DAF CF85 Tipper: Review

This particular Saturday morning was like most at our place. Up at the crack of dawn, get the eggs and bacon going, brew some coffee and take a quick glance through the 'Bully' – that’s what the locals call their newspaper, the Townsville Bulletin, then it’s driving duty. You see, my young nephew works most Saturdays on the other side of town which means that the poor visiting uncle gets to drive him there, and later that afternoon pick him up whenever he’s in town.

Most times I fill in the time between the drop-off and pick-up at one of several tool stores, fishing stores or the numerous motorbikes shops around town. There’s something therapeutic about being able to wander leisurely up the isles of a tool shop without being rushed or nagged, but that’s another story…

However, this morning, I’d spotted a small advertisement in the Bully which invited everyone down to the local PACCAR dealership to test drive the new DAF trucks, that were in town. “Beauty,” I thought, this will be a great opportunity for a test article, I’ll score a few brownie points with Middo, the editor, for getting a yarn in on time. Just hope the guys down the bike shop won’t miss me this weekend.”

It was mid-morning when I finally turned from Ingham Road into Brown and Hurley’s Townsville branch. In the yard, there were bright yellow banners and flags in front of two yellow DAF trucks with people milling around them and the nearby barbeque.

After passing pleasantries, Brown and Hurley’s leading DAF expert James Meakin was on hand to answer any questions and offered to give a run down the vehicles. I joined Status Transport’s owner Brad Haack in the CF-85 for the overview, before James set us loose for a test run.

Grunt to burn
Nuts and bolts wise, this DAF CF-85 was specced with the 12.9 litre PACCAR MX engine rated at 460hp (340kW).  According to the literature it boasts a pretty respectable flat torque output range from 1309 to 1696 lbs-ft (1775 to 2300Nm).

That’s real raw low-down grunt of 2300Nm from 1000rpm right through to 1400rpm before it starts falling away, and even then it’s still punching out 1700Nm at 1650rpm. In addition, the MX engine also comes with an integrated engine brake which delivers engine retardation from 280hp (210kW) at 1500rpm to 430hp (320kW) at 2100rpm.

We’re told that the new PACCAR MX engines can be specified to comply with Euro-5 emission standards thanks to the Smart injection system and SCR technology. While we won’t go into an in-depth discussion about emissions here other than to tell you that the MX engine uses SCR which is an after treatment system, hence the DAF CF-85 has a special AdBlue tank located on the right-hand side of the chassis.

“There is whole lot more to these MX engines than just the SCR after treatment,” James Meakin explained. “The Smart injection technology means we have optimised combustion in each cylinder which leads to greater efficiency, performance and durability and consequently we do not require any form of particulate filter to assist with meeting the stringent exhaust emissions.”

This CF-85 came equipped with the optional 16-speed AS-Tronic automatic transmission and essentially it is a ZF 16-speed automated transmission that you typically find in most European trucks. However, it can be specified with an 18-speed Roadranger if swapping cogs manually is your thing.

Rear axles on this unit were Meritor on a Kenworth Air-glide rear end.

Roomy interior
One thing that really leaps out at you when you first climb into the DAF CF-85 is the abundance of storage space this truck offers. There is provision for an optional refrigerator under the bunk if required and plenty of room for the trusty Engel if you prefer it on the engine tunnel.

The dash is well appointed and comes standard with an elegant woodgrain dash facia. The controls and switches are within easy reach and easy to find. It’s probably worth mentioning the new steering wheel, which is thicker than previous model’s, and the four-spoke design affords clear vision of the entire dash. It also has one of the most generous adjustments in a vehicle of this class with 8.5 cm of reach and between 30 to 45 degrees in angle.

If you specify the AS-Tronic version like our test rig, then you’ll quickly find that the control for the gearbox is located neatly in the dash and for most applications it will merely be a matter of selecting D for drive and you’ll be away. The conveniently placed selection knob also provides a shunting position for manoeuvring around yards and connecting trailers.

The left-hand side steering wheel spoke has buttons for the phone and a neat feature of the phone function is it will work with a variety of phones so in a fleet situation where drivers change trucks they can take their phone to the vehicle and it will still function the same.

Cruise control switches are located on the right side spoke and they function as you’d expect.

The park brake and trailer brake levers are located on the dash which means the engine tunnel is clean and free from the clutter. Like most European sourced trucks ventilations is more than adequate, but one thing I couldn’t find was a 12-volt outlet to run my GPS and Engle fridge.

The load for the day was 14mm aggregate, courtesy of the nearby quarry and it gave the 460hp Paccar MX engine something to get its teeth into. Brad Haack and I were impressed with the overall performance of the CF-85 after our short run.

There’s no question the CF-85 really excels in the area of comfort. Entry and exit from the cabin is about as good as you’ll find anywhere. Meantime, vision is as you’d expect from a cab-over in this category – first class.

“Another feature with the CF-85 is the road-speed override function,” James told us. “If you depress the accelerator all the way down you’ll feel an indent, that’s how you activate the road-speed override function.”

“However the best way to explain how this operates is to imagine you are travelling down a section of road with an 80km/h speed limit. You activate the road-speed limit switch on the right-hand spoke of the steering wheel and the truck will not travel over 80km/h.

“However, in the real world you could find yourself cruising up behind a vehicle that is travelling at 76km/h which means it would take an extremely long time to overtake that vehicle at 80. So by depressing the accelerator all the way down to the indent, it allows the truck to speed up to 100km/h to execute a safe overtaking manoeuvre then when the accelerator is released the driver-set road-speed limit is resumed.”

I asked Brad Haack how he thought the CF-85 would fit his application? You’ll probably remember Brad from when we used one of his Kenworth cab-overs for a road test a while ago.

“I’d like to try one on our shuttle run,” Brad explained. “All you’d have to do is, hook it up and go, they appear to be a very simple truck to operate. Today with the freight task expanding getting good experienced drivers is increasingly difficult, however with these trucks they are becoming a lot simpler to operate which means there are fewer breakdowns and lady drivers are keener to operate them because they are simpler and efficient to operate.”

“What I don’t understand is why DAF bring them out to Australia with the 335mm PCD wheels,” Brad mussed. “We’ve got a fleet of Kenworth trucks and trailers that run the Australian standard 285mm PCD wheels. If we purchased one of them then we’d have to get set up with additional spares and let me tell you that is real pain in the neck.”

After the drive, I made a few phone calls and discovered that apparently in Europe they don’t have availability to the 285mm PCD hubs. In spite of this, I couldn’t find any technical reason why the hubs with the more common 285mm PCD couldn’t be fitted here in Australia. However, that’ll be something that’s negotiated with the owner and salesman.

Overall the DAF CF-85 proved a great versatile truck and like Brad Haack said, “I suppose I’d better do the math on the DAF because all you have to do is hook it up and go.”

Specifications:
Model: FAT CF85
Engine: PACCAR MX340 12.9-litre six-cylinder turbocharged intercooled
Power: 340kW (460hp) from 1500 to 1900rpm
Torque: 2300Nm (1700lb/ft) from 1000 to 1410rpm
Transmission: ZF AS-Tronic 16-speed automated overdrive
Rear Axles: Meritor MT23-165
Ratio: 3.91:1
Configuration: 6x4
Front Suspension: Parabolic springs with shocks
Rear Suspension: Kenworth Airglide 400
Fuel tanks: 1 x 430 + 1 x 340 litre aluminium
AdBlue: 45 litres
Brakes: Disc/drum with EBS (Electronic Braking System incorporating ABS)
Cabin: Sleeper cab