tatra 813 new owner

[duncan]

Its sealed with a drain plug on the bottom. Looks like it was welded together after its insides were put in. You can see it in the pics, the small sandblasted (grey metal) unit is the water separator. Drain plug on the bottom, air in and out on the side. No clue what's inside, except for a ton of mud ofcourse

 

[cranetruck]

Okay, may be worthwhile to install a draincock, which is easy to operate routinely. What about the air tanks, same deal on them?

 

[duncan]

Drain plug was on it already (its that rusty dirty plug in the pics). Will replace with new one ofcourse. The front air tank had a drain plug as well, the 3 brake air tanks have holes for the plugs but they were blanked off. Will put drain plugs in all of them when I reassemble though, can never drain enough water!

 

[cranetruck]

 

[duncan]

Another day of work! Most of the chassis cleaned and partially covered in primer (only for rusty or bare metal spots). Will do the inside of the the chassis next week, no way to get there now without becoming orange myself.

 

[FridgeFreezer]

Should anyone be looking for another Tatra, I told the owner of the one I didn't buy that I would spread the word, so here it is!

Long story short the guy wants more for this than I felt was worth it (I couldn't afford to buy it AND then bring it up to standard), but someone else may want it so I'll post it up to help him out - price is 8000 Euros and it's in Denmark.

The bits that put me off:
- Needs a set of tyres to be road legal (they're all perished)
- Needs a bl**dy good service and general going over
- Missing a few bits (various accessories & one of the two starter motors)

PM me for the guy's contact details.

 

[duncan]

Whoa that looks to be in quite a bad shape, if that description and the overall looks of the thing are persistent with recent maintenance then it means a lot of work to get it decent.

You're going with the dutch one then? Pictures!

 

[FridgeFreezer]

You're going with the dutch one then? Pictures!

Going over to see the dutch one this weekend if all goes to plan, piccies will follow!

Incidentally, on my overdrive plans can anyone tell me the rotation direction of the engine (EG "clockwise as viewed looking from the rear") as it affects the loadings on the gears.

 

[duncan]

Im thinking clockwise unless reversing but not 100% and I cant check at the moment.

Going in for looks or look&buy? Seller told me they had a open track day at the local motorcross track somewhere this month. He was gonna test your 813 there, so I was thinking of coming over myself too.

 

[FridgeFreezer]

Im thinking clockwise unless reversing but not 100% and I cant check at the moment.

I would very much hope the engine turns the same way whether you're going forwards or backwards and is that clockwise looking forward from behind or from the front bumper looking back?

Going in for looks or look&buy? Seller told me they had a open track day at the local motorcross track somewhere this month. He was gonna test your 813 there, so I was thinking of coming over myself too.

I'm going for a look with a view to buying, obviously the buying will depend on how the looking goes

He did invite me to come over later in the month for a play on the motocross track but I can't make it, so it's this weekend or a long wait.

 

[duncan]

I would very much hope the engine turns the same way whether you're going forwards or backwards and is that clockwise looking forward from behind or from the front bumper looking back?

Argh, forgot the transmission is not tied to the engine. Clockwise would be when looking from behind, as per your request.

I'm going for a look with a view to buying, obviously the buying will depend on how the looking goes

He did invite me to come over later in the month for a play on the motocross track but I can't make it, so it's this weekend or a long wait.

I meant wheter you would take the truck along right away if you agree on buying it Shame about not being able to make it to the cross track, guessing it will be a nice way to get to know these trucks. I hope I can get some more experienced advice on driving them as it's all been trial-and-error up to now and that might not the best way to find out the limits of a 14 ton truck

 

[FridgeFreezer]

I don't think we could take it right away - I would need to organise transport & storage. I would probably leave a deposit & come back to collect.

If you need off-road driving advice then just ask, I'm actually a trained off-road driver (doesn't stop me getting stuck!) Obviously some stuff is a little different in a big heavy truck but the fundamentals are the same. What would you like to know?

 

[duncan]

Well I dont know anything about offroad driving in the first place. When to use which lockers, how to take on various obstacles, etcetera. Im very confident and experienced manouvering big trucks and trailers in small spaces but thats all on-road.

The 813 seems to make for an easy starting vehicle though, so far it got me out of everything I got myself in to with ease. It just scares me ****less at times, the old "were gonna die, were gonna die " thing when you have to hang on to your steering wheel just to stay sort of seated.

 

[FridgeFreezer]

First off, I am not an expert (as anyone who's seen me drive will confirm) but I will try to pass on some basic stuff that holds for most things. I will e-mail you PDF's on off-road driving that we put together for the Land Rover club newsletter, they cover pretty much everything. Axle diff locks aren't mentioned I think, so I'll go over those here.

