Howard Shanks•5 Sept 2017

REVIEW

Kenworth C5: Operator Review

Name: Kenworth C5: Operator Review
Brand: Kenworth

One of the harshest environs on earth? It's just another day in the office for Kenworth's tough-as C5…

Not far past the Burke & Wills roadhouse, the only modern oasis that sells the essentials such as fuel, food and beer for almost 200 kilometers in any direction in this part of north-western Queensland, the road deteriorates rapidly heading north. It's aptly named the Burke Development Road – according to the locals it has been under 'development' for the best part of the last century…

After two-and-half hours in the searing heat on the bone-jarring single-lane bitumen strip, a glimpse of the historic Gulflander railway crossing in Normanton signaled the right-hand turn to Hawkins Transport wasn't far away.

Normanton started life as a port for the Gulf of Carpentaria's cattle industry and grew in importance with the discovery of gold at nearby Croydon in 1885. Over the next decade it became a significant port – at the time there were even suggestions it would become a port to rival Darwin as the main centre on Australia's north coast.

The Normanton-Croydon railway line, now dubbed the Gulflander, was opened by 1907 but by then the whole area was on the decline. Even the cattle, which had been the town's mainstay, started heading south as the main railway line was extended further out towards Mount Isa.

Today though, Normanton is a genuinely delightful little town with an excess of old world charm including a few interesting buildings such as the distinctive 'Purple Pub', with tourism and a lucrative cattle industry the mainstay of income in the area.

Local insight

Bradley Hawkins, owner of Hawkins Transport, has had a lifetime in the region's cattle industry having grown up on nearby cattle stations. Bradley is first to admit that the journey of his company hasn't been easy, with sacrifices often testing both personal and family stamina.

"I started out working around Charlie Hudson's transport yard," Bradley says.

"Charlie was a true outback trucking pioneer and was very well respected in these parts. Over the years he taught me lot about life, plenty about trucks but importantly how to run the business side of the operation too. When I started with Charlie I was just a young kid and all I wanted to do was drive trucks; back then I never had any aspirations of running my own business.

"By the mid-'90s, Charlie decided to retire and sold a lot of his operation to Curley's in Cloncurry," Bradley says.

"I was pretty well settled here in Normanton and decided it was time to branch out on my own. Meantime the bank decided to lend us enough money to purchase two of Charlie's old trucks, the twin-steer cab-over and our first C501. The cab-over had a single deck and two double-deck McGrath trailers, while the C501 pulled the full six-decks.

Old faithful

"The old cab-over has been a great truck for us; it has earned us a lot of money and really been to some rugged places over the years. For a long time it was working out paddock carting, which is where it carts cattle on the station and might not see a road for months. We've now put it in the long yard so to speak, having retired it from the arduous cattle haulage task and replaced the cattle crates with side tippers – now it works for the council on road maintenance."

A quick look in the cab of the cab-over reveals it is real driver's truck, and back in 1981 when it rolled off the Bayswater production line it would have been one of the biggest road-going Kenworths of its day. For starters it had the massive 19-litre KT Cummins powerplant, rated at 450hp and coupled to a 15-speed Roadranger, which was then coupled to a four-speed Spicer-Joey 'box [an auxiliary transmission]. The auxiliary transmission provided two under-drive ratios, a direct ratio and one over-drive ratio.

However, we'll have to leave the old cab-over for another day as it was the rugged C5s that we'd come here to see and they were ready to head further north, up a dirt track that's not marked on many maps.

For anyone remotely involved in the trucking industry the sound of four big-bore Cummins Signature engines all combined with the clank of the doors on the cattle crates of four rolling triple road trains certainly gets the adrenaline pumping.

Bred tough

These are no ordinary C5s either – they are optioned for extreme conditions and it's worth spending a few moments checking out the specifications. As you'd expect, under the hood is a Cummins Signature rated at 600hp, coupled to a Fuller RTLO22918B transmission. The tailshaft is Spicer SPL250 that connects Dana D52-190 axles with cross-locks in the rear and a final drive ratio of 4.78:1 – all riding on Kenworth's KW6-60A21T steel spring suspension.

