An H-drive drivetrain is a system used for heavy off-road vehicles with 6×6 or 8×8 drive to supply power to each wheel station.
65-492: H-drives do not use axles but rather individual wheel stations, usually carried on a punt chassis . A single differential splits the drive into separate left and right drive shafts, which each run fore and aft inside the bottom corners of the chassis. At each wheel station a bevel box drives the half shaft out to the wheel. H-drive is not commonly used for 4 wheel vehicles, as it is relatively complicated for small vehicles. It has been used most widely for military 6×6 chassis in
130-508: A $ 7 million deal negotiated through Honduran defence contractor Gerard Latchinian. Honduran Saladins could be seen in the streets of Tegucigalpa in the 2009 coup against President Manuel Zelaya . There is a Saladin on display as a gate guard at Episkopi Garrison, British Sovereign Base, Cyprus. It is dedicated to the memory of L/Cpl Nicholas Stokes, who died in a training accident in October 1992. A decommissioned Lebanese Army Saladin
195-653: A 76 mm low-pressure rifled gun which fired the same ammunition as that mounted on the FV101 Scorpion . The Saladin also spawned an armoured personnel carrier counterpart, the Alvis Saracen . Despite the vehicle's age and dated design, it is still in use in a number of countries in secondary roles. Following the end of the Second World War , the British Army issued a requirement for
260-689: A Browning M2 Machine Gun top mounted on authentic US Mark 93 mounting hardware and gun shield plate. There is a privately owned Saladin in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford area of Texas. There is a Saladin as gate guardian at King Phraya Damrong Rajanupam Camp of the Royal Thai Border Police in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. There is a privately owned Saladin in the Vancouver, British Columbia area of Canada. There
325-658: A Saladin on display at the Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry Museum at Hever Castle in Kent. There is a Saladin at the Dunmore Park base of the B Squadron " North Irish Horse " SNIY Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry , an Army Reserve regiment. There is a Saladin at the Aldershot Army Museum There is also a non-functioning Alvis Saladin displayed outside the Lebanese Army's military outpost in
390-644: A co-axial machine gun and had different lights and smoke dischargers. The FV601D was only adopted by the German Federal Bundesgrenzschutz , which designated it Geschützter Sonderwagen III . A Saladin was also offered with the same 30 mm RARDEN autocannon as found on the FV510 Warrior and FV721 Fox , but this model did not find favour with the British military or any export customers. The Federal Republic of Germany
455-423: A design for a rear-engined, platform chassis car with four seats and torsion bar suspension. A central stiffening tube provided much of the strength of the chassis. This basic design proceeded through the pre-war Porsche Type 60 , and several wartime military vehicles, before finally the first post-war mass-production Volkswagen Beetles of 1945. In 1936, Porsche adapted the developing KdF-Wagen 'domestic' car as
520-549: A monocoque integrated into a passenger safety cell. They had a tendency in serious accidents for the complete bodyshell to separate from the chassis, as did the ladder chassis. However with the platform chassis, this formed the floor of the passenger area, rather than the body tub, and had the seats mounted to it. The passengers could thus stay with their seats on the chassis, while the bodyshell tried to pass through them. Modern developments of chassis materials, bodyshells materials and design, and also changes in drivetrain have given
585-414: A new, 6×6 wheeled armoured vehicle to replace the obsolete AEC armoured car . Design work began in 1947 and a contract was awarded to Alvis Cars to build two prototypes for trials. The new armoured car was designated FV601A and armed with an Ordnance QF 2-pounder gun. Alvis also proposed a much heavier fire support variant designated FV601B armed with a new 76 mm low-pressure gun . Design work on
650-486: A platform chassis which stopped short of the rear wheels and which had a central stiffening tube. This tube extended rearwards as a Y-shaped fork, which passed each side of the transaxle and to the engine mounts. The rear swing axles were also held at their outboard ends by flat plate trailing arms, which were pivoted on the ends of a crosswise tube, containing the torsion bars . At this time the rear shock absorbers were only single-acting, lever-type . The front suspension
