Here's a video of me heading to the freeway in my 1957 Commer Knocker, not to show my gear changing skills but to let you hear it. Ear plugs are not for show!
I used to work in Ketley in Telford in the 1960s and you could hear these things and the Foden 2-Strokes coming for miles. The garage mechanics I worked with used to run to the double doors and give a round of applause in appreciation of the glorious sounds (not noise !) that they made.
It is a beautiful sound isn't it. I'm from wolverhampton im56 now and remember them as a kid in the 70s i used to go wolverhampton to Sheffield every day in the summer holidays in his AEC. Then in 76 he had a brand new ERF. Oh those memories are so precious
They sound like the apocalypse coming. The first time I heard one as a kid it was streets away but stopped me in my tracks. Imagine putting that donk in a car. ;)
What makes these trucks is the amazing TS3 engine. 3.5 litre 2-stroke horizontally opposed pistons, and an amazing power/weight ratio. 3.5 litre in an articulated truck!!! The mpg is better than what you get today. Made 1954-72. A TS-4 prototype was made, dos search on it on u-tube. If Chrysler never ditched the engine it would have evolved to an even more brilliant engine today. Chrysler wanted to promote their existing range which were vastly inferior to the TS-3. Fools! Who went bust
Turns fuel into noise, the byproduct being about 8hp for traction. IIRC The Loy's or maybe Chrystal soft drink company in Melbourne in the 70s had them. We could hear him doing deliveries for an hour before he got to us.
I'm too young to know these trucks personally, but have heard many stories from older truck drivers. Drivers today whine if the air conditioning isn't cold enough for them, but these trucks could wear you out early by comparison. I've driven Japanese trucks in the far north of WA, which are uncomfortable compared to the likes of Macks and Kenworths. But still good to see not all these antiques are dead
I remember Cranfields the flour merchants had a fleet of these in Ipswich and when they went up crane hill fully laden it was a sound to behold, after about 55yrs i can hear them screaming away now, sweet music.
Hi Mr Magoo, Made by Rootes Group, it is a 105hp flat 3 horizontally opposed two stroke diesel with a supercharger, no turbo. First came out late 1954 (England), mine is a 1957 model and they finished about 1971 when Chrysler took the Rootes Group over. Cheers
@@millomweb Two stroke diesels need a supercharger with positive pressure from start up to scavenge. The giant 2 strokes in EMD railway engines have both, in that at low revs it's clutched to the crank, and once above idle the clutch opens with the exhaust gases driving it. A two stroke diesel simply will not function without a supercharger.
@@robertrich663 What type of charger uses both mechanical drive and exhaust gas - screw or centrifuge ? As turbo and supers are different charger types, having one powered either way seems a bit odd.
We had a local company that made garage doors I believe and I used to walk to school past the place. They had hundreds of Commers and I used to be lucky enough to be walking past every morning when they came roaring out fully loaded! Amazing growling sound!
This takes me back - 40 years in an instant. Our school bus had a TS3 engine. Ours didn't burst into tears on a hill thouugh: one morning, it simply burst. So we all walked back home.
Yes these do sound like the 6-53 and 6-71 Detroit Diesel engines I grew up listening to in the 1950's.We lived a mile from the GM Fisher Body assembly plant in Tarrytown,N.Y.When they were busy,that's the sound you heard day and night for weeks on end.I liked it and still do.I ended up driving trucks and repairing them and eventually anything with a diesel engine.Worked on tugboats with EMD engines which are the biggest that Detroit Diesel made.They had 10.5" pistons and each cylinder had 645 cubic inchs,with 20 cylinders.They sound more like a 4 stroke engine,and turned 900 RPM's.
I didn't know emd was Detroit only reason I reckonized emd is that I work on a tug and I'm a gear head look at a 6-71 for a rat rod project I fell in love with the Detroits and no mileage isn't great but the sound would turn heads and this commers would be great to sounds about the same
You should do the project,but consider the weight of the engine you'll use.For example,the 6-71 weighs approximately 2200 lbs.The 4-71 is about 1800 lbs.The 3-53 is just under 1000 lbs.There's a wealth of info on all of Detroit Diesel engines.Happy motoring to you! Skip Jamison.. Titusville,Florida
Camshaft lubrication and air box draining might be a problem,but maybe not.The early 1970's buses had their 8V-71 engines mounted sideways where one bank was laying almost flat,( horizontal ).
