Technique Please

[Hutch]

I have a very good rear view, and a wide 140 degree side view, If the sun is directly behind me I have to change the contrast via a remote. But its great in the dark as well, very clear. A separate screen in the car.

More like flying a small aircraft, rear view mirror, Caravan rear view, Caravan sat Nav, Car sat nav set to 10 miles, and the tyre pal screen.
Oh yes and every now and then I look forward . I cannot see the dash cam screen, and I have that set to MPH.

 

[Parksy]

Aye Parksy, agreed, bet none of them can handle a crash box.

I used to make it a point of honour not to use the clutch to change up or down as I ran back home empty from a Friday night out in Southampton to Birmingham in my old Foden Fleetmaster with a Fuller 4×4×4 constant mesh gearbox.
The roads and motorways were quiet so torque break gear changes were easy enough to carry out back then.

 

[Hutch]

It is all skill, I would have loved to try that,

When I had an old series 2 landrover, in Nigeria, I was travelling home from a weekend away to see friends about 150 miles away and the clutch release failed, so that was 6/8 hours of all sorts of bush road driveing without the clutch. If I had to stop, to move forward, it was low ratio, in gear and hit the starter, get moving, then up into 2nd then into high ratio, all good fun. Through fairly deep mud in some places.
Found out the clutch push rod had worn down by about 3/8th of an inch,

 

[Thingy]

I finished up doing nothing but continental work, both "long sea" and "commie block" but I was on bulk powders for a long time. I remember bringing in a fully freighted blow tank with a failed clutch on the ubiquitous twin splitter. Managed that from Ketton back to Ashbourne.

Prior to that I was on the bags from Rugby Cement which entailed 8 to 9 hours driving and then handballing 25 tonnes of torment (cement) off. This back in the day before snowflake builders with their baby bags of torment. And i wonder why my back and knees are shot through. Bags then were 50kg, not the H&S 25kg of today.

I agree with you Parksy. Nowadays drivers are cosseted and a different breed to us oldies. Who then would have thought of semi autoboxes and electronic tachos.

 

[Darren.H]

I have a camera on the back of my caravan, its an Ebay cheapo that I ran wires upto the 13 pin plug, power and video, very neat installation I hot glued it to just above the number plate and ran the wires inside the cavity and out along the chassis.
The screen clips over the rear view mirror, quite a fiddle running the cables in the car, but wouldn't be without it. Camera is always on, even the 7 hour drive to Cornwall.

As far as mirrors I have the suction type, easy to fit and adjust via the cars electrics, but not brilliant at visibility tbh, even with small blind spot mirrors added, the big dial that you use to attach has a mirror surface I generally look at this more than the actual mirror.

I fancy the big Aero type but my cars mirror housing is sloped hollow so I'm worried about damage/detachment.
Audi A4 2018

 

[Buckman]

It is all skill, I would have loved to try that,

When I had an old series 2 landrover, in Nigeria, I was travelling home from a weekend away to see friends about 150 miles away and the clutch release failed, so that was 6/8 hours of all sorts of bush road driveing without the clutch. If I had to stop, to move forward, it was low ratio, in gear and hit the starter, get moving, then up into 2nd then into high ratio, all good fun. Through fairly deep mud in some places.
Found out the clutch push rod had worn down by about 3/8th of an inch,

In the sixties and seventies you only really needed a clutch for 1st gear when pulling off. If you timed it correctly you could change gear up and down by listening to the revs and not using the clutch.

 

[Jcloughie]

I finished up doing nothing but continental work, both "long sea" and "commie block" but I was on bulk powders for a long time. I remember bringing in a fully freighted blow tank with a failed clutch on the ubiquitous twin splitter. Managed that from Ketton back to Ashbourne.

Prior to that I was on the bags from Rugby Cement which entailed 8 to 9 hours driving and then handballing 25 tonnes of torment (cement) off. This back in the day before snowflake builders with their baby bags of torment. And i wonder why my back and knees are shot through. Bags then were 50kg, not the H&S 25kg of today.

I agree with you Parksy. Nowadays drivers are cosseted and a different breed to us oldies. Who then would have thought of semi autoboxes and electronic tachos.

I remember being the pre snow flake building apprentice taking those cwt bags off the drivers, That was hard enough and usually burnt the shoulder and neck as there was still a lot of heat left in them. I always felt for the driver. If there was 5 off us off loading, that gave him 5 times more to lift and bent over.

Worse were the flat bed loads of about 12,000 bricks. Which often came in pairs. All hand off loaded. Some drivers would throw them to you without checking you were ready to accept!

Harder though for my DIL’s grandfather. He once told me of driving a lorry over Shap. In ice and snow, no heater, not even any doors. 1930‘s I think.

John

 

[Thingy]

Harder though for my DIL’s grandfather. He once told me of driving a lorry over Shap. In ice and snow, no heater, not even any doors. 1930‘s I think.

Been stuck on Shap myself in the past. Doesnt happen now of course with the new road and ice scapers. It was a cold and miserable place to be stuck. Have also been stuck deep in a Polish Forest with an incredible depth of snow.