My personal favorite of the 2026 ‘Heart For DAF Days’ event, held on October 3 and 4, must be Cattoor’s DAF truck and trailer combination. Sure, the classic stand-alone tractors were really nice, but nothing beats a complete big rig; as if the driver can leave the virtual adjacent truck stop diner any minute to continue the business trip.
The fact that both the straight truck and the full trailer were built by the same manufacturer was the cherry on a large and tasty cake.
Today’s main character, in a striking shade of lime green, is a DAF FAC 3600 DKZ with a Space Cab, the top dog of the entire F241-series of heavy DAF cabovers.
The letters FAC refer to a truck chassis with an 8×2 drivetrain, a liftable tag axle comes with the package. The letters DKZ tell us that the DAF is powered by the DKZ 1160 engine, an 11.6 liter turbocharged and intercooled diesel with a maximum power output of 373 DIN-hp.
The F 241/3600 8×2 chassis-cab was discontinued in 1990, it was replaced by the FAC 95. The F 95-series with the all-new F 249 cab was introduced in 1987.
In the eighties and nineties, such dedicated truck and trailer combinations were widely used to transport two 20ft shipping containers. I don’t know about Belgium, the rig’s homeland, but in the Netherlands the DAF couple would have been rated at a gross combination weight of 50 tonnes (110,200 lbs).
Bonus points for the tilting frame with a Hyva hydraulic system and front-end cylinder. Rockinger must have supplied the drawbar coupling, that’s not too hard to figure out.
Yep, this is what I remember seeing on heavy vehicles from Belgium, some kind of registration number, always starting with a capital letter V. These were usually stated on the sides of the cab.
There’s another diesel fuel tank on the right side of the chassis. This thing can keep on rolling!
Made in 1974 by DAF, the full trailer with dual wheels on all three axles, still the norm in the seventies.
Keep in mind that DAF started as a trailer and semi-trailer manufacturer, back in 1932 (though the founder’s workshop dates back to 1928). That was their main business until the production start of rolling truck chassis in 1949. The acronym DAF didn’t need to change though; the letter A no longer stood for Aanhangwagen (trailer), but for Automobiel, of course all part of the Van Doorne brothers’ predetermined plans.
No three-quarter view pictures of the whole rig folks, as it was parked ‘truck stop style’ between other vehicles. Logical and fully appropriate. As an aside, especially from a rear point of view, it’s obvious that the trailer had a tilting frame too in its younger years.
Related article:
DAF FTT 3600 DKZ 6×4 Tractor – The Truck Maker’s F241-Series in Optima Forma
8 wheeler towing a 6 wheel trailer nice old rig
12 wheeler towing a 12 wheel trailer surely?
Dual wheels (often) count as one. An 8×2 chassis, like in the article, usually has 12 wheels.