UNIT - III

COMMERCIAL VEHICLE DETAILS

 Commercial vehicle
Commercial vehicle is classified into two types namely.
1) Normal control
2) Forward control
Normal control  This type of vehicle has the
engine located at the front
of the driver's cab.
 This type has more driver
cab space.
 This also avoids entry of
heat and noise from the
engine.
 The driver gets ease to enter
and exit.

Example: Old TATA vehicle

Forward control  In forward control vehicle, the
engine is located inside the driver's
cab or below the drivers cab.
 Normally the driver's cab is built
over the engine which increase the
length available for pay load.
 This also gives better angle of
vision.
 The main disadvantage is engine
maintenance can be made only by
tilting the drivers cab.
 The other disadvantages are it has
less driver cab space and noise and
Example : EICHER, CARGO hear from the engine are
transferred to the drivers cab.
Different types of commercial vehicle bodies
The commercial vehicle bodies are classified according to their body
structure and their functions
 Light commercial vehicle (LCV) bodies
 Medium commercial vehicle (MCV) bodies
i) Drop side body ii) Box vans iii) Panel vans
 Heavy commercial vehicle (HCV) bodies
i) Rigid type
(a) Tipper
(b) Tanker
ii) Articulated type
Light commercial vehicle bodies
Contd..
Contd..
 Light commercial vehicles (LCVs) are usually referred to goods and
carriage vehicles with a light capacity that varies from one region to
another.
 In Europe the popular definition for a light commercial vehicle is one
good vehicle with a maximum permissible capacity of 3.5 tones of mass.
 The importance of a light commercial vehicle is obvious especially in a
newly industrialized economy with large regions to cater where such
vehicles playa niche role in transporting goods from one place to another
throughout the country.
 Qualifying light commercial vehicles include pickup trucks, vans and
three-wheelers all commercially based goods or passenger carrier.
 The LCV concept was created as a compact truck and is usually
optimised to be ruggedly built, have low operating costs and powerful
yet fuel efficient engines, and to be utilised in intra-City operations.
Medium commercial vehicle (MCV) bodies
 This type of body follows the
main structure of the flat platform
body with addition of timber sides
and a tail board, capable of being
dropped to assist loading and
unloading.
 So this is called as drop side body.
 If the hinge pin on which the side
and tail boards are fitted, are
secured in the same way, the
boards may be removed
completely.
 Corner irons are used to fix the
corner of the body.
 These corner irons tire are
equipped with cotters.
 Contd..
 Flat taper pins having a short length of chain at one end are inserted into
the cotters and this keeps the side and tail boards in position.
 The sides are made up of boards bolted to standard body irons a having
a hinge eye at one end.
 Strap plates are used to give additional strength and to avoid pulling of
bolts.
 The platform is mounted on the chassis frame by means of “U” bolts.

 The body height is lower than the driver cab.

 Since the tailboard and side bodies can be dropped, the loading and
unloading of goods becomes very easy.
 Lorry's and vans that are used to carry sand can be taken as an example
for this type of body.
Advantages
 Because of big door arrangement, loading and unloading are easy and
takes less time.
 Passengers can travel safely.

 Fuel efficiency is more.

Disadvantages
 Ground clearance is low. So, transmission of power is tough.

 Tipping cannot be done easily

Box van

 The body is an enclosed box like structure.

 The body is made up of composite construction, having an ash framing

covered with sheet metal panels.
 The panel Joints are covered with suitable aluminium mouldings.

 There are two doors placed at the rear of the body, each door being
hinged to the corner rear pillars.
 Shutters can also be used instead of doors.

 The shutters slide up into the roof.

 Straps are fitted to increase the wall strength.

Contd..
 These are also called as cube truck, straight truck.

 The cargo area is cuboid shaped.

Advantages
 Loading and unloading IS easy because of big doors or shutters

 The body height is low. So, loading and unloading time is less

Disadvantages
 Very big goods cannot be loaded because roof height is less

 Ground clearance is also less. So, there will be problem in the

transmission path.
 Panel vans

 The panel van has the body attached to the drivers cab.

 This vehicle is used for door to door deliveries for trade men.

