Terex Articulating Haul Trucks Support

[631G]

Since Volvo acquired Terex and phased out their articulated truck line under the Terex brand, who would one look to here in the states for service if you bought a Terex truck? I see here in my area that Border Equipment now sells the Rokbak truck line that is the rebranded Terex truck, but I’m unsure of parts availability and dealer support being this is an “orphan” brand now. Would a purchase of a late model Terex truck be unwise? I ran a few Terex TA27 Gen7 trucks back in the early 2000’s and wasn’t impressed at the time mainly due to mechanical issues and rough rides. That said I’m skeptical of the trucks. Curious to know HEF’s thoughts on these trucks and if anyone has dealt with a situation like this in the past.

 

[Vetech63]

Parts cost and availability alone would prevent me from buying anything Terex

 

[John C.]

The worst ADT brand I ever worked on.

 

[631G]

The worst ADT brand I ever worked on.

What always puzzled me was that the trucks stayed down as much as they did when the components that made up the truck were not junk. The trucks ran components that were common to other name brand trucks being ZF trans and axels and at least when I sat in the seat had Cummins engines. Never understood why they would hand together.

 

[John C.]

Undersized components!

 

[sfrs4]

Volvo only bought the rigid truck side of Terex hence they now have the R45D, R60D, R70D and R100E trucks, they realised there was nothing of any worth from the articulated side of the business

 

[John C.]

On the original 2366 and 3066 trucks, everything was undersized or done cheaply. The 2366 used air cooled Deutz engines which were pretty good motors but then put an exhaust brake on just outside the turbo charger. Working on steep and soft ground brought heating issues on. The transmissions were ZF but one size smaller than what ZF recommended. Operators were always slamming gears on down shifts and then the gear boxes would just give up. They used dry disk brakes and air over hydraulic boosters. Mud and debris would take out the caliper seals which would leak off and not get fixed. The brakes made the rest of the problem even worse. Less brakes meant more time on the exhaust brake and dropping gears ranges with the engines at higher RPM and then the engine dropping valves. Cabs in those days didn't tilt for access to the transmissions and hydraulic pumps so had to be removed to get to most anything. I was happy to leave all that behind. It was all poor design by engineers working from component catalogs and not being in the field to see just what was expected of the units. Further on in my career I saw it to be a characteristic in other lines of Terex equipment.

 

[631G]

Volvo only bought the rigid truck side of Terex hence they now have the R45D, R60D, R70D and R100E trucks, they realised there was nothing of any worth from the articulated side of the business

I didn’t realize this was the case. I thought they’d bought it all and just spun off the articulated line.

 

[631G]

On the original 2366 and 3066 trucks, everything was undersized or done cheaply. The 2366 used air cooled Deutz engines which were pretty good motors but then put an exhaust brake on just outside the turbo charger. Working on steep and soft ground brought heating issues on. The transmissions were ZF but one size smaller than what ZF recommended. Operators were always slamming gears on down shifts and then the gear boxes would just give up. They used dry disk brakes and air over hydraulic boosters. Mud and debris would take out the caliper seals which would leak off and not get fixed. The brakes made the rest of the problem even worse. Less brakes meant more time on the exhaust brake and dropping gears ranges with the engines at higher RPM and then the engine dropping valves. Cabs in those days didn't tilt for access to the transmissions and hydraulic pumps so had to be removed to get to most anything. I was happy to leave all that behind. It was all poor design by engineers working from component catalogs and not being in the field to see just what was expected of the units. Further on in my career I saw it to be a characteristic in other lines of Terex equipment.

Makes since to me, the build from a catalog comment. That makes since to me given what I experienced and read your comments. It’s amazing to me what came of Terex after their sale from GM. The old ts14 scrapers I’m told by the older men I work with were near indestructible. Today not so much, but in their time they were thought highly of. The 2000 and 3000 series artic trucks I’ve never heard anything good about. This only adds more context to that.

 

[mowingman]

Rokbak makes/or made, the Terex articulated trucks in Motherwell, Scotland. They are supposed to be a division of Volvo. Don't see very many dealers in the U.S., but there are some in major cities. Also do not know if they still support the trucks built under the Terex name.

 

[Nige]

The old ts14 scrapers I’m told by the older men I work with were near indestructible.

I think a lot of that is a view through rose-tinted specs, aka nostalgia isn't what it used to be........

 

[John C.]

There was a fleet of TS24 units working just outside of George above the Columbia river. Those things worked every day for years and I was told for far less cost than running Cats. They were forced into replacing the fleet with 631G and E models because they no longer got much support for the noise makers. Those guys had no rose colored glasses and as of about five years ago most everyone there that I got to talk to preferred green over yellow.

 

[nicky 68a]

Yes,it’s easy to get nostalgic with the rose coloured glasses on the TS14 and TS24 scrapers.
I had 3 good TS14B’s for only one season,and my fitter was good with them.
14’s and 24’s were moneymakers in the right hands.Owners that employed experienced fitters and kept right on top of the maintenance could move a lot of muck with them cheaply.
With Cat scrapers,they would take more neglect and abuse than a Terex,but the end result was the same.

 

[skyking1]

I did not turn a wrench on them, either I was loading them or driving. Nobody had a solid fleet of the 2366 or 3066, they were just the odd truck in a mixed fleet and always occupied the dog position.
I remember the one 2366 was rather prone to just flopping over at any excuse.
Edit: I knew I had a pic somewhere.

 

[Nige]

I did not turn a wrench on them, either I was loading them or driving. Nobody had a solid fleet of the 2366 or 3066, they were just the odd truck in a mixed fleet and always occupied the dog position.
I remember the one 2366 was rather prone to just flopping over at any excuse.
Edit: I knew I had a pic somewhere.

View attachment 275237

That’s just a smart operator’s trick so that they don’t have to crawl underneath to grease the rear end……
Turning the front end over requires a completely different level of skill IMO.

 

[Gary Layton]