Did you guy's see this =
http://www.koreus.com/video/car-pont-manoeuvre.html
Instead of the camera view of the undercarriage, I would have liked to have seen the passengers faces lol.
I realize this was done as a stunt. However, as a former professional driver who paid for my own truck tires, I feel it is very poor driver technique to spin the wheel from lock to lock on pavement, while the vehicle is at a standstill.
Later, as a commercial pilot, I was even more picky. ;)
Jay
87 SaftLiner
European CDL license test.
Ed
Good thing it wasn't an Eagle with the front tags.
Looks like a few turns that I have done before, Just not on a bridge.
A driver MUST always know exactly where his tires are at all times in close manuvers.
Anyone driving these monsters should have a complete grasp where all the corners
and tires are located in relation to the drivers seat.
If you have a depth perception problem, Maybe you should work on that or not drive.
Those umbilical connectors in the driver seat should be calibrated often. Having a
sensor error in your butt is not a good thing....
Dave....
Duh...why back up at all? With my RTO-910 10 speed Roadranger, I can travel backwards at up to about 20 mph in high range reverse. Crown Super Coach. Great for practicing bootlegger turns, but hard on the tires. Of course, looooking where I am going---er---where I have been---er---where I am going is a real bummer. Maybe it is a left handed thing. AHHHHHGHH!!! :) :) :)
I did a real life three point turn such as that, but picture it just beyond the bridge with a hillside on one and the slope down to the river on the other. I backed up to the point where my rear tandems were over the side! Good thing my interlocking differential was working well to get me back onto the pavement. Most all professional drivers will have some story of near disaster only to be saved at the last second by their vast driving experience. Good Luck, TomC
Was that a Spicer 4 speed he was using?
There must be one heck of an air compressor in that thing to keep up with all that service braking at basically an idle.
Hank
Quote from: Lin on February 04, 2008, 04:33:00 PM
Was that a Spicer 4 speed he was using?
That is a Neoplan so it probably has a ZF transmission.
I mentioned the Spicer because I was assuming that others, like mine, have a ridiculously fast reverse. I think the whole manuver is a lot less risky with an automatic although I know that a real man would do it only with a Spicer and a blindfold.
Quote from: Lin on February 05, 2008, 05:28:20 PM
I know that a real man would do it only with a Spicer and a blindfold.
Lin...you mean "I know that a real man would do it only with a Spicer and both eyes wide open."
In fact, I don't think too many would qualify....need patience, determination, belief in yourself and knowing his wheelbase compare to the road's width.
A prayer that driver don't pass out.
FWIW
Sojourn for Christ, Jerry
FWIW, I have basically the same bus as in this video, and we do this all the time.
Oh, sure, not on a bridge, but we've done it on rural two-lane roads, where putting either the drivers or the steers off the pavement would have pretty much guaranteed getting stuck in a ditch waiting for a giant tow truck (and blocking the roadway for anyone else that came along). We call it the "57-point turn".
Admittedly, we have an Allison, whereas the coach in the video likely had a six-speed ZF manual.
BTW, I can apply service brakes all day long at idle. At a slow roll, it takes only about a 15-20 PSI service brake application to completely stop the coach, and that's against the Allison torque converter as well. I would have to make 20 or more such applications to drop from the HPCO of 120 PSI down to the LPCI of 90 PSI, and another 20 or so to drop from 90 to the safety floor of 60 PSI, assuming the compressor never even cut in. Once it cuts in at 90, I'd be hard pressed to make service applications and releases fast enough to keep it from rising back to the 120 HPCO.
I do pay a heavy price for being able to turn my 40' coach around on a two-lane road: my angle-of-approach and angle-of-departure are terrible. The coach is low to begin with, and the huge overhangs front and rear mean that there are driveways we just can't enter without getting stuck, and we have a hard time embarking and disembarking ferries. We had to completely forego the Mobile Bay ferry, and if we ever do the Alaska Marine Highway, we'll have to book our trip based on the tide tables.
-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com
It's still impressive. I could do it, but wouldn't want to try it in the dark.
Would be even more impressive if he'd floored it in reverse and then locked up the brakes and pulled a sliding 180 on that bridge!
Gumpy!!!...the rumor is that youre going to be the next driver on that bridge LOL!
This will probably be the official test for bus nuts LOL!
I think I am going give my license!
Jerry
I could do it if I wanted to!
If I did, with my 4 speed it would chatter so much I would leave a red ring all over the ground! ;D
Have a Happy Day,
Paul