 The body made up of steel pressings with two large doors at the rear for the
purpose of loading and unloading.
 Many of these models are manufactured based on motor car (standard)
underbody arrangement.
 The construction type is mostly integral construction.

 This is a light commercial vehicle with a gross vehicle weight (GVW) of

3.5 tones.
 These are smaller than lorry (or) truck.

 It has less cargo space but suitable for cities with narrows streets and heavy
traffic.
 Heavy commercial vehicle (HCV) bodies
 Heavy commercial vehicles usually have three or four axles with 6 or 8
wheels Some of the vehicles have twin-wheel arrangement
 The twin wheel or multi-axle is used because the maximum load given to
any one axle is limited by law.
 This is to protect the surface of the road and to provide some safety
measure to other general public against the possible overloading
vehicles.
 A twin wheel assembly can carry twice the load carried by a single
wheel.
 These mostly weigh 7.5 tones or over
Rigid type
Six - Wheeled

 These vehicles have three axles.

 There will be two steering road wheels and four driving road wheels.

 In some cases there will be driving road wheels and two free running
wheels (dummy wheels) on a dead axle.
 The chassis width must be reduced to make room for twin wheel type.
Eight wheeled

 These vehicles have four axles with eight wheels.

 The rear wheel arrangement is same as that of the six wheeled type.

 But there are four steering wheels.

 Weight of the load is used to increase the adhesion or grip of the tyre of
the driving wheels and steering wheels
Articulated type
Contd..
 In this type of vehicle, the engine and transmission path are made on a
small chassis.
 There is a strong towing and swiveling arrangement attached to the
chassis.
 The chassis has four or six wheels with two or four driving wheels and
two steering wheels.
 These vehicles consist of a detachable trailer which is coupled to the
tractor unit.
 The connection is called a fifth wheels.

 The trailer coupled to it will have two or four free running wheels or
dead axles.
Advantages of Rigid type over articulated type
 The load is mainly carried by dead axles in articulated type. So,
adhesion is less between the tyre and the load. This may permit
skidding. But in rigid type, the load is carried mainly by the driving
wheels.
 The movement of coupling between the tractor and the trailer is limited.
So, these vehicles are unsuitable for use in uneven ground. But there is
no such problem in rigid types.
 A rigid vehicle will not jack-knife, will not give trailer swing problems
and is less likely to over term.
 Initial cost of rigid vehicles is less (No need for trailer frame, fifth
wheel coupling etc ,)
Disadvantages of articulated type over rigid type
 Articulated type is very maneuverable, because it has smaller turning
circle for tractor because it articulated itself.
 The trailer can be detached while loading and unloading and can be
attached whenever needed.
 It can carry more load than rigid type vehicles.
 Draw - Bar trailer

 Draw bar trailer is similar in construction with the four wheeled rigid
vehicle.
 But this has no propulsion power and no transmission system.

 It is attached to a self propelled vehicle with the help of a draw-bar.

 This draw-bar tows and steers the trailer's front wheels.

 These draw-bar trailers are most commonly used in four and Six wheeled
vehicles.
 There are many types of construction such as flat platform or sided body,
van type, etc.
Contd..
 The size and capacity varies up to 30 ton on road.

 For other purpose in harbors and big industries the capacity increases
and the number of axles are also increased.
 For safe transport of goods like cars, medical equipments etc..
suspension systems are also used in trailer assemblies.
 Most drivers are convenient with draw-bar trailers because of easy
turning of vehicle with small turning circle.
 Because of flat platform, the goods can be loaded and unloaded easily.

 Lengthy goods can be carried using this type of body.

 Towing Jaws

 Towing jaw is introduced to overcome problems in draw-bar trailers.

 In draw bar trailers, the up and down, shocks and jerks can be
absorbed up to a certain limit.
 After that, the draw-bar tends to break.
 Also it cannot have smooth ride with the pay load.
 So to increase safety and to reduce shocks, towing jaws are used.
 It is a double spring jaw which is bolted on the rear members of the
towing vehicle
Contd..
 The towing jaw moves up and down and absorbed the shocks.

 The spring absorbs the shock load by spring compression and

release.
 The jaws can be released and the trailer can be separated.

