Im thinking Scania and Volvo trucks have this massive cab in the front but just wheels at the back, how can this be a possible weight balance? How come the front doesnt just tip over? How much does the cab actually weigh? Also its possible to tip the entire cab forwards revealing the engine beneath it and it still wont tip over. I rly dont understand how this is possible.
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The vast majority of the weight is the engine, which sits more or less directly over the front wheels. The cabin itself is mostly empty space, so it’s not going to be top-heavy or anything.
The cab is light enough that 2 people can flip it to gain access to the engine. The design allows the trucks to be more maneuverable on narrow European roads and have the weight of the engine and drive-train between the front and rear axles which improves weight distribution.
It’s like a see-saw. If you have one person that weighs 100 pounds sitting a foot from the middle on one side, and you have 2 200 pound people 5 feet from the middle on the other side, which side goes down? The side with the heavier people sitting farther away from the middle. So on the truck, the middle of the see-saw is the front axle, the light person sitting near the middle is the cab, and the 2 heavy people farther away are the rear axles, transmission, and everything else that’s behind the front axle. You have a lot more weight behind the front axle, even with the cab tilted forward, so instead of the front going down, the back tires stays on the ground.
Well, I’m no expert, but I think the weight balance in cab-over trucks is achieved through clever engineering
The heavy cab is positioned directly above the front axle, which helps distribute the weight evenly
Additionally, the engine and other heavy components are placed low in the chassis, adding stability
It’s pretty fascinating how they manage to make it work!
Semi trucks (generally) are not meant to be driven w/o a trailer attached, and they are actually FAR less safe to drive w/o one. Even the traditional looking ones aren’t great in this regard.
It’s not a danger of “flipping over”, so much as it’s just that the drive wheels don’t have enough weight on them, and will start to skip/bounce/chatter when you hit the brakes.
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