[anachronix]

Its an after market job, not a test mule by any chance. The regn. plates look permanent, temp registrations are red font in yellow background. The black fonts are for permanent registrations.

[searchingheaven]

Originally Posted by anachronix

Its an after market job, not a test mule by any chance. The regn. plates look permanent, temp registrations are red font in yellow background. The black fonts are for permanent registrations.

Please refer post no 11 of this thread.

[TheARUN]

This would look really awesome if they add another dead axle to the rear, that would balance both the vehicle and the looks, imagine a multi-axle ACE. If this is a 'jugaad' then I'm sure the person who was responsible for this would be thinking along the same lines as myself

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by searchingheaven

I spotted this long variant Tata Ace at the service centre @ Jamshedpur. 2.5 tonne haulage, Dec 2015 expected release date and slightly updated interiors. Temporary registration, not a lot of camouflage.

GVW of Super ACE is currently 2.25T. Are you sure this mule is 2.5T?

Originally Posted by directinjection

Doesn't look good from stability and safety point of view! Under heavy load, the extended rear portion will droop.

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Such a large rear overhang is not what any OEM would recommend. ....

CMVR indicates ROH can be upto 60% of WB. They are used for select applications like Scooter Carrier where the pay load is much lesser. ALso with additional reinforcements, and so is the less chance of failure. But remember, if wrong load is carried (bulky), it will lead to tyre wear/ suspension failure and so is frame crack.

But as rightly told here, there are many after market extensions. Seen here is Ashok Leyland 2518, with Rear Over Hangs (ROH) extended for more than a metre.



This shows the extension and additional cross members.

Originally Posted by anujmishra

I believe this can be test mule as there are many small trucks available in Korea with similar overhang (Kia Bongo). But for the load carrying capacity of 2.5 ton I am not sure. It is too much for this kind of truck.

However, this segment is absent from Indian market barring 407 which is too high for day to day load carrying utility.

Pick ups and mini trucks are available in 2T to 2.T GVW. This includes Bolero Pikups, Genio, Dost, Super ACE, Winner etc. 407 is little larger and its GVW is 5.25T( IIRC).

[narsi_6989]

This is clear case of aftermarket job in my opinion. Not only the registration plates, but also the complete body of the vehicle signifies that it has been in use for sometime now. If I am not wrong, certain weld spots are also visible if we look closely.

May be the driver did not want you to take a snap of other customer's vehicle. Things will be speculated until confirmed

[drive_factor]

This is not a testing proto. Got it confirmed from relevant people. TML doesn't test vehicles this way. Besides lights vehicles are not tested in Jsr. Its only HCV's and they go out at nights for actual field trials. Most testings are done in house in the torture track.

[KPS]

Originally Posted by searchingheaven

Some vehicles have temporary registration as JH05AB (T) 2555. As far as i know, i have seen many cars having normal number plates(yellow/white) with just a (T) to signify that they are temporary. AFAIK, it is not necceseary to have red plates. At least that is how it works in Jharkhand.

All Test Mules with have the number TC and not T or T/R. If I am right TC stands for Test Car (open for corrections)

See pictures of other Mules taken from other threads
Attachment 1197824

Attachment 1197825

Originally Posted by Ashley2

GVW of Super ACE is currently 2.25T. Are you sure this mule is 2.5T? ............

Thanks Ashley, for your informative post. This certainly looks like an after market job. If the vehicle is yet to be registered then, it could get into trouble when it goes for permanent registration with a modified chassis.

Cheers

KPS

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by KPS

All Test Mules with have the number TC and not T or T/R. If I am right TC stands for Test Car (open for corrections)

AFAIK, TC stands for "Trade Certificate". That is used by the trader (seller/manufacturer) to drive around the vehicle for the purpose of testing, or between their warehouse and rto/showroom (in case of dealer).

[KPS]

Originally Posted by binaiks

AFAIK, TC stands for "Trade Certificate". That is used by the trader (seller/manufacturer) to drive around the vehicle for the purpose of testing, or between their warehouse and rto/showroom (in case of dealer).

Thanks for the correction.

Originally Posted by GTO

A TC (Trade Certificate) plate is only to be used for cars in transit. As an example, from the dealer's yard to the showroom (or manufacturer to dealer). A dealer will usually have several TC plates, and they are interchangeable between cars. However, the same TC number cannot be used on two cars at the same time.

Giving test-drives on a TC plate is not permitted by the RTO.