I remembers the publicity literature boasted that Commer's opposing piston engine was designed to be low profile so that it would occupy less room and could be accomodated under the cab, kind of flat bed engine, Rootes Group owned Commer trucks and vans, lots of those yellow commer vans were used by British Telecome which used smaller 1725 cc rootes engine that was also used in Hillmans and other Rootes cars, including Humber Sceptre, Sunbram Rapier etc etc.
I can remember going to Peterborough with my dad to collect 7tons of spuds and back to Kent ? it would never stop pulling all the way noise yes very but most lorrys was like that then no creacher comforts you was part of the motor then
We used to hear those Commer's coming from miles away, which was a good thing for us haystackers, if we heard a V8 sound, it would be the Dodge which carried heaps more bales.
We used Terex TS40 (extended TS24) scrapers for moving coal. Some had the GM 6-110 Detroit diesels which were more reliable than the much bigger Cummins turbo engines.
Noise pollution? Be damned! It's a poorer person who hasn't heard a TS3 giving its all. I remember a small fleet of these hammering past our home when I was a kid. What a magnificent sound!
I must say, I am listening to it on my cheap phone, it doesn't sound that great. I'll try again on good speakers. So jus to be clear. We are talking about an opposed pistons 2 stroke diesel engine, right?
@@xylosfurniture That's correct. The TS3 is a three cylinder, 6 piston opposed piston design with supercharger - all of which made a LOT of noise. Hearing protection would've saved a lot of drivers from long term hearing damage. If quirky engine designs are of interest to you, I suggest doing a google search for this motor and look for a diagram. It's possible a fair amount of my love for this rowdy old motor is due to nostalgia (almost all of these trucks were flogged to death and pensioned off decades ago) but the sound of it accelerating through the gears still gets me every time.
@@tonyking402 I understand why. Do you know why they are not on the road anymore? Surely we can do something about the noise. But there has to be a way they can compete with 4 stroke engines. They are simple and in my experience this means reliable...
Local British company had a fleet of these in late50s -early 60s the engine sound ways reminded of the American truck in the Cannonball US tv series featuring Paul Birch and William Campbell
My dad used to drive an artic 28 tons gross if I recall correctly and also if I recall correctly the reg LNV (827?) E - saw the other comment about flames from the exhaust- its true!!!! I have seen it going through an unlit village (flat out I guess) and then letting it overrun (of course I was only 4 or 5 at the time and didn't know what overrun was). Happiest days of my life travelling all over with him from the age of about 2 and a half until I went to school then every holiday and weekend
Hi Normy It has an early number 4 Eaton with a 2 speed, g/box is a 4 speed synchro soon to be replaced with an original 5 speed crash box. Glad you like it.
worked on these as a 19 year old apprentice mechanic. boy was the de-coking with those rifflers some fun. They used to set fire to the hedgerows by blowing out hot carbon on a test run.
jeffbubble I did the decoke on these engines when I was an apprentice too! We had a special tool to get around the exhaust port at the bottom of the cylinder! We knew it needed a decoke when the boost pressure got too high. Great engine and lovely noise eh!
Had a nasty moment when cleaning the oil bath air filter once. I overfilled it and also didn't blow the paraffin out of the filter mesh. The engine ran uncontrolled on the paraffin and oil for a while, frightened the life out of me and lucky not to do any damage!
Thanks for reply. I have a 1970 Dodge KT900 6-wheeler with 2 x 16500 Eaton 2-speeds on Hendrickson suspension and 5-speed Rootes box. A V8-510 Perkins supplies the sound effects. Nearly finished restoring her.
I put heavy sound proofing in mine back in 74 mine was a later model and I had a radio in it too, it never go that hot in the cab loved driving that truck
I have a friend in the UK that has a Commer/Harrington bus with TS3 that used to be used by the GPO at sporting events as a means of relaying scores back so tha they could be broadcast by radio. Hippies had owned it, but much of the original equipment was stillin the overhead lockers, untouched over the years. Reg'd SLO 24 if you want to Google a picture.
