This year I’ve posted dozens of pictures of classic heavy-duty trucks and tractors. Now let’s have a look at some examples of rolling jumbos we see on our roads today. All pictures were taken on October 1, 2016 at the DAF factory in Eindhoven. During the yearly DAF Museum Days the truckmaker also displays a number of recent and new products.
The first one is a 2016 DAF CF 460 Construction 6×4 dump truck. The CF Construction is designed for earthmoving and other tough jobs. Compared with a standard CF it features, among other things, an increased approach angle, higher ground clearance, a more robust bumper and “straight” front axles.
The number 460 on the door is the hp-rating. The CF is DAF’s midsize model and Euro 6 is the current emission standard. The truck is powered by a PACCAR MX-13, an inline-6 engine with 12.9 liter displacement, and its maximum legal GVM is 27 metric ton (59,500 lbs).
A close-up of the trailer coupling.
This whole rig, a 6×4 truck towing a mid-axle dump trailer, looks so typical German. The norm for this kind of job in the Netherlands is a straight truck with 4 or 5 axles, often 8×8 and 10×8, with a maximum legal GVM up to 50 metric ton (110,200 lbs).
Here’s a 2015 DAF CF 460 Construction 8×4, also with a dump bed. A concrete mixer might be another application for this chassis.
Its maximum legal GVM is 37 metric ton (81,500 lbs). Add another 3 ton for the factory number.
Something completely different, a 2016 DAF XF 440 Low Deck tractor. The XF is DAF’s top model, the one above has the Super Space Cab, the truckmaker’s biggest walk-through cab. It’s powered by a 10.8 liter PACCAR MX-11 engine.
A combination like this is typically used for transporting voluminous goods. When size does matter, in other words.
Low Deck -with low profile tires- visualized.
The semi-trailer is a Schmitz Cargobull, made in Germany.
On the other side of the spectrum, when weight does matter, is this 2015 DAF XF 510 heavy-haulage tractor with a Space Cab. Powered by a PACCAR MX-13 engine.
The 2nd axle is liftable and steerable. Factory rated axle loads, starting at the tractor’s front: 9,000 kg – 8,000 kg – 13,000 kg – 13,000 kg. That’s a heavy-haulage tractor alright.
Faymonville from Belgium built the semi-trailer. The company is specialized in developing and manufacturing heavy-haulage trailers and semi-trailers. And I must admit that I had never heard of Takeuchi before.
Brand new, it must have just left the factory, the DAF CF 460 tractor above. PACCAR’s biggest own engine, the MX-13, is also available in the CF midsizer. Other engine options are the PX-7 (6.7 liter) and MX-11 (10.8 liter).
From 220 to 510 hp, there’s a CF for everyone. But for trans-European long distance hauling the big XF is the preferred choice.
And here’s an ancestor of the big XF, a DAF 95.500 long distance tractor from the mid-nineties.
Noteworthy is that the 95.500 is powered by a Cummins 14 liter engine. The biggest power unit that DAF built back then was their renowned 11.6 liter engine. Alas, not enough for a 500+ hp top model, so they called Cummins.
But in 1997 DAF introduced their own new 12.6 liter engine, the most powerful version was good for 530 hp and that meant the end for the Cummins 14 liter in a Euro-DAF. And so ends this impression of our modern road kings. Keep On Trucking.
Nice! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Johannes, for your great article and pics. Given that Paccar owns DAF, Kenworth and Peterbilt, it’s no wonder they share many components. As the truck industry appears becoming as globalized and homogenized, as the car industry. 😉
The Kenworth K270, Peterbilt 220 and DAF CF 460 cabs appear identical, except for branding and details.
The Kenworth and Peterbilt have the same cab as the DAF LF, the light truck model. Also used by Renault and Volvo.
LF light truck, CF midsizer, XF top model. The XF isn’t available with a day cab, sleeper cab only.
Oh yes, and there’s this, a Kenworth K500 oilfield truck with the cab of the previous generation DAF XF.
Given the actual appliance nature of commercial trucks, the homogenization is far less of a pity, since the application areas don’t vary as much around the world.
Also there is some slight rollback towards more diversification in passenger cars, those of euro-GM (read Opel) taken as an indicator. Over here they are actually becoming lighter than the respective US counterparts, trading some of the tank grade crash resistance for higher economy.
Thanks Johannes, appreciate your informative posts and photos.
Homogenization to a point. In the US over the road trucks are virtually exclusively conventionals and in Europe they are virtually all cab-overs. That little dirt trailer shown in the first pictures is called a ‘pup’ in the US. You rarely see them anymore as they are very prone to flipping. Just look at the thing.
Yep, the 6×4 with the pup is a “lightweight”. As I said in the article, typical German, where the weight limits are (much) lower than in my country.
Here’s an example of the real McCoy, a 50 ton Ginaf 10×4. Clearly DAF based.
(Photo courtesy of Ginaf Service & Van Ginkel Techniek)
Oh, and thank you, Johannes, for another wonderful post.
Very nice Johannes, Ive not seen any latest model Dafs wandering about here no doubt some are on their way they are a very popular brand in NZ especially with a manual RR box, I really dont like those ‘Pig’ trailers the tipper is towing they are a bastard to back I much prefer a proper eight wheel trailer with a turntable front axle set, the fleet Ive just signed into is mostly Isuzu but had a DAF CF rental I drove last year a couple of times 510 motor 18 sp RR very nice quiet smooth truck with good torque on climbs.
My favorite DAF from NZ.
All Good looking trucks.
Here in the USA It’s getting rare to see COE Cab Over Engine Semi trucks on the Hwys. take notice in your travels, reason being most drivers want a nose out front for crash protection, I did.
I had a crash in an American conventional a 8wheeler Navistar Workstar I’m not sure the bonnet out the front really helped its only fibreglass no airbags certainly didnt help I wore the steering wheel and a fair bit of the dashboard it hurt lots
Interesting PACCAR products that I never see, thanks for posting!
I’m not so sure about pup trailers being a thing of the past, at least not here in western Washington.
Pup trailers (mid-axle trailers) were introduced here in the early eighties. For hauling voluminous goods, flowers, plants and such. Below a new rig.
Drawbar trailers (autonomous trailers, as we often call them) are still very common though. Dump trucks, for example, often tow a low bed drawbar trailer loaded with construction machinery. Hence the 400+ hp engines in these trucks.
Great post – very interesting and nice looking trucks. Jim.
Funny how DAF managed to get such good cabs in the 6/75 and the 95 (later XF105) that they are the same basic cabs until our days. I must say the XF has one of the nicest dashboards on long haul trucks and it’s, alongside the Volvo, one of my favourites when playing Euro Truck Simulator 2 on the PC
And as usual and not a surprise to anyone, great coverage and pics!
Quite right, the cab of the current XF model dates back to the 95-series, introduced in 1987. If you look at the pictures of the XF heavy-haulage tractor and the 95.500 you can clearly see that the cab was made longer afterwards.
The same cab structure was used by Pegaso (Troner):
And by Seddon Atkinson (Strato):
That truck (made in my neighbour country, Spain) was the one that finally put Pegaso on par with the competition, and then, poof, gone and taken over by IVECO, just like the rest of Spain auto industry got taken over by foreigners. The Troner was a truck market’s Saab 9-5. I think the only big Spanish name still alive is SEAT, and they are still selling quite a few for Portuguese people (a better looking and cheaper VW Polo or Golf, what’s not to like?)
Seddon Atkinson was gone with the same fate (IVECO ate pretty much everything they could) but lasted much longer, well into the 2000s