[SAE40 in veins]

It's been a very long time since the Eicher Jumbo 20.16 had been launched with a huge loading bay and a not so huge 5 liter LCV derived engine redlining at 3200 rpm. Later on Eicher followed it up with the Galaxy multiaxle and the bus Chassis which were purchased in large numbers by operators like 'Parveen'. Now let's go to what's happening to the ones on the road. Are they holding up like the 'ultra reliable' 1613 s & Taurus/Tuskers from TML and ALL? Or have they broken up and fallen by the wayside ?

When these trucks were launched, there was a common perception that 5 Liters and 3200 rpm is just not suitable for an MCV or an HCV. What's the take of Team BHP ians on that ?

Do we have proud/grieving owners of the Jumbo or Galaxy in this forum? and finally - Does Eicher sell the Galaxy still with the 5 liter engine or have they migrated fully to Cummins 6 BT as planned?

Experts, Please ...................

Mods: Checked Team BHP and couldn't find a thread dedicated to Eicher Jumbo so started this one. Pls merge in case there is an overlap

[aparbansal]

Dear fellow BHPian,

Eicher Motors launched the 20.16 with the a six cyclinder 147 hp way back in 2002/2003 (some seven/eight years back). Since the initial launch, the vehicle has now got a population of over 30000 trucks on road. The company has since also launched 30.25, 33.25 (Both 25t Rigid), 35.31 (31t Rigid) and Terra 16 (16t Tipper) on the same engine. The 33.25 was equipped with a 175 hp power on the same engine block. It was discontinued in 2007. Now the 25t comes as 30.25 FE and 30.25 XP.

Though I agree that the reliability factor of the 6-cylinder engine has been much lower than that of Tata 697, Tata Cummins, ALL H Series or even Eicher LCV Engine but now with the JV with Volvo, the company has in the last 2 years improved considerably in terms of reliability. The number of failures reported are much lower. Also the brand has been changed from Eicher to VE in order bring differentiation.

Also, as per my experience, Eicher 20.16 and other HCV products of the same company work very well within the payload norms but fail to impress in overload conditions. Applications such as tanker, parcel, light load work very well with Eicher 20.16.

Regarding Cummins engine, the company had no plans to launch 16t, 25t or 31t products with them. Only the 40t trailor was launched with the engine. Now the company is working to launch HCV range with Renault engine which is a Volvo Group company by 2012. The products might be branded Nissan Diesel (another Volvo Group Company) as the Cab and Power-train might come from Nissan Diesel.

[Ashley2]

It was indeed a bold step for Eicher to launch Jumbo with a factory fitted cab(which ALL and TML has not thought about that atleast when the product was launched in 2002), though the market responded neutrally. But still the product was good enough to attract some major fleet owners like Patil roadways (a major fleet of them are Eicher).
I feel only when they started offering cowl as option there were some takers.
As a whole it has not made any big impact but a good move by Eicher to move forward.

[aparbansal]

To add to Ashley, Eicher was the first company to

- Provide a Cab model in HCV
- Introduce long wheelbase truck chassis in 16t and 25t
- Introduce 31t trucks

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by SAE40 in veins

....the bus Chassis which were purchased in large numbers by operators like 'Parveen'.

I Understand Parveen travels is one of the largest fleet owners of 20.15 busses.I dont understand what made them to purchase morethan 450 of them though they had a good fleet of Vikings and 12M.
But parveen as a whole is open for any trials with any manufacturer - They have Corona(a very rare find in TN private operatrs), star bus and even Kinglong(A still rare or the only operator who owns that)

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

It was indeed a bold step for Eicher to launch Jumbo with a factory fitted cab(which ALL and TML has not thought about that atleast when the product was launched in 2002), though the market responded neutrally.

Originally Posted by aparbansal

To add to Ashley, Eicher was the first company to

- Provide a Cab model in HCV

I'm afraid this info isn't correct. Tata was the first company to offer fully- built factory-fitted cabs on its trucks and this happened way back in 1980 when they launched the 1516 model. It was offered in three versions (1) rigid truck, (2) tractor with semi-trailor and (3) tipper. 1516 was only offered with a fully-built cab. It was simply not available without the cab, not even in the rigid truck version. A few years later the truck was redesignated as 1616. Later, 2416 appeared which had two axles at the rear (1516 had one). 2416 rigid truck was offered with cowl only, cab being optional.

The cab of 1516/1616/2416 was quite advanced for its time something that's proven by the fact that it continues to be offered on TM trucks even today (models like 2518) with only a few minor modifications. The design was copied from Mercedes but no technical help was taken from the German company. Its design differed from that of the Mercedes original in that it had a partition in the windshield and head lamps were fitted adjacent to the grill - in Mercedes, the lights were fitted in the bumper and the cab was tiltable. The Tata cab was suspended with a leaf spring and two telescopic shockers at the back for better crew comfort. Since the last 7-8 years, the cab is being offered with a partition-less windshield and a redesigned grill made from plastic. When Tata started fitting the Cummins engine in its trucks, the cab had to be raised to accommodate the engine and the wheel mudguards had to be redesigned as also the front bumper to conceal the resultant open space that looked unaesthetic. Now the mudguards are made from fibreglass.

In contrast, AL models like the Taurus were only offered with cowl.

Will try posting pics of 1516 from my archives when I have the time.