When I was a kid, these were loud. It was a common sound on a quiet night, to hear one of these droning all the way up the steep grade from the coastal plain up Brookton Highway to the crest where the first downhill started. You don't hear the modern trucks reach the first downhill. It is probably a good thing. I imagine a few drivers would have had significant hearing loss by the time they retired.
Phil, Further about my comment last night: holy hell, no-one would get complaints if a Commer, espcially this old girl, coming past my bedroom window at all times! Joe
Hey Phil, I happen to know this man and his amazing truck very well - never heard it running till now! The earplugs are definitely not for show with any 2 stroke diesel - especially the Detroits!! LOL Joe
Used to deafen you going uphill with a good load on if you were a pedestrian. What a racket at 12mph. I was told they were good coming home empty. Fast !. Ecurie Ecosse the Scottish racing team had one at one time I remember. Wonder if it was scrapped.
My dad drove a CommerTS3 rigid for Stewarts Supermarkets in Belfast in the late sixties it had a drawbar trailer for carrying bread you could here it miles away
You'd get no complaints from me if I lived near you. Hell, I'd be hanging out the bedroom window shouting to you to go past again so I can listen to it! lol...
@VolksDragon People weren't big on overdrives in the 50s, very few motorways or good straight long distance roads, more emphasis on using trains rather than trucks for trunk work. And complex multi-speed gearboxes were both bleeding-edge, and expensive. So the emphasis was more on low speed flexibility with a limited number of ratios. You see the same thing with old cars. Take them on a freeway type road and floor the accelerator in top gear and you'll find the valves start to bounce... at 100k!
IPEC had a few of those doing overnighters from Sydney to Melbourne in the 60s, i was driving and old Ford Thames which was bad enough, but the noise of those commer knockers would have been deafening on a trip like that.
Southdown bus co used to have a few TS3 engined coaches for the London to Sussex trip. They were noisy and earned themselves the name of Doodlebugs. I believe that there was a TS4 engine also...with 4 cylinders and 8 pistons. I think that they had Roots blowers to provide supercharging/enhanced scavenging...no relation to Rootes
My dad drive one of these when I was very young. It had a ts3 but the body was an Austin or Thames Trader. Maybe it was repowered ?? I'll never forget the noise though!
The earmuffs are not for show. I remember truck drivers almost all wearing earmuffs when I was small. Some trucks used to make horrendous amounts of noise. This engine I don't mind. It's sweet as a nut.
@ebu97 No, no, you guys sit in the wrong side of the cab :-) Haven't seen an old Commer on the road over here in Adelaide for at least 20 years, good to still hear one running.
I used drive was of these 45 years ago and it was great. But the A1 had round bounds so it was slow at is it pulled about, the blower broke and it was no good, was fixed. A great lorry pity , l haven’t seen one recently
Skepticalman. Lucky I never had to drive one but I used to see the guys doing local deliveries in them. They would be hammering along the Nepean Highway with industrial earmuffs on and a look of pain in their eyes.When they stopped you couldnt have a conversation with them because they were half deaf.Have you ever seen a model of the Commer engine? It is a mechanical nightmare.
das erste mal wo ich den Motor gehört habe war bei der Bundeswehr. M113 Manschaftswagen der USA, Ich war in der Werkstatt beim Millitär und seit dem fazieniert mich der Motor und sein unversechselbarer Sound des 2 Takter
That is awsome, and your somewhere in Vic by the look of it. I am just buying a similiar one, but it will take time to get it fully running. Am also in Melbourne. You just have to love that sound. How about a pic from the front.
There is very little that isn't sheet steel in the cab - there's basically no sound insulation at all; noisy cabs were the norm. My father drove an old Seddon in which, at certain revs, it was impossible for a passenger to hear the driver shouting. Driver comfort (and safety) wasn't considered necessary back then; thinly padded seats basically bolted rigidly to the vehicle and hard suspension meant that running light (especially solo tractor units) they would also give the occupants a good shaking. As a ten year old I remember being catapulted off my seat and hitting the cab roof pretty hard when we drove over some stone setts (where the Midland Red buses used to stop) at around 30mph. Modern commercials are light years different - thank goodness!!
I once collected a new Dodge truck from Gloucester and brought it back to Ashford (Kent). The noise from the bodywork rattling was louder than the engine, I was glad to get out of that thing !
