone trying to outdo each other in the hardship stakes!
as against the horsepower stakes?
Well in the horsepower stakes I donât need to try and outdo anyone
newmercman:
Funny you should say that Luke as I was thinking about lorries that were horrible to drive and there are two on my list that surprise even me.One is an FH16-610, I was not that impressed with the performance, it was not much quicker than the 500 turbocompound FH I had before, but the worst part was the gear shift, it was bloody awful, I only had it for a couple of weeks before I came to Canada. It may have ticked all the boxes in terms of badge snobbery and had all the shiny bits and lights, but I never enjoyed driving it at all.
The other was the Kenworth I had when I first arrived in Canada, it was noisy, uncomfortable, unreliable and ugly, oh and it was septic tank green ffs
Manual version 2 fh and fm both have a dodgy gearshift especially when the cables wear and seize up.
switchlogic:
dafdave:
switchlogic:
Ha, this thread is hilarious! Well done chaps!Yes luke and its all true,started driving 69 ret 2001 had many motors fitted above catagories,happy days.
regards dave.Oh I wasnât doubting what anyone said. Just funny seeing everyone trying to outdo each other in the hardship stakes!
Like montypythons four Yorkshire men
kr79:
Like montypythons four Yorkshire men
âŠthey were luckyâŠ!!
The first lorry I owned myself 1971 Bedford km four wheeler fitted with a 466 motor that saw service in two other Bedfordâs that followed that one.
First truck was a Leyland Comet 4 wheeler. The heater blew cold air at you, except for a few precious seconds at the top of old Shap or Carter Bar.
It was very rare that the temperature gauge rose from the bottom pin, but from St Boswells, loaded with timber for North Shields, I would stop at the top of Carter Bar to drink from my flask and eat my sandwiches. I had never heard of âafterboilâ then!
Dad used to operate furniture vans in the late forties and had purchased a pair of fleece lined trousers from an ex Lancaster bomber pilot. I found these very useful in the Leyland!
The windscreen wipers were for some reason hung from the top of the screen. This meant that the rain was pulled upwards, you then had a second or two of clear vision before the same water cascaded down the screen, before being pulled up again. Surely, one trip in the rain and the designer could have realised that this was a severe design fault?
Happy Days!