radiomike7

I shall never forget the character that approached my Explorer many years ago and said 'I used to be in the ree mee, I remember changing the chains in those rear cases, they were always giving trouble'. Whatever!

Yes! Same type with the flat cover and 8 bolts.

Yes, they both have SOMA axles, are you confusing the S26 tanker with the T45 re-cabbed Bison version? http://www.military-vehicle-photos.com/picture/number1078.asp The only difference I found on the S26 tanker/tractor axles is the bracketing for the radius arms and the diff ratios. The S26 has both inter axle and cross axle diff locks, I believe the Crusader only had an inter axle lock.

No, with 295/80 22.5 which are almost the same diameter as 10.00R20. You would get a further 10% with 12.00R20. Not sure why you think the diff locks would be a problem?? The tankers used a 12R22.5 tyre on an 8.25" rim with a single spacer but the 12R22.5 tyres are nominally 292mm wide compared with 12.00R20 at 313mm. The tankers were outside of C&U regs, IIRC they grossed at 30 tons laden, 24t on the bogie and 6t on the front. The rear springs were definitely +2 leaves on the tractor I had here.

Perhaps tack weld them together for the trip:undecided:

Theoretical V max will be 70mph but will give a sensible 55mph cruise. Most of the tankers will have done nominal miles but in my case with just 40k miles on the clock the bearings were in a terrible state, I assume with the short journeys the diff oil never got hot enough to evaporate any condensation that built up. I was also going to convert the trailing axle to spring brakes as I had all the parts but Clive advised that it may be necessary to increase the size of the air tank used to blow the brakes off, apparently modern regs stipulate 4 parking brake releases with the engine stopped.

The spacers are a separate piece and just slide over the studs, it may be possible to use 2 as the studs are quite long and the wheel nuts are also longer than modern equivalents. You may have to watch the overall width though. The tanker diffs are the same size as on the tractors and a direct fit in the axles, I couldn't swap the axles as the main cross member and brackets for the radius arms were different. If ever you need to remove the leading axle diff give me a shout as there are 2 nuts which took some head scratching to locate. If you ever take it off road make sure the center diff is locked, the gear that drives the pinion shaft is fitted metal to metal on the through drive shaft and will weld itself together if the diff spins for any time. IIRC the tanker springs were 11 leaf rather than 9 on the tractor. What is that crane from, is it ex military? Mike

Hi John, the data sheet shows 9147kg as each rear spring capacity with the SOMA axles rated at 12000kg each. As I wrote previously the RAF tankers had a heavy duty 24 ton version of the rear bogie with a couple of extra leaves in the springs, stronger rectangular radius arms in place of the tubular ones with a different X member and axle brackets, 12R22.5 tyres and 4.79:1 diffs in place of 6.39:1. The trunnions looked to be the same with longer U bolts and I speak from personal experience as I stripped one down here that I bought from DC a couple of years ago to liberate the high speed diffs which now reside in Mike Lawrence's Wynns lookalike S26. Looking at the Crusader specs the rear bogie has a design capacity of 23780kg with a rating of 13690kg (11.7ton) which is clearly incorrect or a typo on the 09/1975 sheet for the F4 112 156HD model. Out of interest which wheels did you use for the 12.00x20s, I seem to remember there was already a wheel spacer to increase the track for tyre/spring clearance?