715-642: A range of vehicles of varying weights and operational requirements, with great success at each and with little need for variation between them. One difference was in the braking system; the Saracen used drum brakes , the Saladin ring brakes . In time, the heavier Stalwart would require more effective disc brakes . A drawback to the H-drive is the risk of driveline windup . When used for equally spaced wheels (i.e., rather than cargo trucks with close-set rear axles)
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#1732798127422780-487: A sporting car suitable for the auto trials organised by the NSKK . These were slow-speed competitions across off-road terrain and obstacles, which developed both driving skill and vehicle agility, in ways which were expected to be useful for military motoring. This Porsche Type 62 was an open-topped, open-sided four seater, still with rounded bodywork. Although it performed well in military trials at Münsingen , its appearance
845-584: A welded steel punt chassis, forming an armoured monocoque hull. It was to use the equally new 8 cylinder Rolls-Royce B series engine , the B80. The contract for development of the FV600 chassis was awarded to Alvis in October 1947. By 1950, events of the Malayan Emergency had overtaken the British Army and with an urgent need for their first armoured personnel carrier , protected against guerilla ambush,
910-764: Is a Saladin at the Inniskillings Museum in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. There is a Saladin at Ryak Airfield in Lebanon. Numerous Saladin survive in Australia, one example is on display at the RAAC Memorial and Tank Museum Puckapunyal, Victoria. and another complete operational, privately owned ex-British Saladin exists in the outer metropolitan region of Sydney . Many ex- Australian Army Saladins remain turretless because of
975-573: Is a six-wheeled armoured car developed by Crossley Motors and later manufactured by Alvis . Designed in 1954, it replaced the AEC armoured car in service with the British Army from 1958 onward. The vehicle weighed 11 tonnes, offered a top speed of 72 km/h, and had a crew of three. Saladins were noted for their excellent performance in desert conditions, and found favour with a number of Middle Eastern armies accordingly. They were armed with
1040-404: Is an advantage for stability to mount it in the largest flat layer, as low down as possible. The pack weight for a Tesla S is 1,200 pounds (540 kg) As these are composed of 7,104 cells, packaged into 16 modules, their overall shape is flexible and can be adjusted to best fit the vehicle. This makes the platform chassis a good way to carry it, with the batteries themselves either above or below
1105-595: Is currently part of the "Hope for Peace" monument in Yarze , Lebanon. There is an FV 601 Saladin in Yad la-Shiryon museum, Latrun. There is an Alvis Saladin at Sri Lanka Armoured Corps Training Centre, Anuradhapura – a gate guard. Several Saladins are parked at a tank garage at The Indonesian Army 4th Cavalry Battalion. There are three surviving Saladins in The Tank Museum , Dorset, England. One, in all over green,
1170-475: Is displayed in the tank story exhibition. The second, in all over tan, is in operational condition and used in events. The third, in a tan and green camouflage pattern, is part of the museum's reserve collection and is stored in the vehicle conservation centre. There is a Saladin in the Muckleburgh Collection , Norfolk, England. It can be seen running at various time during the year. There is
1235-467: Is usually pressed into shallow stiffening ridges as well, but these are mostly to stop drumming noise and are too minor to provide major structural strength. Platforms are usually the full width of the car, but shorter and only span the length between the wheels. Suspension attachments for the wheels and the weight of the engine and transmission are carried on additional subframes beyond this. These subframes may be formed of box section tubes welded on to
1300-490: The FV603 Saracen took priority over the Saladin. Saracen used an almost identical chassis and drivetrain to Saladin, although the engine was relocated from the rear to the front of the vehicle. The transmission used a 5-speed Wilson preselector gearbox with a fluid flywheel . Reverse gear was provided within the transfer box , allowing all five gears in either direction. The centre bevel boxes were included within
1365-523: The Scammell Pioneer of 1927, uses a single central axle, or driveshaft, that in turn drives two walking beams ( balanceur , in Dutch) one on each side. The wheels are supported by overhung stub axles. The conversion added the walking beams to the ends of the original truck beam axle. From that point, the drive between the axles of each side was separated side by side. In 1938, a later version of