 Then the jaws can be assembled to towing the vehicle

Construction details of flat platform body
Flat platform body

 This type of body have flat platform to carry heavy load just over the
wheel height.
 The extensively used material for construction is aluminium.

 Aluminium is used for its strength, lightness and durability.

 Less expensive bodies are made of timber (or) steel.

 There will be two straight and drop side members placed.

 These are attached many cross members.

 Contd..
 The cross bearers are secured to the main bearers with the help of bolts
which are used to mount the engine and suspension element
 The ends of the boards should be strong.

 So, steel angle plates are used to make it strong front board will be little
larger in size than the cab in order to safeguard the rear panel.
 This platform carries and the load of the vehicle and also acts as a base.

 The outer body is surrounded by timber.

 The body is secured to the chassis by means of U-bolts which are placed
over the main bearers and bolted up under the chassis members.
 The width of the platform will be more than the drivers cab.
Advantages
 Visibility is more because it is a forward control vehicle.

 The ground clearance will be more. So, there is no problem in

transmission of power.
 More lengthy loads can be carried by this type of body.

Disadvantages
 Loading and unloading of loads and passenger traveling is risk and it
takes more time.
 The cab height will be more. The ground clearance is also high because
of these, the fuel consumption will be more.
 Flat platform body construction

 Aluminium is most extensively used mainly for its high strength,

durability and lightness. The parts of this construction are
1) Longitudinal bearers 2 nos 2) Cross bearers 3) Side rave
4) Rear bearer 5) Front bearer 6) Head board
7) Two corner pillar 8) Two bulk head pillar
 Also many of the cheaper chassis have bodies made up of timber or steel.

 The six of the longitudinal runners is determined by the height of the

bumper.
 Longitudinal and cross beavers are made up of channel section.
2) Cross bearers
 Cross bearers are covered by side rave sections.

 These are bolted to the bearers through the top and bottom flanges.

3) Types of side raves

Contd..
 The check rails help to retain the load.

 The floor is supported by cross bearer channels.

 J- Type channel is most widely used in flat platform construction.

 The main advantage of using this is that drilling holes in it will not
weaken the frame strength.

Rear bearers:
Contd..
 A special bearer incorporating a should plate is sometime used.

 Shroud plates allow attachment to the longitudinal, and also protects the
floor end planks.
 Using angle brackets, bearers are bolted to the longitudinal
6) Head board
 This is situated at the front of the body and behind the vehicle's cab.

 If has to resist the load moving forward and crushing the cab when the
vehicle brakes are applied. So, it is assembled or mode as a structural
member.
 There are 4 pillars on the head board.

1) Two corner pillars 2) Two bulk head pillars.

 Heavy duty plank sections are used to provide strength.

7. The bulk head pillar is bolted with the longitudinal section.

8. The corner pillar is attached with the side rave with the help of Gusset.
Tipper Body Construction

 This is a load carrying vehicle. The load can be self discharged by means
of hydraulic or mechanical host. It is also called as self unloading (or)
discharging body.
 Normally in most of the vehicles, hydraulic and mechanical hosts can be
used In some vehicles exhaust gas can also utilized for tipping.
 It has one or more hydraulic lift at the front and a hinged support at the
rear at the body
Contd..
 The body is made up of strong steel material. It can absorb impact force
and Its weight is less.
 Normally the body dimension is 250cm length and 160cm width.

 The upper part of tipper body will have a cab guard. This is used to guard
the cab from load.
 It has three openings - at the back and at the other two sides.

 The capacity of trailer is 15tons. The maximum load that can be carried
by the vehicle is mentioned at the side.
 It is painted yellow in colour.

 The lift should not be used to raise the rear body while driving. This will
affect the vehicle's stability.
 The construction of tipper body is on a flat platform

 There are two types of sides in flat platform body They are

1) Side with check rail 2) Side without check rail

Contd..
 Fork lift cannot be used in side with check rail type body for loading and
unloading purpose.
 So, side without check rail is most commonly used.

 In chassis tipping body, the entire load is taken by the longitudinal

members of the chassis.
 Using hinges tipping body is connected to rear end of chassis.