It's good that you scare yourself - better to stop because you're worried than to stop because the truck is on its roof in a puddle!

The front-to-rear (centre) diff lock is generally locked once you get onto something a bit loose (remember to unlock it again on tarmac or you will wind it up & break it), but it depends a little on what you're doing and the vehicle itself.

Generally I'd leave the (cross-axle) lockers off as much as possible, especially the front ones as turning is not really recommended with front lockers in (even back lockers will try to push you straight on) and they put massive loads on the drivetrain as you can have all the power going to one wheel if the rest don't have traction.

Since diffs were invented to allow things to turn corners, locking the diff is going to resist turning, and trying to turn is just liable to overload joints in the driveshafts etc. and break something. It's very common in Land Rovers & 4x4's, the first thing people do after fitting axle difflocks is break driveshafts & CV joints and have to buy stronger ones.

Leaving the diffs unlocked also means you have an extra option if you get stuck - lock the diffs and try to back out.

The exception to the rule is where a wheel may lose traction / leave the ground & spin and then grip again (eg bumpy hill climbs, rock climbing). The sudden shock of a wheel spinning and then gripping also causes driveline explosions, so locking the diff up to ensure all wheels are going the same speed whether they're on the ground or in the air can help.

 

[duncan]

Theres a lot of info on the web, but thats usually tailored to small 4x4's where the diff locks are considered after market luxury. I found a few good tips though!

• Always try to use your companions recovery gear to avoid yours getting dirty.
• Explain how the recovery is going to take place whilst allowing your companion to make comments or improvements on your plan - this allows him/her to feel more involved and stops them from questioning why you are not using your own equipment.
• if anything looks dodgy, tell your mate in the vehicle behind "it's your turn to lead". He will then drive past you and on into the suspect obstacle, thus proving or disproving your caution, providing you with entertainment and the chance to tell everyone at the next pub meet how he got stuck.

Bring on some proper reads then!

 

[cranetruck]

Does the cab on the Tatra offer rollover protection or is it mainly to keep the weather out?
What kind of seatbelt arrangement do they have and what is the max sideslope permitted?
Appreciate the images, we don't see enough of the foreign stuff IMHO.

 

[duncan]

It has the roll-over protection of a bag of crips... so none. Plenty of room to make a roll cage
though, and plenty of examples of how to do so in the truck trial world.

There are no seatbelts, not standard anyway, but maybe some armies fitted them, dont know.

Max sideslope is 50% for the 815 model, not sure on the 813 but cant be too far off.

You might have seen the T815 commercial:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHaj5bDSgRA[/media]

 

[FridgeFreezer]

Duncan, you should have an e-mail in your inbox shortly about off-roading.

It's worth saying that NO vehicle, regardless of the strength of the cab, is going to protect you in a rollover without a cage. They are weak tin boxes perched above very heavy machinery, and when you roll they get pushed sideways and fold/crumple very easily.

Your research has obviously gone well

Always try to use your companions recovery gear to avoid yours getting dirty.
- This is fine if your companion has decent gear and can be trusted. The forces involved in recovery are massive, even with "little" 4x4's people have been killed by flying recovery straps or winch cables.

If anything looks dodgy, tell your mate in the vehicle behind "it's your turn to lead". He will then drive past you and on into the suspect obstacle, thus proving or disproving your caution, providing you with entertainment and the chance to tell everyone at the next pub meet how he got stuck.
- That's standard practice, yes. The other methods include:
"Well I saw a Suzuki drive through it earlier"
"Of course we'll pull you out if you give it a go"
And the really evil one of removing the spare wheel, rolling it up to the obstacle either side to create tyre tracks, and refitting, before getting your mate to give it a go because "It looks like someone's already gone through it once".

For a lot of very good recovery advice I can heartily recommend checking out Pirate 4x4's tech section, specifically Billa Vista's recovery bible:
Pirate4x4.Com - recovery bible

 

[duncan]

Duncan, you should have an e-mail in your inbox shortly about off-roading.

Not seen anything yet! Thanks for the pirate4x4 link though, its a good read.

Got a lot of work done today. Gave the chassis another going-over with primer, and primered the dropsides on the bed. Removed the fenders and gave them a good going over too.

Touched up the winch guide on the rear, its a brilliant piece of practical design which I didnt notice earlier because of the mud and rust. Comes apart completely and has some grooves for keeping grease inside.

When sanding down the air intake vent I noticed some rust holes in the top panel. Guessing it's because the leaking cabin allowed water to drop on to it. The vent was too thin to weld, so Sikaflex to the rescue! Water&airproof glued a covering panel over the bad part. Ready for a new coat of bright blue paint!

 

[FridgeFreezer]

Well the tunnel is booked so we're going to be descending on your friend to look at his truck on Sunday morning.