Brisbane Truck Show

[whatcharterboat]

Me

Off to the truck show tomorrow.

Mickldo

Make sure you bring back heaps of pics.

Mick Better to put this in a new thread.

Oh my God. The best one ever. Actually we didn't plan to go at all but after spending till 8 PM on Saturday night trying to finish an urgent job for Monday we thought "Why not take a break, see what's new and catch up with all the gossip". Actually Mick, I was looking for your number this morning to see if you wanted to make the trip down and come with us but figured it might have been a bit much. Next year mate. Tax deduction for ya anyway.

We thought we would have a casual stroll around and see everything in 5 or 6 hours. Honestly I could have spent a week there. There was still large outdoor areas and pavilions that we didn't get to at all. At the Brisbane caravan and camping show the exhibits are generally bigger but really meant mainly for the public. The Truck Show on the other hand was definitely more oriented towards industry. So while there were some strong appearances by the actual truck manufacturers, the support from the ancillary players was huge. Huge.

I've only just walked in the door but took about 50 good pics and will download them in the office tomorrow, compile them in some sort of order and post them in this thread tomorrow.

Not alot of pure offroad trucks. MAN was there with a few models including a MAN KAT out here for testing by the Defence Forces. Talk about TUFF. Offroad Trucks Australia had a new big Tatra. Isuzu of course was there in full glory but only had one 4x4 NPS Crewcab. They did have the new ELF Hybrid (2wd) which has an electric motor driving a tailshaft back through the PTO on the side of the transmission. Very clever.

Fuso also had a working hybrid FG pantec (2wd)as well as the aero Hybrid concept tipper that has been doing the international shows. Other than that the only other actual offroad truck I saw was a very cool 4x4 Hino work truck with a cherry picker similar to the FSS and FTS Mickldo builds. We didn't see Hino but I'm sure they were well represented, somewhere.

So while that doesn't sound like much in the way of actual vehicles for expedition use, it was all the other "stuff" that was so cool. Just wait for the pics.

 

[roscoFJ73]

Great I hope its the same truck show in Perth in late July.
I go with my brother,he is into waste disposals and likes to look at rubbish compactors :drool:

 

[whatcharterboat]

Great I hope its the same truck show in Perth in late July.

Hey Rosco. I doubt it. Maybe some of the gear does the rounds but you guys live in a sort of parallel universe and have your own cool stuff. So I'm sure it'll be awesome just the same.

Well, Here’s some of the first pics. For me this was one of the highlights. Not that I’d ever want anything so gigantic but it was just so tough and “zombie proof” and you would have to appreciate the engineering and detail. Obviously it’s a MAN but it’s been brought out here for testing by our Defence Forces.

High mounted radiator to improve approach angle and mine protection I guess.

Swinging arm on both sides with a sling through the wheel..

Very simple step. The cables were super stiff and so didn’t move much when you stepped up but I imagine they would move right away if you hit anything.

And of course the hot topic at the moment >>>> Body mounts. The mounts from the rear suspension back were solid but these were forward of that. Not really going to allow for a typical expedition camper body to be sitting up there but obviously OK for anything the Army would have. I'm guessing they might allow for only 25mm of chassis / body separation where it counts.

 

[whatcharterboat]

Man

Here’s some more from MAN’s display. Mark in the middle is one of the top guys here in OZ. Met him only a few months back at our workshop. And Callie on the left is the sales guy we always deal with. Very switched on guys. MAN and Callie in particular are receiving more and more inquiries for vehicles for “expedition” type use so they are really keen to push us along as the preferred builders. As a result, the MAN crewcab we are building at the moment should be at their stand next year to cater for this interest.

BTW that’s my boss on the right.

And here’s a couple of the other trucks they had there. We have a SRW version of this 4x4 at work at the moment but the 8x8 >>>>>Let's just say you'd want to have alot of wide open spaces. It was BIG.

 

[whatcharterboat]

Isuzu

Next big stop was Isuzu.

Really I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more 4x4 trucks especially from Isuzu. The new FSS and FTS look great and the NPS is the only new model I’ve been exposed to so far. Anyway the 4x4 NPS crewcab was there.