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#17327981274221430-657: The Second Sudanese Civil War , some being captured by the SPLA . Nearly 100 Saladins were exported to the Federal Republic of Germany as part of a British assistance programme for the fledgling Bundesgrenzschutz in the mid to late 1950s. In German service they were designated Geschützter Sonderwagen III and utilised for border patrols. All but 25, along with the entire German inventory of spare parts, were later resold to Honduras as part of
1495-585: The Sultan's Armoured Car Squadron consisted of an estimated 36 Saladins. They saw extensive action supporting troops from the British SAS, Oman Firqa , Oman regulars, and Iranian forces in their war with the Adoo . The squadron's vehicles were regularly attacked by Katyusha rockets , anti-tank mines, rocket propelled grenades , and light and heavy machine gun fire. Many vehicles were mined and repaired, and after
1560-417: The gear stick and the handbrake which required connections to the engine or drive train could be installed onto the platform before the body was added. Even, until 1952, the engine choke control and its Bowden cable were mounted on the central tunnel. Unlike most contemporary chassis-on-frame designs though, the steering column was mounted on the bodyshell and was not connected to the steering box on
1625-506: The ladder chassis or cruciform chassis designs in the 1930s, once car bodies began to be pressed from large steel sheets, rather than the chassis assembled from rolled channel sections. As a semi-monocoque they are still a form of body-on-frame construction, rather than a monocoque or unibody where the bodyshell and chassis are integrated into one component. Although both body and platform chassis are each made from similar pressed steel panels welded together, they were often bolted as
1690-607: The 1980s in the early stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War , with its 76 mm gun being effective in countering insurgents. However, the wheeled vehicles had limited cross country capabilities and suffered damage from IEDs and RPGs in urban areas. In one case, in July 1987 during an insurgent attack on an army encampment in Jaffna, a Saladin was knocked out when an RPG entered through the drivers viewing portal, killing
1755-648: The Alvis FV600 chassis, the Alvis Saladin armoured car, the Stalwart and family. The initial requirement was developed by the Department of Tank Design (DTD) immediately post-war and the six-wheel, all-driven configuration with all-round independent suspension chosen on the basis of experience with the best of WWII vehicles from four to eight wheels. The Saladin was designed as a 10-ton vehicle built on
1820-659: The FV601B was subcontracted to Crossley Motors , which engineered and manufactured six pre-production models. After further modifications by Alvis, the FV601C entered mass production in 1958 as the Alvis Saladin . Production of the FV601C and its variants continued at the Alvis factory at Coventry until 1972. A special variant known as the FV601D was developed for law enforcement agencies and internal security purposes; this model lacked
1885-519: The H-drive and the greatest numbers produced were for the British Daimler Armoured Car and Daimler Dingo scout cars of WWII. As relatively small four-wheeled vehicles, these used a simplified layout of the H-drive. A single wide casing housed the differential and transfer box , with four articulated driveshafts running to bevel gear boxes inboard of each wheel. The use of bevel boxes, rather than DAF's worm gears, required
1950-469: The Trado 3 conversion added drive to the front wheels and so converted a 6×4 vehicle to 6×6 drive. Unlike most all-wheel-drive vehicles, the front axle was no longer a live beam axle with added articulation for steering, but used two separate drive shafts, one to each front hub. This principle of divided drive already being established for the front of the Trado, it was a minor step for van Doorne to divide
2015-683: The West. Vehicles of the Warsaw Pact , such as the Tatra 813 and MAZ-535 series, were instead based on narrow backbone chassis with a central propeller shaft . H-drive was first developed by Hub van Doorne of the Dutch truck maker DAF . It was a derivative of their Trado conversion to produce a 6×4 off-road truck from a commercial 4×2 chassis. The Trado used a bogie rear suspension for both sets of rear wheels. This suspension, best known through
H-drive - Misplaced Pages Continue
2080-553: The banner of the UN. Saladins were also employed by the British Army in Northern Ireland during The Troubles . In 1975 Saladins of B Squadron 1RTR were moved from Pergamos Eastern SBA to assist with the defence of Nicosia Airport, this was a stand off with Turkish forces and UN forces. The Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC) modified Saladin turrets, and fitted them onto M113A1 tracked personnel carriers; this combination
