antar

Got news the Cromwell has arrived up at Ricks and was unloaded...

Where are the pictures Rick ? Not the best of days for it here, pouring down all day !

love that S26 tractor unit...could we replace the rear wheels on the DROPS for 22.5 wheels, twins or super singles...would this make her run closer to her sweet spot....

 

I find the chore of driving her at 45 mph a pain, and 52..is on the limiter on mine...if she would run up to even 55 at the same revs as she does 45 it would be marvellous...

Paul, you need to have a read through this thread completely there is lots of info / suggestions on upping wheel and tyre sizes on drops.

Not sure if you know but the brackets between the ramps and rear lifting eyes are for the rear feet of the ballast box. There are no signs of the holes for the mudguard poles which many of these had even though most of the in service photos show them running as artic tractors.

Top marks to your paint guy for not blathering paint all over the tyres!

We took the wheels off Mike !

Rear end after blasting and painting.

Nice in service photo of a 30 ton Constructor with what looks like a pair of 20 ton behind:

Hi Mike, the second one on which the cab is completely out of sight is a 5th wheel tractor as it can be seen that it is pulling a semi-trailer, however it does not seem to be as big as the leading 30 tonner.

About time too....considering the scheme was originally conceived as 25 rolling years.

Does anyone have a parts book for the s26 raf tractor units? Or with such low volume production would a parts book exist

If you find one please let me know, I would like a copy too.

The Rolls will happily sit on the limiter all day making a huge racket but it will burn fuel like there is no tomorrow. Ideally you want to cruise at about 1500rpm and be at the point of maximum torque.

 

With the standard gearing (6.39:1 axles, 12.2:1 first gear) the RAF ones are rated at 65 tons but in civvy street the same combination is rated at 100 tons.

 

Try ebay member 'scammell305' for SOMA diffs, he is breaking some RAF refuelers.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEYLAND-ROADTRAIN-LOW-DATUM-CABS-AND-SPARES-/181326488142?pt=UK_Commercial_Trucks&hash=item2a37e6a24e

Had a chat with them today, they do not have any Soma axles, however they do have a home built S26 wrecker made from an Ex-RAF tractor unit. They found the original Soma axles too slow so installed a complete Rockwell rear bogie from a S26 RAF tractor they broke up, they say that it does over 70mph flat out but cruises at around 1200 rpm / 50mph.

They say that the bogie just rolled under the chassis complete and all bolt holes lined up.

They have for sale 2 more S26 tanker Rockwell rear bogies. My sandblaster has just confirmed the whole of the rear end of my truck has been blasted, primed, undercoated and topcoated ! Excelent timing...not.

Brought the S26 back to my local sandblaster this weekend so had a 20 mile run around the M60. A bit disappointing on the top speed front.... 52/3 mph flat out on the tomtom sat nav, mates Discovery clocked me at 59 mph. It is running on brand new 12.00 x 20 tyres.

Did they both have the RR 305 Eagle engine ?

Stan, Stan. Who the **** is Stan?:???

Oh Stan... he's the bloke in charge of development of the recently proposed Conway Airport.

Yes, pedal switch for service brakes, air pressure switch for when the parking brake is applied. If you look at my diagram the air pressure switch is in the same line as the dash park brake warning lamp switch.

Great, pulled a connector off the air pressure switch tonight and the brake lights went out.

Go back to posts 34/35 , identify the 'switch park brake lights' and disconnect it. As far as I can see from the circuit diagram there is no relay in the stop lamp circuit.

 

Up to the 1980s trucks used to show brake lights whenever the handbrake was applied and the keyswitch was on, the later 9 component block does away with that feature.

Thanks Mike,

I missed that, so they have an air pressure switch and a mechanical switch on the pedal ?

Both connections off switch and brake lights still on ! Is there a brake light relay somewhere that may be stuck ?

Found the flasher unit but no time to pull it out as trim has to be removed.

Hazard switch is present and correct, just did not see it, all indicators operate but obviously don't flash.

unfortunately I don't have enough room in my normal workshop for 2 tanks and a bren gun carrier so I will be building a new workshop at a yard I have nearby.

the first stage was to clear the site and lay 8 ton of concrete to form a 9ft x 35ft slab which will be followed by another 2 which will give an overall floor space of 27ft x 35ft. after that i'll nail a few upright rsj's front and back and chuck the roof on and hey presto tank workshop

 

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rick

Looking good Rick.