They have a full-length chassis insert, which is what the old truckies called a 'double-rail-chassis', and wheelbase of 6500mm. That long wheelbase is to accommodate the six fuel tanks that give the C5 a fuel capacity of 2300 litres.

It's also worth sticking your head under the bonnet and checking out the rugged front end, which is something you'll only see on these more rugged-spec'd C5s. I'm talking about the 9.1-tonne Kenworth slipper spring, which boasts Meritor's heavy MFS73LA front axle.

When the lead C5 hit the dirt track half an hour or so out of town, that heavy-duty front ends really comes into its own. It makes the truck very sure-footed and the beefed-up cross brace keeps the whole front of the truck rigid. Combine that with the two track rods, which fix the axle in position, and the C5 has excellent road handling on even the roughest tracks.

Slipper spring advantage

"Because the front axle is fixed in position the steering angle never changes no matter what the front axle does," Bradley explains.

"For instance, the left wheel might drop in a pothole and the right wheel rise over a bump at the same time, but with this slipper front end the steering wheel remains straight. Compare that to a conventional front suspension with shackle pins and in the same situation the axle can move up to two inches (50mm) forward or backward to compensate, meaning the truck's steering changes.

"Out here in this country the slipper front end is the only way to go."

It's not only on dirt tracks where these front ends shine. Remember that shocking one-lane strip of bitumen that leads to Normanton? Well most of the roads up this way are like that, and this set-up works equally as well if not more so on those roads too.

While walking around the rig, it's probably worth noting the hose coiled up at the front of the trailer and the large round tank behind the landing legs. That's what's referred to as a belly tank and it's used to carry an additional 1200 litres of diesel fuel.

"Out in some of this country you can be down to as little as 500 metres per litre of diesel," lead driver Scott Heritage explains.

"The belly tank can be pressurised with air from the truck's compressor, which in turn feeds the fuel into the truck's tanks as required.

Got to be Kenworth

The cattle being loaded here out of Normanton are bound for a live export ship over 2000 kilometres away that's leaving Darwin in four days' time. The cattle are let off the truck for overnight stops along the way.

"The best thing about Kenworth trucks is there is nothing that you can't buy for them," Bradley says.

"Take our old cab-over for instance. It was made in 1981 and we can still buy any part for it. There is a synergy between the older models and some of the parts on our latest C5s, too.

"It is that simplicity in maintenance and Kenworth's durability, combined with their service life of over 20 years and the driver acceptance, that make Kenworth the best choice for our fleet."

Kenworth C5 specifications:

Engine: Cummins Signature

Horsepower: 600hp (447kW) at 1850rpm

Torque: 2050lb/ft (2780Nm) at 1100rpm

Gearbox: Eaton RTLO22915B 18-speed

Chassis: Full-length double frame with sealant between rails

Air cleaner: Dual Cyclopacs with raised air rams

Fuel filter: Fuel Pro and fuel/water separator

Electrical: 160A isolated alternator and power distribution box

Front axle: Meritor MFS73LA, 7.3t capacity

Front suspension: 9.1t slipper spring

Power steering: TRW Ross TAS 85

Rear axles: Dana D52-190 axles with cross-locks in the rear diff

Rear axle ratio: 4.78:1

Rear suspension: KW6-60A 21 low profile, 21t

Brakes: HD (P-type) drum brakes with auto slacks

Windscreen: Two-piece flat

Turntable: Jost JSK37

Wheelbase: 6500mm

Interior: Crimson cab trim, HD diamond pleat vinyl

Seats: Charcoal HD Extreme air suspended driver's seat

Bumper: Steel HD road train bar

Battery box: Slide tray, left side under cab above tank

Extras: Severe service kit, Red Dot rooftop condenser, lower radiator pipe shield, remote diff breathers, extended grease lines to clutch, IcePack 2000S sleeper air conditioner, chassis chequerplate, dolly pull to rear of chassis, 60-litre fresh water tank

Kenworth C5: Operator Review

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