 In chassis less tipping body, the body acts as a lifting beam. So, it is
made strong enough to take the load.
 Head board is placed in between the cabin and the tipper body to prevent
damage to the cabin by the pay load.
 The size of the head board is 76.20 x 76.20 mm.
 Tipping Methods.
 Hydraulic ram is attached to the body. An electric motor is coupled with
the ram. The hydraulic ram can lift 1.2 gal/mm at a pressure of
100kg/sq.cm, if the diameter of the ram is 2.63". The maximum load
that can be lifted is 3.6 tons.
 Exhaust gas can also be used for tipping If the floor area is 40,000
sq.cm, and the body has to lift 4 tons of load the pressure required will
be 4 x 1000/40,000 = 1/10 kg/sq.cm. But the exhaust gas pressure is
1kg/sq.cm It is more than enough to lift the load.
 Hand gears are also used for tipping
 Stiffness in tipper body construction
 End tipping with a front mounted ram will tend to carry the body
between the rams and the hinge pivots, while the centrally mounted ram
will tend to cause bending in the body due to the thrust concentration in
the centre of the length.
 Stiffness in the body is achieved by the use of fixed sides and while drop
sides are used in tipping vehicles, they cannot be able to get the
stiffening as that of fixed side.

Materials
 Sites on which tippers usually work are often rough and considerable
stresses are set up in the vehicle. By tipping the vehicle on such uneven
surfaces, the work on the load is increased. So, steel is the preferred
material as a means of creating the stiffest body.
 Use of heavier steel sections would tend to have even more stiffness
Tanker Body Construction

 Tanker body is used to carry liquid and powdered goods like detergents,
varnish, edible oil, resins, sugar solution, fuel like gasoline milk, water
etc.
 The shape of the tanker body is influenced by a number of
considerations.
 A circular tank can be readily placed on a frame less platform. The
capacity of the tank is also more.
 But the stability is less because of more height. To avoid this elliptical
shape is used.
 Contd..
 Aluminium is most commonly used for tanker body construction because
it is less in weight and the strength is also high.
 When corrosive liquids are carried, stain less steel must be used, because
of its non-corrosive property.
 Synthetic PVC, silicon, rubber, ebonite,. copper and cadmium are mixed
together and are coated on the tanker walls which prevent corrosions.
 The tanker's back portion has to be seated tapperly.

 Internal baffle plates are used to cut down the surge of liquid when
traveling, especially at higher speeds permitted on modern motor ways.
 Pneumatically operated discharge valve provides a number of important
safeguards, not least of which has the ability to shut off all valves at the
touch of a single button.
 Such a system replaces hand controls or mechanical linkages operated
from the driver's cab.
Contd..
 When designing a tanker, through holes must be given for the security of
the discharge hoses.
 It is also necessary to provide drain holes to enable the liquid to drain
away.

Tanker body Mounting Conditions

 Few mounting brackets are used. So, the brackets should be very strong.

 The out rig bracket should cover the vertical face of the chassis frame,
otherwise there is a chance of crack in the chassis web.
 The bracket should not be welded with the chassis frame. No holes
should be made on the top and bottom flange.
 The centre of gravity should be as low as possible.

 The brackets and chassis frame have to be bolted with lock nut and
spring washer.
 Seating
 Only those people who have travelled over longer distances In one
continuation can appreciate the importance of comfortable seat on
automobiles.
 If the seat is comfortable, the journey may be a pleasure trip but it will be
a trouble some, tiring, agony, if the seat is uncomfortable.
 The utility of comfortable seats are equally important to both the driver
and the passenger, but more attention has to be paid towards design of
the drivers seat since the drives discomfort may influence upon safe and
stable driving.
 Design of seats
 According to the structure of man, the seat must be designed.

 In vehicle, there is a driver seat and passenger seat. In this, it is important

to have more concentration in designing the drive seat .That is, for
steering, acceleration, braking and clutch pedal comforts, the driver seat
must be designed.
 Passenger seat is designed for comfort according to distance between the
consecutive seats.
 Seats are manufactured by the materials

 a) Natural rubber latex b) Cold - cure polyester (or) urethane c)

Hot - Cure foams (or) chip forms.
 Upholstered and trim work is done to maintain the seat.
Seat angles
For commercialvehicle
 The driver seat is in 90°, because it is necessary to drive the vehicle by
sitting in straight position.
 In passenger seat,the seatinganglerangesfrom5° and10°
 In pushbackseating, the seating angleis included to 60°.