2145-470: The chassis platform until the two were joined. In the 35 year production history of the Beetle, the basic platform chassis remained largely unchanged, except for one change to the front suspension of the 'Super Beetle'. From 1970, the new 1302 'Super Beetle' adopted MacPherson strut front suspension. This increased front luggage capacity by nearly 50%, also due to a slightly lengthened front bonnet, but
2210-408: The chassis platform, making them easier to access for exchange. A punt chassis is similar to the platform chassis, but in addition to the lower platform there are also deep raised sides. These give vertical stiffness, without requiring added stiffeners. Punt chassis have often been used with armoured vehicles . The armoured outer bodyshell forms a robust monocoque which can serve double duty as
2275-512: The chassis, deep-drawn box sections formed from sheet, or as separate subframes that are bolted in place. Platform chassis have been used for both rear-wheel drive (Beetle) and front-wheel drive (Renault) layouts. However they keep the engine at the driven end, with a transaxle , rather than using the propeller shaft of the Hotchkiss layout of front-engine, rear-drive that was universal with chassis designs beforehand. This avoided transmitting
2340-436: The drive to the rear wheels as well. The DAF YA-328 used walking beams where the axle was no more than a pivot and the drive was supplied entirely by external longitudinal drive shafts, one on each side. As was usual for heavy vehicles of this period, the final drives and right-angle drive to the stub axles were combined through a worm gear box. This also had he advantage that it is easy to connect such boxes in series, using
2405-641: The driver and a sergeant inside. The LTTE mounted the turret of a captured Saladin on to a captured YW531 turning it into a light tank , which was later captured by the Sri Lankan Army at the end of the civil war. The Sri Lankan Army phased out its Saladins from its A list in the 1990's due to a lack of spares from the United Kingdom and replaced it with BMP-1 IFV after an order for Cadillac Gage Commandos fell though. It retained one for ceremonial use. Saladins remained in reserve status till
2470-507: The end of the war in 1976 the Saladin remained in service until the early 1980s. An unpublished account called The Tinned Equivalent was written in 1977, and details many of the events of that war . The Ceylon Army received several ex-British Army Saladins following the outbreak of the 1971 JVP insurrection and were deployed counter-insurgency operations. These were used extensively by the Sri Lanka Armoured Corps in
2535-480: The end of the war in 2009. It forms the tank crew pin of the Sri Lanka Armoured Corps . During the 1990 invasion of Kuwait , Saladins were filmed on the streets of Kuwait City during Battle of Dasman Palace against Iraqi forces. The Indonesian Army (TNI AD) uses the Saladin for "KOSTRAD Cavalry Battalion", "KOSTRAD Recon Company" and Armoured Car Company. In 2014, the Indonesian Army confirmed that it
2600-399: The entire platform above the axle line. It is also difficult to arrange spring attachments for springs such as half-elliptic springs requiring distance fore and aft of the axle line, or for coil spring or strut suspensions needing an attachment point raised vertically above the platform. Instead, springs such as torsion bars are used. Whether these are transverse or longitudinal, they lie in
2665-522: The final drive reduction to be placed in the hubs, using an epicyclic reduction in each hub. This had the advantage of reducing torque in the driveshafts, allowing their unsprung weight to be made lighter. In later years a similar layout would be used for the Ferret scout car . This had an even more compact layout, with the gearbox and transfer case within a single housing. The driveshafts were articulated with Tracta joints and epicyclic reduction gears in
H-drive - Misplaced Pages Continue
2730-477: The final two units and so may still be separable after construction. Achieving sufficient rigidity is difficult with a pure platform and so they are usually extended vertically with some form of box or tube section. This can be either a perimeter frame (e.g. Renault 4 ) or a central spine (e.g. VW Beetle). Longitudinal rigidity is more critical than transverse rigidity and so this stiffening is mostly as front to back girders, rather than crosswise. The diaphragm sheet
2795-788: The fitting of Saladin turrets on M113 carriers to make the Fire Support Vehicle (M113-A1 FSV) used in the Vietnam war. Two Saladins are on display at the Australian Armour and Artillery Museum located in Cairns, Queensland. One as the Gate Guard and the second (on display) is in running condition. There is a privately owned Saladin in North San Diego County, California, USA, that was imported from
