Thread: OKA, does anyone know what happened?

Originally Posted by superquag

Dean,

...There is absolutely no comparison between an OKA's handling on highway or off road and that of a sixty series or a series LR, forward control or ...."

My apologies, I was comparing the differant types of ride you experience when seated between the axles (leaf-sprung 4WD) compared with the preferable IMHO ride enjoyed when seated above or in front of the front axle.

If you have to know, it was a very old Nissan, compared with a Jap imported diesel 4WD, torsion front and ELLIPTICALS on the rear.

The Nissan with it's crude cart-springs and rock-solid shockers merely emphasised the motion.... that is, a pitch UP of the front, followed by a similar pitch UP as the rear axle hits the same bump. Net effect is, inertia makes the head snap forward...the snaps it backwards.

With a Forward control the driver is pushed UP... only. There is a slight rotation when the rear axle lifts up over the same bump... but the lever (chassis) is so long, that the effect on the driver is minimal.
Indeed, the natural reaction to being forced UP over a bump, is for the driver to lean or tense muscles to pull the head fractionally 'forward'. Only a gnat's hair, but enough to automatically counter the tiny 'head-back' snap induced by the car's rear going UP.

A long - winded way of saying that a FC gives the front occupants a nicer ride. - A properly sprung FC makes it even nicer, and a heavier one nicer still.
- Which you've noticed...

In a bus, with the front axle a few metres behind the driver....the ride is heavenly, whatever the springs are !

If you told any line haul truckie that a COE rides better than a normal control, he would shake his head and look at you with complete incredulity. The only reasons for the existence of COE trucks, whether high cab COE or low cab forward, are restrictive length and/or axle weight regulations.

The best place for ride comfort is towards the centre of the wheelbase and as low as possible. High COE's have a much greater arc of pitch and full vertical movement. Low cab forward have lesser arc of pitch but an exaggerated vertical movement (a bobbing up and down). There are no longer any high COE's made in the USA since changes to regulations. All new trucks are bonnetted even rigid urban delivery vehicles. Hino even sell one with a bonnetted cab by Freightliner. The only new COE trucks one sees there are small capacity vehicles of Asian origin.

Think of the chassis rails as a seesaw which pivots around the axles according to which axle is rising over a bump. The axle goes up 6" and the forward control cab rises with it. The normal control cab is closer to the centre and rises proportionately less.

See "Principles of Vehicle Selection' and "Motor Truck Engineering" by J.Fitch. Industry bibles.

After driving my Isuzu forward control 8 ton up Cape York as far as Bamaga
quiet a few times I have to say being towed on a sheet of tin behind would have been dusty but just as comfortable

Just read a few comments here and I was extremely keen on buying an OKA at some later stage (wish list item until money available). However, I was lucky enough to drive a spanking new model OKA van in Kalgoorlie as I knew the agent in the Goldfields. Now there was a world's difference between this one and the old models- hard to describe the features in such little space but it was a heavenly experience! I am devastated that they stopped production! Will it ever kick off again???

Originally Posted by Thomber

Just read a few comments here and I was extremely keen on buying an OKA at some later stage (wish list item until money available). However, I was lucky enough to drive a spanking new model OKA van in Kalgoorlie as I knew the agent in the Goldfields. Now there was a world's difference between this one and the old models- hard to describe the features in such little space but it was a heavenly experience! I am devastated that they stopped production! Will it ever kick off again???

IVECO daily is the new OKA......