Mark, this is not going to be easy, in Antar/Commander days the army could do more or less what they liked, for instance the rear axle loading on the trailers was IRO 30 tons per line, far higher than the current max of 16 tons for the likes of you and I under STGO 3. As I see it, the ARRV weighs 55 tons, the S26 9 tons and a suitable trailer circa 20 tons which takes you above the limit of STGO2 (80 tons with 12.5tons per axle) and into STGO3 (150 tons with 16 tons per axle). You didn't say which S26 you have but if it is one of the RAF radar types the rear axles are rated at 12 tons each but the springs are only 9.1 tons each. You could use the springs and wheels/tyres from an RAF re-fueler to get the full 12 ton rating but you would need to get the vehicle recertified. With a 4 axle trailer and under STGO 2 you could then theoretically run at 80 tons, (4x12.5+2x12+6) but this would leave no margin for loading error. STGO3 is probably the way to go, a four axle trailer with 16 ton axles could take a greater weight and the S26 would not need uprating. Incidentally the plate on the RAF versions gives a 65 ton max train weight but the civilian versions were 100 tons with the same specification, I have the spec sheets in front of me. You need to do your sums, decide how often you may want to move it and balance the cost of owning/running/storing an expensive bit of kit against hiring a contractor to move it for you, RFL alone is £2585 pa if used commercially, not sure if you could tax it as a private heavy goods.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chobham_armour Hopefully with not too many errors....

Witamy! Yak cher mash?:laugh:

Geoff Rhodes had one very similar, might that be it?

FV433 barrel ie Abbot??

That would make sense, many of the brand new BEF vehicles were rendered useless and abandoned on the beaches.

Most likely the 4 cylinder 7 litre petrol engine but is that not a Gardner engine in your last photo?

Not a Pioneer Niels but a prototype 4x4 petrol engined coastal artillery tractor designed to an Admirality specification and delivered 6 months prior to the outbreak of WW2. As Bernard has just written, it passed into the hands of a fairground showman.

I have it listed as 'R100 on acceptance trials'

Well summed up, until recently it was possible to take the same module 5 times over and it would still count as 35 hours training. I have wasted two Sundays and £100 to achieve two modules and have learned the sum total of nothing. There was also the question of the training counting as other work and having to take an extra rest day to compensate but as we were all self employed and not getting paid it was not classed as work. The hire/reward issue is even more complicated and involves an operators licence and having an employee who holds a full fat CPC. Now if you were to purchase a friend's vehicle and show a relevant transaction then sell it back after moving it...... You could even claim you had bought it in good faith and were returning it because it was not as described.

What on earth is that, it looks like a Sentinel steam boiler under the radiator??:shocked: Edit. Thought it was some sort of prototype but looking closer it belongs to Russell of Bathgate so I assume it is a recovery.

Hydraulic pipes are designed for much higher pressures than an air brake system and will be very heavy and difficult to manipulate. Converting to a spring brake system would be an excellent move as it prevents you from moving off until there is sufficient air pressure to work the service brakes but given the somewhat unique rear brake chambers might be a serious challenge. The current system has one line and a single fault will cause total service brake failure; as a halfway solution it may possible to at least convert to a twin line system needing a new foot valve and a second air reservoir with relevant valves. Incidentally the Martian rear brakes are very powerful, mine would easily lock the rear bogie on a dry road with a 5 ton load in the back; try that with an Explorer!

That's rather a nice VW 924 Bill, Harm Lagaay would be proud of you:-D

After leaving school in 1969 I had a summer holiday job with a large company in Cricklewood installing fruit machines and upmarket juke boxes. One job was at Windsor Castle fitting the sound system for a yearly bash that HM used to lay on for the children; while running some speaker cables I swore at a pair of Corgis that were trying to shred my shirt. I turned round and there was HM herself who found the incident quite amusing and found time for a quick chat! Joined Ford on a student course and gained an HNC in engineering then worked in Special Vehicle Ops at the Langley truck plant (an ex wartime Hurricane factory) on Transit, D and H series trucks. Left Ford in 1976 when a very generous voluntary redundancy package coincided with getting married and buying a house. Started my own company in 1979 supplying and fitting car audio and electrical accessories which gave me a good living until the internet, discounting and credit card fraud killed the game in the early 2000s. Still do the odd installation and some repairs but work most evenings as an articulate person for a green striped supermarket chain.

Was that not vandalism rather than an accident, I seem to remember some hooligans released the brakes and the locos ran down a slope?

British English colloquialism for sausages

Not yet, they are doing Sterling work and remain Defiant despite the threats of Wildcat strikes, Typhoons and King Cobras.....