militant-nick

[video=youtube_share;9SqPi11vn8Q] 2 4x4 & 1 6x6 MAN GS trucks A50 Derby west bound this evening. Captured on a Transcend DP200.

“Lawyers, the army, the police and the fire brigade are dealing with this,” Marika Tokarska, an official at the Walbrzych district council, told Reuters. This is all getting a bit Dads-Army-church-hostage esq.

Just finished this, a good read

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Excellent photos there Iain - nice to see the truck at work. Ilkeston workshop has now quoted me £140 for recon of my valve, the owner reckons he has a new one somewhere in his mountain of Bendix & other valves. As he's not on the Internet or email I also showed him the two Crusaders Dave Crouch has listed for sale so might have a fellow mv buddy soon. Here's the part worn tyres I got

Yes & no Iain, as the site where the Mili is stored has access conditions I have to either book a day off work or strike it lucky on a Saturday morning if the workshop is open. I hope to strip the valve from the truck again soon. Purely by chance whilst visiting a new workshop supplier in Ilkeston, Derbyshire through work, I found they had an old civilian aec tractor unit under restoration. Upon further enquiry I found they offer a full restoration & testing facility for brake valves and provide a 3 month warranty with the recon valves. This should be a good deal cheaper than an exchange valve. I hope to know more soon & will update.

I'll have the number of the place who supplied your foot brake valve please Iain - just had another fruitless day trying to make it work. The air is still escaping from the circular rubber o ring on the side of the valve. will send email shortly. thanks

Forgot to mention - once the air on the main gauge achieved 60psi the air assist on the handbrake noticeably returned and allowed the truck to free wheel, within 2 minutes on tickover no air assist apparent on the handbrake & truck stuck solid in first & reverse.

Trevor - air horns were plumbed in to the air system under the o/s/r cab floor, I simply removed the T piece and re joined with a straight section. The fixed air leak was from an old jubilee clip on the n/s/f axle brake chamber. Regards,

Thanks for the replies gents, sorry I haven't responded sooner-been in London. Iain-your comments confused me at first until I realised the numbering of the air system in the printed manual differs to the coloured diagram I posted above from Scribd website. We checked the n/s pressure regulating valve (20 or 15 diagram dependent) the other week, cleaned & lubricated it all ok. Today we did the same to the o/s valve which seemed to allow the air to build to 60psi under heavy rpm but fell away back to 20psi on tickover. It then became clear the larger air leak was from the dual foot brake valve (no 8 on my diagram). The exact leak was from a rubber diaphragm on the inner chassis side of the valve. In the following photos it's coloured with red, faded paint. It took some effort and about an hour and a half to work out the correct sequence to undo all four air pipes. As I type my Dad has the valve apart for cleaning and has found the spring seized. Hopefully fit it back tomorrow and fingers crossed it solves the issue. I'm also collecting two part worn tyres in the afternoon for the truck.

Good knowledge, thanks

Not updated this for a while as we've been struggling to retrieve the lost air in the braking system. This has been mentioned earlier in this thread and the suggested fix has been tried but not worked. The air on the split Main/Aux gauge (top left of dash) builds exactly as it should however the Brakes gauge (centre bottom of dash) barely manages 20 lb/sq and will therefore not release the brakes. Air assist on the clutch, tyre inflator & handbrake is also not present. We have been slowly cleaning & lubricating various valves in an attempt to isolate the problem. Any theoretical help or pointers toward those knowledgable in such matters great fully received. A few images of the air system & relay valves being cleaned.

10.45hr this morning A50 west bound South Derbyshire, Volvo unit & low loader with 2 x cvr(t) maybe Spartans, with a Saracen in between them. No sign of paintball residue & had been numbered with white spray paint, so maybe from ranges somewhere. Looked like they'd been out in the elements for some years.

It's at Imperial Commercials DAF in Derby Cosrec, up until 6 months ago the building behind the truck was a MAN franchise until it was taken off the dealer. I assume the MOD have a contract with Imperial-the huge trailer is nowhere to be seen onsite & the unit has been there a few weeks already so you may well be correct in your observation. Regards,

Spotted this again in Derby today, minus low loader this time. MAN 6x4 unit.

Wrong turns not an option in either rig, thanks Richard

Spot on Ted, thanks. Beast of a vehicle.

Thanks Richard, Sean - did also wonder about the heavier crash/fire tenders but have seen these moved on lower capacity low loaders.

Seen today at Imperial Commercials Derby; EJ 98 AB MAN 6x4 unit & EC 96 AB King trailer RAF 2 Mechanical Transport Squadron. I've read the 'about us' section on the RAF site, what would they need to shift with a rig this size though?

Your reference to Bicester heritage led me to search for their pages on Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bicester-Heritage/558643060833836 where you will find these & other good images

Travelled a fair way if it is, wonder if it lives in Stoke

[video=youtube_share;US-jCGoSbQ0] Halftrack & Weapons carrier spotted this evening 1750hr westbound A50 Derby (Toyota island)

I never knew such things existed, looks good.

Thanks Trevor, it is looking more like a fire service vehicle as time goes by. This last few days my dad & I installed the new 139db horn, fixed an air leak and I removed the old horns, sanded & painted the roof, it now looks a lot tidier and smarter. the old air horns will be listed on this site for sale shortly. The truck is missing one of the roof hatch pads, as shown in the photo, if anyone knows of any suppliers or has ever made their own replacement I would be interested to know please. the truck is also missing the rad cap cover which sits directly above the AEC badge, it appears to have had one at some point as there are three rivet holes for it, again if anyone knows...