Great War truck Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 (edited) I dont know if you are familiar with the superb website pre war car.com which can be found at http://www.prewarcar.com/ Anyway, if you scroll down you will see a number of photos of an early unidentified Renault truck: Runflat has already identified it as a Renault tank transporter from the 1920's and which would have looked like this: http://www.activeboard.com/download.spark?ID=45840&forumID=63528&abKey=ba2c07e0b5750d8a6745d6e76b2e283f It is a monstrous great big thing and a real rarity which deserves a good home. Tim (too) Edited August 7, 2008 by Great War truck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted August 7, 2008 Author Share Posted August 7, 2008 I have had permission from pre war car to post the photos here, so it will save you clicking on the link. It is a very impressive truck. Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Tim, A rare find. Even more interesting is the owner, Stijnus. He took part in the re-enactment of the 1907 Peking-Paris Car Race, in 2005. The event was part organised by a friend of mine, who also took part. Stijnus drove his Spyker in the event. Now that reduction hub on the Renault looks familiar. I have come across a similar truck in England, it was unrestored and well sheeted down, but I have a feeling it might have been four wheel drive with those hubs front and back. Did Renault make a 4wd gun tractor like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick W Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Reduction hub? Can you explain, I take it its to do with reducing gearing. How do the mechanics work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Reduction hub? Can you explain, I take it its to do with reducing gearing. How do the mechanics work? Rick, Many heavy trucks, tractors, military vehicles, etc. use them. A Ferret for instance. High input speed reduced to low output speed for increase in torque. Laid out in different ways, a Ferret is different to a Fox set up. The simplest is the half shaft on an axle has a sun gearwheel attached, this engages in a set of planet wheels, which transfer the drive to a gear ring within the hub, thus driving it. Easy is'nt it? :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted August 7, 2008 Author Share Posted August 7, 2008 Tim, Now that reduction hub on the Renault looks familiar. I have come across a similar truck in England, it was unrestored and well sheeted down, but I have a feeling it might have been four wheel drive with those hubs front and back. Did Renault make a 4wd gun tractor like this? Renault did do a 4 wheel drive gun tractor but the hubs looked quite different. I am not aware of any being in the UK. There is a Latil TAR01 over here, but that also looks quite different. There was a large Renault truck from about 1920 in this country which has now been restored and which may have had those hubs on the rear. I cant find a picture of it at the moment. I have found a picture of an ex military Renault FU which is at the Berliet collection which does look remarkably similar to the fist one. In fact i would say that it is the same truck. Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runflat Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Some more pictures here: here: http://home.insightbb.com/~j.dapena/tanks/cipri.htm and here (carrying one tank must have been hairy enough, but having another on a trailer as well!!): http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/pol/PolandFT17.htm Surviving FT17 tanks listed here: http://the.shadock.free.fr/Surviving_FT-17.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted September 7, 2008 Author Share Posted September 7, 2008 Alan kindly pointed out to me, that as the owner now knows what it is (as we told him) he has put it up for sale. The asking price, well a bit on the steep side €15,000. One of the more expensive unrestored GWT's that i have seen come up for sale. Sadly i did not win the lottery on Friday, so i will have to give it a miss (but there is always next week). Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 That radiator position must at least keep the drivers knees warm, if nothing else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Did the truck ever sell Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 I like the butterfly heads on the setscrews holding the tyre on (surely not for speedy puncture repairs on solids!!!), so I presume there would have been a problem with keeping the steel tyre rims tight..... They would have been pressed on with a pretty tight fit originally, so was this a problem caused by the tremendous torque coming out of those reduction hubs? :-D:-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 Did the truck ever sell Tim (too) I have been trying to find out, but there is no news at the moment. A friend e-mailed him about it, but he did not respond. I will let you know what happens. Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 I like the butterfly heads on the setscrews holding the tyre on (surely not for speedy puncture repairs on solids!!!), so I presume there would have been a problem with keeping the steel tyre rims tight..... They would have been pressed on with a pretty tight fit originally, so was this a problem caused by the tremendous torque coming out of those reduction hubs? :-D:-D That is possible, but if so i have not come across that before. Could the butterfly nuts be used for securing chains to the rear tyres when required? Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charawacky Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Tim Are the Renault Gun Tractors you refer to shown in the film link below? They look to be traveling at speed. Link: http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=74877 Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runflat Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Or are they Latils? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted September 29, 2009 Author Share Posted September 29, 2009 No, i think they are Renault EG's. Very similar to the Latil of course (but you know that). They are going a fair old pace, but that might be due to the cameraman cranking too fast. Another great clip of film. I will have to go through all of them when i have time. Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runflat Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Having looked again, I agree they are Renaults. Nice clip. A heck of a weight they are pulling. I wonder how good their (two wheel?) brakes were! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ergie Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Renault FU tank transporter in the Polish army - 3 May 1932, Poznan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted February 20, 2010 Author Share Posted February 20, 2010 Thanks for that interesting picture. i didnt know they made it to Poland. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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