48 |
Overdrive
| December 2014
SEVERE SERVICE
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Co. chose a specially-built Mack
Granite for mooring the latest
generation of its world-famous
blimp. The truck-mounted moor-
ing system replaced the previous
system designed for Goodyear's
older, smaller blimps. The
Granite's strong frame is suited to
handle the work, Mack said.
Mike Bloom of Nuss Truck
& Equipment, based in Roches-
ter, Minn., met with Goodyear
to work out design needs. The
Granite was ordered as a three-
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gineered Chassis Systems, a Nuss
Group subsidiary that built the
body, converted it to an all-wheel-
drive 8×8 and installed the twin
steer axles.
The truck has to move the
blimp in and out of hangars and
offer ground support when it's not
in the air, all while handling wind
loads of as much as 78 knots (90
mph). Goodyear chose a 2014
Mack Granite model equipped
with an MP8 engine and Mack
200 series carriers with inter-axle
locking differentials.
Mack, MackTrucks.com
MODIFIED
GRANITE MOORS
GOODYEAR BLIMP
LIGHTER SUSPENSIONS
Neway ADZ Series drive axle sus-
pensions by SAF-Holland are avail-
able as an option for Western Star's
4800, 4900 and 6900 models and are
designed to reduce weight by more
than 220 pounds per axle compared to
previous models. The suspensions are
suited for severe-duty and heavy-duty
vocational applications and are avail-
able in single-, tandem- and tridem-ax-
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to 78,000 pounds.
Western Star, WesternStar.com