John, now that is just rude... Break your own toys, don't give Rick any ideas!:-D

Only joking !

Yes I also did my tuition and test about 3 years ago with Terry using the Scorpion very good couple of days with the desired outcome !

alastair you of all people should know how good the suspension is in the Cromwell !

 

I must admit I am sorely tempted to recreate the flying tank scene but I dare not take the risk but who knows I might do it on a smaller scale :cool2:

 

rick

Rick, when you finish the 2nd one for the bloke from USA try it with that one instead of your own !

John, the flasher unit is a 5 terminal Hella unit 4DM 003 474 01, from memory the 01 simply means it has a bracket. If you have an early component board with a row of ceramic fuses along the top the flasher unit is the bottom right component, if you have the later board the flasher is screwed to the board again bottom right just underneath the intermittent wipe unit.

 

The hazard switch is up by the radio position as has been mentioned, it is actually a Triumph TR7 component and quite hard to source. It suffers from contact corrosion but can be carefully dismantled and cleaned, it is no 1 suspect if the indicators fail to light as it provides a switched feed to the stalk.

 

Bawtrylwt, the transducer for no 1 tank can be in one of two places. On early models it is the top right component, on later models it is the second one down on the right hand side. In both cases the transducer is a larger component than the smaller pressure switches that surround it.

Thanks Mike,

Will keep you posted on how I get on with it on Sunday.

John.

What radio ! You obviously got the de lux model !

If you have a Clayton DB3 footbrake valve the switch is on top of the brake pedal close to the pivot, if it is a Bendix valve then it is underneath the pedal.

 

FYI the brake pressure sensors for the gauges are all in a block behind the glovebox and all the gauge units are identical with the exception of the voltage meter.

 

We all know what you mean but diesels don't have an ignition switch:cool2:

Thanks Mike will check it out on Sunday when next working on it, on another note do you know where the flasher unit is located, when testing the indicators last Sunday all the lamps are working but not flashing, oh and do they have hazard warning switch ? Spent a few seconds looking for it but was running out of time so did not persevere.

Funny thing about "ignition" on diesels, I work for JCB Technical Training part of the time and often say "on turning on the ignition" you should see this... or that... no one ever questions it but you are quite right.

When switching on the ignition on my RAF S26 Tractor unit the brake lights come on and stay on both without air in the system and when it is fully charged. Can anybody advise where the switch is located ?

Nice work, look forward to following this one.

 

Nice trailer its on too, is that part of the project?

Dyson 32 wheel 50 ton capacity drawbar trailer (drawbar seems to be missing). They were towed behind Diamond T's and ANTARs

Go for it, we all should at some stage in our life have the opportunity to drive a 6x6 Scammell with a gate change gearbox and 180 ish of horsepower on tap !

I have been a CET private owner for about 8 years, I had 2 from the first releases which were a bit rough, I had to swap a few engines and steering boxes to build 2 from about 6 in a friendly military breakers yard, that is how I learnt about how they work, plus purchasing all the manuals from Vintage Military Manuals and then spending hours studying them.

I sold one to a collector in the Northeast a few years ago, then in late 2012 I had the opportunity to swap the other one for one of the very tidy ones in the big batch currently being released at Withams which also had been sold as scrap as it was a non runner.

The latest ones have all had the swim levers, splash boards, and the drive props to the Dowty water jets removed, however I was able to save these from my old one before it was scrapped.

As far as I am aware I have the only CET crane attachment in the UK, I know of one other in the USA. Over the years I have managed to collect most of the CES, some of it coming from other members of this forum when they have purchased CVRT equipment in the Withams tenders which it has been mixed with.

Due to the knowledge I have gained over the period of owning one I have been able to help out other CET owners in fault finding on them and on the odd occasion help out with spares.

As for the rocket propelled anchor, this seems to be the most illusive piece of CES, I have all the drawings to make one but have never been able to actually find an original one.

With regards to reliability in service I have heard some horror stories, after Gulf War 1 questions were asked in the house of commons regarding the fact that they were the most unreliable vehicle deployed in theatre.

On visiting the REME Museum reserve collection in Bordon on one occasion I was introduced to some regular REME guys as"the bloke who owns a CRARV trailer" to which they all fell about laughing and reeling off stories of how many times they had towed in CETs.

As regards to spares, just buy 2 they are that cheap at the moment !