Take Volvo's spacious VN cab, plunk it on a heftier frame, attend to about a thousand other details and you've got the new VHD, a heavy-duty vocational model which the builder hopes will overwhelm the construction and trash markets. The VHD replaces the old WG and Autocar conventionals, which are out of production.
Clever chrome accents on the front end give the VHD a "broad- shouldered, narrow-hipped look," kind of like the guy you'd want working on your construction site, as Volvo people say. Look beyond that and you'll see the VN because 70% of the two series' parts are shared. The VHD is as comfortable as a VN and drives a lot like it, too.
The VHD, however, has been specifically strengthened to take off-road stresses. Prototypes were battered at Volvo's torture track in Greensboro, N.C., and proved 50% more reliable than the closest competitor, Mack's old-fashioned but tough RD, Volvo engineers say. By that they mean the VHD had 50% fewer failures during the tests.
Ed Saxman, Volvo's manager of sales engineering (and a former Mack engineer), says the RD lasted 300 cycles on the track — equivalent to 1 million miles — before it was "junk." The VHD went 450 cycles.
A key component is the main frame, which comes in eight versions. Five have single-channel steel rails, the stronger of which do the job of double-channel rails in older models. Three frames use inserts for extra-heavy duty work. Crossmembers use aluminum where possible to lower weight.
The cab is double-galvanized high-strength steel, which is strong yet light in weight, Volvo says. It is wide inside — tapering from 82 inches at the windshield to 89 inches at its rear wall — and is extremely roomy for a vocational truck. It also puts the driver's eyes as far to the left as the truck body for a wide viewing angle. Big side windows also help, especially to the right, as do the huge windshield and sloped hood.
Is the cab too big for a construction and trash truck, I wondered. Why wouldn't you want the room for extra passengers and gear? Saxman and other Volvo people answered. Well, some guys just prefer a narrower cab, I persisted. To each his own.
Designed for flexibility, comfort
Although the VHD can be built as an on/off-road tractor, most will be trucks. So air and pneumatic plug-in hookups for bodies are provided on the frame, eliminating the need to cut into chassis wiring or plumbing. The cab's floor is predrilled for air and electrical lines for lift controls.
Hydraulic pumps can be driven by PTOs on the transmission or the rear of an engine; on Volvo engines, a PTO can be mounted on the left side of the engine where it's always powered, whether the clutch is engaged or not.
Volvo's own 7- and 12-liter electronically controlled diesels will be standard in VHDs, executives said. The only other engine available is the 11-liter Cummins ISM. Clearly, Volvo wants to sell Volvo engines, and plans to build them in the U.S. if its proposed acquisition of Mack Trucks (along with Renault VI's commercial truck business in Europe) is okayed by government agencies.
Volvo Trucks unveiled the VHD at the North American headquarters of Volvo's construction equipment unit at Asheville, N.C., in late July. Reporters got to drive a variety of construction and trash trucks off road and, for CDL holders, on nearby county highways. Some of the VHDs rode a little rougher than VNs but otherwise behaved similarly. The off-road ride is uncannily smooth, with none of the banging or shudder I've seen in old-style trucks. I drove four VHDs — a tractor pulling a 32-foot end dump trailer, a truck with a fuel tank body, and two dump trucks.
One of the demo drivers was J.B. Pardue, 68, of Winston-Salem, N.C. J.B. and I took the tractor-trailer on an extended cruise of the countryside, marveling at its smooth, quiet ride and nimble handling.
The dump trucks, one a 10-wheeler and the other a 14-wheel "quad" with two steerable pusher axles, exhibited a choppier ride and varying degrees of maneuverability. The next day I spent more time in the green quad seen here. Kenneth Thomas, profiled in this issue's Rig Review, was my guide. The VHD dumper had two forward-steering pusher axles and a load of stone that made our gross weight about 72,000 pounds, he said. Like the Rig Review's VNM tractor, the VHD truck had a VE (for Volvo engine) 425. It pulled the same hills on the interstates at about the same speeds as the VNM.
Development dollars well-spent
The truck had a Fuller "LL" 10-speed that proved both capable and frustrating, with 1st gear very difficult to find. Several times I mistakenly slipped it into Reverse; the pusher axles are not reverse-steerable and lift when signaled by the backup light circuit, dumping air from their bags. When I'd find 1st, the axles went down again, consuming air and sounding the low-air alarm.
I got around this by using Low to start out, which was a good idea anyway, given our weight. And as I got used to the tranny's feel, the problem mostly went away. Saxman said customers had the same experience.
When starting in a higher gear, by the way, the clutch never shuddered. "It must be an organic facing," I told Thomas, but no, the specs list shows a ceremetallic facing, which is usually grabby in any other make of truck. It was an Eaton Easy Pedal model.
The steer axle was forward-set for bridge formula states. This and the wide flotation tires limited wheel cut, making for some wide swings around corners. I soon learned to begin a turn earlier and let the rear wheels hug the curb at corners. With a lot of weight concentrated in a short distance, the truck was slightly choppy at highway speeds, but nothing approaching harshness.
Marc Gustafson, president and CEO, says Volvo invested $95 million in developing the VHD. It shows up as money well spent. Is the truck good enough to raise Volvo's market share in vocational trucks from the current 10% to 30%, as he wants? We'll see.