While these trucks have more electronics and emissions controls than the Fuso’s IMO they are just that little bit better everywhere you look. Chassis, brakes, suspension, wheels, cab, comfort, power, options, etc, etc. More money too though. This year marks there 20th year as market / sales leader in OZ.

This was the first chance I’ve had to check the Hybrids out too. This is the Isuzu ELF.

This is so simple I don’t know why it hasn’t been done before. Electric motor coupled by a drive shaft back through the PTO on the gearbox. Regenerative braking and I noticed the electric motor was glycol cooled as well.

Really wanted to look inside that box at the batteries but it was bolted shut. I could see what looked like an AC evaporator tucked up in there. It was probably part of the cooling system >>> maybe to do with the high in currents when braking.

 

[whatcharterboat]

I have another 40 pics so I'll try to post a few each night.

A sneak peak. Mag wheels for your FG or NPS anyone?? They were absolutely feather weight and just look at the quality of the finish.

17.5">>> so perfect for say a Michelin XZY and were also available in the older 5 stud FG pattern. From Alcoa. Obviously the wrong offset for SRW but still. Wow!

 

[whatcharterboat]

Hey . These pics should be bigger. I'll fix that.

 

[mhiscox]

Thanks for spending the time to share the photos. We all appreciate the effort you make to share the things you know and see.

 

[roscoFJ73]

Hey Rosco. I doubt it. Maybe some of the gear does the rounds but you guys live in a sort of parallel universe and have your own cool stuff. So I'm sure it'll be awesome just the same.

Not so much these days. We have the same 4wd and camping shows that tour the eastern states.
There are companies that organise these travelling shows on a full time basis and smaller vendors that travel along with them and of course there will be local sellers also.
When I bought my Waeco and genny at a local 4wd show stall,I found out the company was from NSW.
Our truck show pencilled in for July probably allows for it do all the venues in between,but we will see:coffeedrink:

 

[whatcharterboat]

Rosco . Yeah you're probably right but I'm know the West Oz local scene is strong and there'll be some great stuff that we won't see here. Why don't you take a heap of pics and tack them onto this thread after your show? I for one would certainly appreciate them.

Actually a few of the reps I spoke too were going to continue on to the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show as soon as they packed up. Guys with products that crossover into the marine field anyway. And then it'll be back to the Brisbane for the Caravan and Camping Show in early June. That's always a big one.

 

[whatcharterboat]

Yeah. That's a better size.

 

[whatcharterboat]

Rosco , As an example Offroad Trucks Australia recently opened an East coast branch in Brisbane and had this 8X8 Tatra on display. The main office is over your way and the sales guys told us that one of these 8x8's is being built as a tour bus in Perth at the present. I suppose it'll be there at you show. A peak at that would be awesome.

How radically different is the suspension on these things.

I should mention here that Offroad Trucks Australia get the Tatra’s built to their own specs and don’t look to bad inside at all. So they are a little more civilized rather than just a military spec painted white.

 

[whatcharterboat]

Well this was another great stop at one of our hardware suppliers.

They had this complete aluminum frameless body building system on display . While the system’ss been around for a while, it was sure neat to see this sample and I thought it might give some of you guys who are always asking about camper materials an alternative. It’s another of those hot topics, heh?

This is what a finished pantec looks like using it.

Something eles that caught my eye there was this central locking kit for the old faithful “T”locks.

 

[whatcharterboat]

Disabled aids, wheel chair lifts and restraints are being considered / expected more and more in the 4x4 eco tourism market. So we spent quite a while catching up on the latest here.

Check this cassette out. Only 5” thick. A narrower model is also available but still the same thickness. Obviously the steel work at the base is only the display stand and the cassette is the alloy case part.

It went up to about 6’ high and then back down to the ground. If the motor failed it had a manual hand pump to continue with it’s operation.

This was also very neat. It lifted up into position and then swiveled to a forward facing position.

 

[haven]

Many thanks for sharing these photos. The swing axles on the Tatra look like an old VW bus! The kit for constructing cargo boxes looks very practical. I like the built-in thickness of the insulation.

John, your photos are very clear. What camera did you use to take them?

Chip Haven