2860-411: The front end vertically stiffer and the suspension was replaced by one based on Chevrolet parts, although still with double trailing arms. The Meyers Manx was widely copied and most of these copies retained the full VW platform and VW front suspension. Platform chassis were not significantly more or less safe than contemporary ladder chassis, although much less safe in an impact than a modern design with
2925-508: The front two wheels are arranged so that both steer, the rear less so than the leading wheel. The varying track radii mean that when the vehicle drives in a curve on firm tarmac each wheel travels a different distance. As there is no differential action between the wheels on each side, this causes a lot of wind-up in the bevels and shafts. Standard operating instructions for the Stalwart recommend that after travelling some miles on firm ground,
2990-435: The horizontal plane of the platform and so can be worked in to such a chassis. Other torsion-based systems, such as twist-beam rear suspension , may be used as well for front-wheel drive cars with light rears. The Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle used a platform chassis, with independent torsion bar suspension at each end. The 'Volkswagen', 'Peoples' Car' or 'KdF-Wagen' project began in 1933 and by 1934 Porsche had sketched out
3055-544: The hubs . An advantage of the H-drive was the low overall body height as the hull could sit between the suspension units, rather than above axles. This was demonstrated by the Canadian Lynx Scout Car , a derivative of the Daimler Dingo but using conventional Ford axles, which was a foot higher overall (70 in, 1.8 m vs 59 in, 1.5 m). H-drive is probably best known today through
3120-472: The light weight achieved by use of its platform chassis. It weighed only 1,510 lb, the same design weight as the road car, and was 200-300 lb lighter than its rival vehicles from Opel , DKW and Adler . A four-wheel drive version was also developed, again using the same platform chassis and basic layout, but under the civilian enclosed bodywork. This became the Type 87 Kommandeurswagen (Porsche Type 287) and
3185-578: The mountain region of Baabda located between Hammana and Chbaniyeh. An American college sports enthusiasts club in Knoxville, Tennessee, the "Big Orange Army" operates a Saladin painted orange as an advertising device. There is another privately owned and fully operational restored 1959 Saladin AFV in Knoxville Tennessee. It has a live L5A1 76 mm main gun and a coaxial 1919A4 BMG with
3250-504: The need to release this. Punt chassis A platform chassis is a form of vehicle frame / automobile chassis, constructed as a flat plate or platform, sometimes integrating a backbone or frame-structure with a vehicle's floor-pan. A platform chassis is a separate chassis for a car or small vehicle. It is distinguished from other forms of chassis by being arranged as largely a single flat steel sheet, usually with additional box section stiffeners. Platform chassis developed after
3315-453: The platform chassis a resurgence. They are now in use for some electric and hybrid cars , such as the Tesla S . An electric drivetrain (either hybrid or pure battery) does not require mechanical stiffness between an engine and final drive . The entire drivetrain can be mounted in a subframe at one, or increasingly both, ends. Battery storage is required, and as the battery pack is heavy it
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#17327981274223380-412: The propeller shaft torque through the platform. Where a propeller shaft has been used, these have been for rare examples with four-wheel drive . Attaching the suspension to a platform chassis requires independent suspension and encourages the use of suspension features such as torsion bars or trailing arms . As the chassis is in a single plane, it would be difficult to use a solid axle, without raising
3445-493: The rear end of the worm shaft as an output. This type of drive was used by DAF for several types of military vehicles: DAF also made cars and were particularly known for their Variomatic continuously variable transmission , introduced with the DAF 600 in 1958. Although at a different scale to their military vehicles, these also used the unusual principle (outside DAF) of a side-by-side divided drive. The first major production of
3510-417: The transfer box housing and had a slight overdrive to the drive shafts fore and aft. Each wheel station used double wishbones and torsion bars for suspension with four (three on the centre stations) shock absorbers . Steering was applied to the centre wheels and a lever arrangement moved the front wheels by a proportionately larger amount. A mark of the FV600's chassis' success was its application across
