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Za rulem
Europe chips in
Time and again, our editor receives a letter where some poor toiler tortured by the domestically made truck sincerely asks what kind of a fool has invented it. And who assembled it, to boot! The criticism is, as a rule, constructive and suggestions are quite concrete: just build an excellent truck, nothing simpler. For a reasonable-budget version take the supercharging “model eight” made in Yaroslavl, a KamAZ frame, RABA axles and a warm cab, properly sound-insulated. A connoisseur user will prefer a set of components made by the world’s leading firms. What remains is to put the units and aggregates together – and the perfect vehicle is ready!
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Depending on the purpose, the vehicle can be outfitted with axles manufactured by Sisu Axles (Finland) or AxleTech International (USA). Numerous producers of heavy vehicles use products of these companies. The load on front steerable axles is up to10 tons, the rear axles carry up to 16 tons. The inter-axle and inter-wheel differentials are locked by electrical pneumatics. The frame side members represent two constant-profile channels with reinforcements in the heaviest-load spots, manufactured by the French subsidiary of Thyssen-Krupp.
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Naturally enough, it is no easy task to make a good truck, even more so to launch its mass production, even when you have components coming from the recognized leaders. However, there is a kernel of good sense in the approach. Why invent and do something that other companies have specialized in for dozens of years? Buying will be simpler and, in the long run, cheaper.
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Engines: “Deutz”, “Cummins” or “Caterpillar”, from 246 kW/335 hp to410 kW/598 hp capacity, from1800 to2650 N-m torque, Euro 2 or Euro 3 standard. Gear box: either German ZF or American Allison. The 16-step ZF are preferable in especially onerous conditions at low speeds. The hydromechanical Allisons gearboxes are installed when operation modes require frequent gear shifts
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The dual-circuit hydraulics of the steering stays operational in case some parts of the system break down, or one of the circuits is depressurized or the engine shuts down during movement. The system elements are dual-redundant and the hydraulic circuits are self-contained. The ZF steering mechanisms are energized by pumps driven by the engine and transmission, thus as long as the engine runs or the wheels rotate, the vehicle does not lose control, and any failures are reported by indicators on the dashboard.
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Model VG2000, VG2700 ZF-Steyr transfer cases are known for their high quality and compact size, they are short between the in- and out- flanges. Owing to this the vehicle wheel base was decreased while the cross-country capacity went up.
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Company YAROVIT formerly dealers to MAZ Works and concurrently organizers of CIS truck trial Championships assumed the task of embodying a driver’s dream in hardware. To implement this project, the CJSC “Investment Company “YAROVIT Motors” was set up whose founders are the USA company Elgin System (51% of the shares) and the British “Tracks&Dumpers” (49%) of the shares). It was decided to deploy the production facility in Russia, in Saint Petersburg.
“YAROVIT” plans to occupy the vacant niche of heavy-payload and high cross-country capacity trucks designed for the most onerous conditions where even the Heavy-Duty class equipment is short-lived. The wheel formulae are from6x4 to10x8, payloads from26 to53 tons, maximum speed 90-100 kmph. In order that all those high performances be combined with adequate reliability, all the components have to be beyond suspicion. The domestic wares, unfortunately, do not fit the criteria, which is why “Yarovit” gets the vital aggregates of the vehicle from the world leaders or, at least, masters of the trade. A pilot batch of five dump trucks already toils away in the quarries of Norilsk, Kingisepp, in Central Asia and Kuzbass. The purpose of the tests is to detect weak points of the design, assess the vehicle efficiency versus the competirors and, naturally, to get the Buyer interested.
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The brakes consist of four systems: the service brake, the supplementary brake, the emergency brake and the parking brake. The service brake is the dual-circuit type (the front and rear axles). The design of the pneumatically driven drum brakes (developed by specialists of the firms Wabco and Knorr-Bremse) is remarkable inasmuch as the work surfaces are totally protected from water or dust. It goes without saying that the brakes are outfitted with ABS. It is noteworthy that the ABS along with the feed circuit elements co-serves as the maximum speed limiter.
By A.Sidorov
“Za Rulem” Magazine, No 5/ 2005
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 Print Version
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