For light commercialvehicle

 The inclination of driverseatrangesfrom15° to 20°.
 Andtheinclination of rearseatis 25°
Various types of passenger seats
Contd..
 Comfortable seat angle
Knee
 Seat should bend inside the knee. It should not be straight.
 There shouldbe a small distance between the edge of seat and the
backside of knee.
Feet
 There should be an angle of 100 degree maintained between the feet
and the leg. The head should always touch the floor, when foot controls
are operated.
Hand
 Two to ten grippe should be provided on the steering in order to hold.
And the hand should lie in and around 6 inches to12 inches from the
shoulder.
 Contd..
Arms
 The upper arms should hang naturally from the shoulders. Elbows must
have room to clear the body when steering. Straight arm driving position
will result in tiredness.
Head
 It is designed in such a way that the back side of the head rest on the seat.

Neck
 It is designed in such a manner, that the neck must be able to in any
direction. It should be inclined 15° from the vertical
Shoulder
 The shoulder must lie inside the backrest, and also, at the time it should
be able to turn at any direction.
Contd..
Upper back
 The upper back should be designed for the inclination of angle form
15° to 30°, when it IS less than 30°, this causes shoulder neck pain.
Thighs
 There should be enough space between the thighs and seat for flow of
air.
Push back seat
 Push back seat
 A pinion is provided in horizontal position of seat.
 Toothed quadrant is provided in the vertical position of seat.
 In order to adjust the position of seat, a hand lever is provided.
 While pulling the hand lever towards upward direction, the pinion will
rotate in anti clock wise direction.
 Therefore, the toothed quadrants will rotate in clock direction. So, the
seat will be adjusted in vertical position.
 When the hand lever is rotated in down ward direction, pinion will rotate
in clock wise direction. So, that the quadrant will rotate in anti clock
wise direction and the will be adjusted to horizontal position or inclined
position comfortable seating angle.
Ergonomically designed driver seat
 Contd..
 It is the study of design of driver seat, with which the driver drive
comfortably. This process is known as ergonomic designed driver seat.
 Driver seat must be designed for the comfort of the steering wheel, for
pedal and safety.
 Driver seat must be able to be adjusted 45mm horizontally 30mm
vertically.
 The weight of the driver should be given to the seat through ischial. This
is the most comfortable position.
 Seat will be designed like a chair and also the material used in the seat
must have the property to absorb the shock
 The body below the neck must be in vertical position.
 The angle between the seat and back rest must be 90° and above
 The arm rest will reduce the tiredness of the driver.
 The angle between the body, leg and things should not be less than 90°. If
It is less than 90°, it will create a pressure in abdomen.
 The backside of the knee must have certain distance from the front edge of
the seat
Driver's cab design
Contd..
 Compactness of driver's cab is one of the main aim of the design.
 A compact cab is not only lighter and cheaper but also makes the whole
vehicle more economic by increasing the area to be utilised for carrying
load.
 Only in the case of cab of a lorry which is designed for long distance
journeys (for instant international level).
 Due to this design, there is a loss in length that is used to carry the load.
 This length is shown in the fig. c this loss should be compensated by
non-stop running.
 One driver works while the other driver rest on a folding bed (sleeper
cabs)
Segmental cab
 Contd..
 Truck and lorry manufactures are in a difficult position since the market
demands many different body types and small series Production is
expensive if one takes into account, the fact, that a high degree of tooling
is uneconomic.
 The solution of this problem lies in the segment design of cab.
 Various combinations of the types of cab be made up from suitable
constructed segments, namely a normal control forward control, or a
sleeper cab which can be modified to take extra seats.
 This design solution in particularly suitable if the cabs are to be used on a
range of vehicles with a common engine
 A much more complicated problem is that of creating a suitable for
vehicles of different loading categories with quite dissimilar chassis and
engine. Unification of dimensions of the driving position (steering wheel,
pedals, level, etc.,)and also of the chassis frame is members, position of
radiator etc is necessary.