Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 424 i Deals On Wheels Australia

It’s a quarter of a century since Owner//Driver came into existence and that, in itself, is a huge achievement. Publishing truck magazines, much like the truck business itself, is a tough enterprise full of fierce competition driven by the endless pursuits of profit and market might. As in most undertakings, though, survival and success are ultimately determined by passion, experience and service. In effect, giving customers what they need and want. Anyway, after almost 40 years writing about trucks and road transport, the worst thing for me about a stroll down memory lane is that the lane nowadays stretches a fearfully long way. Yet while some may rue the endless passage of progress, the pace of change was well and truly on the boil by the time Owner// Driver first…

I t was a strange sight. Here I was in the middle of nowhere, rumbling down a dirt road through the lashing rain. I swung out to turn into the gateway of the quarry when I noticed a bloke standing beside his car in the rain just inside the gate. I rolled to a stop and stuck my head out the window. "How're ya going?' Old mate was a little damp, his hair was plastered to his head and rain trickled down his face, but he smiled benignly. "Nice truck," he said, before handing me a magazine. "Just spreading the word." I must admit that the gateway of a rural quarry was the last place I'd expect to encounter a Jehovah's Witness. But, with the good Lord on his side,…

Electronics and emissions: no two words better encapsulate the last 25 years in engine and powertrain development. To my mind, dramatic change started around the mid '80s when the hugely powerful state of California decided It had had enough of a polluted, soot-soaked atmosphere, and subsequently mandated its own clean air bill. Any truck travelling through the state had to comply or don't bother coming. Suddenly, the emissions ball was rolling and it rolled all around the world. Still is! Diesel engine makers were on notice: clean up your act or find something else to make. There were nerves aplenty but research and development programs went Into overdrive and, rightly perhaps, an entirely new era in diesel engine development was born in America's automotive heartland. Detroit by name and Detroit…

It 's mid-morning on a brick-hard stretch of dirt I an hour or so out of Charleville. Already, the air is a furnace. That heavy, sapping heat, sucking moisture from every pore. In the mirrors, bleached dust blooms into cauldron clouds and all around it seems nature has once again decreed a scorched earth summer for much of south-west Queensland. Christmas is less than a fortnight away, and for many farming families in this part of the world, life remains fiercely tough. Few probably have greater understanding of just how tough than Brian Egan.Co-founder of the Aussie Helpers Charity based in Charlevile, Brian and wife Nerida have, for the past 15 years or so, dedicated themselves to alleviating at least some of the stress of a drought-stricken existence. Or, more…

Meantime, transmission developme certainly hasn't stood still either an days when nine, 10-, 13-, 15- and Iat 18-speed Roadranger manuals were norm alongside the slow synchro boxes of the continental brands have well truly petered Into the past. Automa changed everything and when it to Integrated and electronically engine and transmission packag the vertically integrated Europe (meaning they develop their o transmission and driveline combinations) have largely left the Yanks in their wake. Arguably the first to truly get an automated box right was the giant German component specialist ZF with its AS-Ironic 12 and 16-speed boxes. Super smooth with quick, slick shifts, it came to Australia In several forms but most notably In Iveco heavy-duty models. Compared to other automated efforts, including Mercedes-Benz's ordinary 'Telligent' shifter in the original…