Commer Knocker truck

Our old tractor had a "knock-iner" so we rebuilt the engine :woohoo:

JOHN.K. wrote: Had a Dodge badge,but the kids pinched that....so now its a commer ,to all intents...was a good truck ,when petrol was 10c a liter.....there was a bit of a craze for the little bubble cabs,when that bread ad was on telly,but lots do ask about knockers............a mate of mine had a late 150hp knocker ,pulled the motor to bits...never went back together.......they are not a motor for beginners.......you need about 20 special tools to work on them.

JOHN k I thought the last knockers were only 130 hp ?

John.K,
I may be wrong but I believe the only thing in common between the Commer and the Dodge was the cab that was bought in from the maker, (Homaloy or one of several others in Britain) Other than that, they were totally different trucks.

Overniter.......Truck&Bus Tpt....April 1967...Chrysler Insert P4.....Commer Heavy Duty claimed 154bhp@2400rpm..................as I recall TNT had a large fleet of the last 150hp knockers ,possibly 1971,or 1972...........Morris ...yes ,and no.

JOHN.K. wrote: Overniter.......Truck&Bus Tpt....April 1967...Chrysler Insert P4.....Commer Heavy Duty claimed 154bhp@2400rpm..................as I recall TNT had a large fleet of the last 150hp knockers ,possibly 1971,or 1972...........Morris ...yes ,and no.

The last one I drove pulling single axle trailer, must had left a few in the stable, sure didn’t feel anything like 150 hp. Would love to know how the TS4 would have gone, and how it would have sounded pulling hard.

Subbies on council tipper work always used to swear they only used one tank of fuel a month with a knocker...............i didnt like them,cause parts were costly,and they were hard to work on........I swore by the 354 Perk.........lots of guys used to say .....I earned everything I own with a 354 Perk,and lost most of it with bigger trucks......IMHO ,you couldnt beat buying two or three new Perks every year,and fitting them at christmas...twelve months trouble free.......Guy I know put in a 96 Volvo for a synchro repair.......bill for $33,000 ,including $1100 for a new clutch air cylinder......the things plastic,looks like a $10 part......and a new rear seal assy......how does a rear seal affect a synchro.?

Hi, As a previous owner of your Commer I am interested to keep track of it. If you decide to sell it and decide on a price I am interested to hear about it. Email grandadp@live.com.au
Thankyou, Bruce

I was keen to buy one in 71, (135hp claimed) but they were way overpriced. Plenty of cheaper trucks to choose from back then, most came standard with tilt cab, full air, power steer etc, etc. The Poms just didn't get it.
But they were dead simple to work on, even without a tilt cab. I used to swap a set of pistons across after school out on the footpath. Superchargers were a specialist item but the rest was real simple.
They were extremely economical and cheap as chips to register as their rated hp was bugger all.
My only gripe was cutting those huge gaskets for the side covers. These days they would come out of a tube.