3575-490: The upper mounts of the struts now coupled suspension forces into the inner wing panels of bodyshell rather than the platform: the chassis was now no longer a pure platform. The 1303 'Super Beetle' continued in production until 1975, although the Economy Beetle continued in parallel with it, still using the trailing arms and platform chassis. The platform chassis, and the large number of available VW Beetles, encouraged
3640-476: The use of the Beetle platform as a donor car for building kit cars . The most iconic of these was the dune buggy : a stripped-down Beetle chassis, with the simplest fibreglass 'bathtub' body on top of this. The first production dune buggy, the Meyers Manx , used a shortened VW platform as a basis. The front of the chassis was cut off and replaced by a taller structure of welded square steel tube. This made
3705-418: The vehicle should be bounced over a kerb or railway sleeper to lift wheels clear of the ground, one-by-one, so allowing them to spring back and release the windup. Excess windup could easily lead to a broken gear in the bevel or hub gearboxes. To indicate this, white lines were painted across the ends of the hubs. Normally the lines should be parallel but as windup occurred they would become misaligned, indicating
3770-537: The vehicle's chassis. Such armoured vehicles require all-wheel drive for off-road capacity with their weight, which many involve six or eight wheels, and so have often used a H-drive layout for the drivetrain. Rather than axles connected by a central propeller shaft, the two sides are linked fore-and-aft by driveshafts in the lower corners of the punt. This also allows greater useful space inside for crew or equipment. Alvis Saladin The FV601 Saladin
3835-486: Was considered to be 'too civilian'. Porsche continued to develop the Type 62 with such features as a rear portal axle to give increased ground clearance and the ability to move with infantry at a walking pace. The rounded bodywork was also replaced with ribbed flat panels, with doors, and by the end of 1939 this had been accepted as the military Type 82 Kübelwagen . The Kübelwagen was highly effective, in large part due to
3900-427: Was continuing to deploy the Saladin in active operations. Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla charged state-owned arms manufacturer Pindad with developing a modernization package for the Saladin in early 2016, indicating the armoured car would continue to remain in service for some time. By the end of the year 16 Indonesian Army Saladins had been modernized by Pindad. The Sudanese Army deployed Saladins during
3965-403: Was intended for use by senior field commanders. The central tube of the chassis pan was enlarged to give space for a propeller shaft and a powered front axle provided, with similar driveshafts as the rear axle. The Beetle powertrain comprised a rear-mounted flat-four engine with a longitudinal transaxle ahead of it. The rear suspension was by swing axles . The first 1945 civilian Beetle used
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#17327981274224030-739: Was known as the Fire Support Vehicle (FSV). However, the same name was also used for a subsequent vehicle, based on the turret from the FV101 Scorpion (and accepted by the RAAC in 1976). This was later redesignated the Medium Reconnaissance Vehicle (MRV). The Saladin was widely used by the Sultan of Oman 's armed forces throughout the Omani Civil War , and saw extensive action during the period 1971 to 1976, supporting ground forces and on convoy patrol. Often crewed by British servicemen (loan soldiers) and Omani servicemen,
4095-549: Was not as successful as its primary competitor, the French Panhard AML -90, which was much more heavily armed, and cheaper. The Saladin shared many common components with the Saracen armoured personnel carrier, Stalwart high mobility load carrier and Salamander fire tender. The Saladin was used by B Sqn 16/5 Lancers during their defence of Nicosia airport in 1974 and subsequent armed recce operations under
4160-419: Was provided by pairs of short trailing arms , again with transverse torsion bars mounted in two separate tubes, mounted ahead of the flat platform. These torsion bars were stacks of flat strips, and the number of leaves was changed to vary the suspension stiffness, over the production of the Beetle. An advantage for the production of the vehicle was that controls such as the driver's pedals and brake piping ,
4225-411: Was the first country to express an interest in the Saladin, specifically the FV601D. When production began, export customers such as Australia , Indonesia , and Ghana also placed large orders for the vehicle. By the late 1960s, the British Army was beginning to dispose of second-hand Saladins as military aid for various Commonwealth member states. The Saladin performed well on the export market but
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