Richard Grosvenor Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 - and I believe he used the M11 too although that was not confirmed...... Ah! My sister and her partner got stuck in an horrendous traffic jam on the M11 early this morning due to an "incident". That'll be it then! :-) Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Thank you all for your answers and to summerise: 2. Only need to take an H test? Correct. Whereas (in the 1970s) RAC soldiers were taught to drive Land Rovers prior to taking their HGV course, I know of trained crewmen who did not have a car licence. I remember one friend. His daytime job was to drive Zero Alpha, the prime Regimental HQ Armoured Command Vehicle. The Saracen ACV required a Group B (automatic gearbox) licence and the Sultan that replaced it obviously required H, but he did not have a full licence to drive his VW Beetle. In BAOR we drove out own vehicles on a BFG licence which was dead easy to get either by waving your UK licence or the Army would back up your military driver training. (We had to do a theory test on driving in Europe, and later it was decreed that junior ranks had to resit it regularly.) The BFG licence database was still maintained by hand by CPO BAOR in Moenchenstrapback until the mid-80s and it was possible for errors to occur. My mukker got his licence addressing him as Lance Colonel (LCol) instead of Lance Corporal (LCpl). His next renewed licence came back without the word FULL crossed out to indicate it was provisional. Shortly thereafter the UK decided to recognise the BFG licence and issue UK licences off the back of the BFG, because it discrinated against wives who learned in Germany. Dave ended up with a full UK licence without ever taking a test. I can talk: a similar sleight of hand got me a full bike licence without ever taking a test. But that's another story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedawnpatrol Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 What about my Half Track ? It is road legal, as it has rubber tracks, but can I drive it on a motorway? With the prices of low loaders this year it will be a lot cheeper to drive it the 100 miles to Beltring down the M25 ! Jules Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predictable Bob Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 :shocked: I'd be surprised if it's only 20mph on rubber - the squaddies driving the armour round here travel a damned sight faster than that ! :shake: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 You're entering a real mares nest of rules and regs here little Bob!!! What the squaddies do is no much use to us these days - DVLA and VOSA have made a lu-lu of the reg's between them. For us it seems to be determined by the width(and possibly the weight) of the vehicle. Over 2.55m wide (assuming you can actually get DVLA to register it)and it starts falling into the SGO categories with attendant speed limitations. One of the other lads with more knowedge/experience than mine will no doubt correct or clarify this for you though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 What about my Half Track ? It is road legal, as it has rubber tracks, but can I drive it on a motorway?With the prices of low loaders this year it will be a lot cheeper to drive it the 100 miles to Beltring down the M25 ! Jules Half track should be legal on the grounds that it is not steered by its tracks, and can exceed the legal minimum speed limit on a motorway. Vehicles steered by there tracks are not allowed on motorways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 The thought of half track doing 70 plus on a motorway :shake: See that in court! Mind you it'd give forign lorry drivers and BMW owners a fright!:cool2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luger Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 Hi guys - total virgin when it comes to tracked vehicles so please bear with me! 1. What's easiest to drive on the road - FV432 or CVRT family? 2. Does it damage or accelerate wear to the vehicle? Many, many thanks Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirhc Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 FV432 does not have a separate braking system and they are wide. I prefer to drive CVRT on the roads, others may have a different opinion. The tracks are fitted with rubber pads, the pads wear out faster on roads than on mud or grass, but that’s what they are designed to do. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luger Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 Right - thank you. Does the CVRT family have brakes then? If so are they any good vs a 432? Also are the pads expensive and how easy/long to fit them please? Ta v much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirhc Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 CVRT has separate main and steering brakes, you have tillers for steering and a pedal for stopping. FV430 Mk1 or 2 just has 2 tillers, to stop you have to pull them both back evenly. CVRT does not have replaceable pads. When they are worn you change the track. FV430 does have replaceable pads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luger Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 Understood. Which is easier to deal with please - replacing a worn track or replacing a pad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryb Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 both have their pros and cons, personally I love CVRT's to drive but track supply is extremely difficult. Famously a cvrt was demonstrated doing a full throttle neutral turn at Bovington. It started turning with brand new track fitted. 24 minutes later the track pads were worn down to the steel ribs! brand new production 432 track pads are readily available to joe public at around a tenner each, held in by one nut and easily and quickly changed. although cvrt's can fetch north of £28000, a good 432 can still be found for under £20k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luger Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 Guys - this is extremely helpful and very, very much appreciated! I'm wondering if the 430 family inherited the 50's British over-engineering whereas the CVRT - whilst technologically more advanced - suffered from '70's cost cutting. So would 430's be easier to maintain and run these days? And what do you reckon would be best for someone new to tracked vehicles please? We'd run it more on-road than off - and we're in south Manchester, if anyone's in that neck of the woods... Huge thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Luger, I think you have had some incredibly sane answers from some very knowledgeable people on the forum. I would agree with what has been said already. The CVRT is a far easier to support vehicle in a lot of respects. How many miles a month / year do expect to use your vehicle on the road for, and I guess my other question is why? As many here will agree, make sure you have a recovery plan before you get going, when it does go wrong, say with a seized final drive on a roundabout at dark what is your game plan? Driving tracked armour on public roads is a privilege you folks in the UK enjoy, we can not here in our province except for parades etc. Have fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luger Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Hi Guys - first of all many thanks for your comments - really appreciated. OK, in no particular order... We live in Manchester and whilst we are near the countryside we'd have to drive on a road to get there - we have no access to farmland. I guess we would do no more than 200-300 miles on road each year. We reckon our first port of call is to investigate the CVRT family more thoroughly. With that in mind, we have contacted the Alvis Fighting Vehicle Society so we can check out the CVRT and see what we reckon - any suggestions, comments or alternatives would be hugely appreciated, we're totally open minded. Assuming we go down the CVRT route, what kind of maintenance and maintenance costs per year would we be looking at please? Also, what is the cost of a replacement track - and more generally, are spares available at a sensible cost? And, if so, who from please? Thanks once again for all the input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirhc Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 I think you will end up doing less miles than you think you will. Although driving a CVRT on the roads can be enjoyable, when you have got to get home, it's November, raining, dark and you still have 30 miles to go it can be hard work. You won't be using it to go and pick up some milk from the shop, or doing a trip to the beach for fish and chips like you might a classic car. If you are going to visit Andrew at the Alvis Fighting Vehicle Society you will be visiting one of the largest stocks of spares. How do you define sensible cost? Track cost the MoD something like £18,000 a set, prices on the civilian market can vary from a few hundred £ for some take off track to thousands for new. You can't buy track at ATS, when you need it you have to buy what is available. If you don't need it, and it becomes available you need to have the money and space to store it. This applies to most parts for these vehicles. You also have to remember they are still in service with several armed forces around the world so any new spares which become available tend to get hoovered up by dealers and exported. How soon are you looking to buy? It would be worth visiting some of the larger shows such as War & Peace as you'll be able to see a good selection of vehicles in the same place and talk to the owners. Chris 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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