AECs and Albions

I never saw an Octopus with Maudsley hubs, but by mid 70's Leyland began mix and match of components in quite a few models.
(The Luya Julius 8-wheeler AEC looks set up for sugar. Their next Ergo's were assembled from Leyland 690's plus 12-speed semi-auto's all on AEC running gear, a real mix up of bits that Rocklea never got sorted out.)
My AEC Monarch started out with the conventional bull gear reduction diff and was then upgraded to a Maudsley hub reduction diff all under warranty.
That photo is a bit hard to see so perhaps I'm mistaken. There's quite a big difference from the Leyland hub down to the Maudsley.
Then the little Albion hub is that bit smaller again but it was plonked behind the 8V71's and survived OK.
The Buffalo had a much larger reduction hub again, hardly room to fit a wheelbrace in there.

You learn something every day jeffo, I thought there were only two types of Leyland Group hub reduction axles. The small Albion type which must have been pretty strong as you say, to stand up to 290 horsepower or so from an 8V71 in a Crusader, and the heavier type as fitted to Beavers, Hippos and Octopuses, which I thought was the Maudslay type. A friend of mine has got a Monarch type TGM4RE with AV505 motor and hub reduction axle which I guess is a Maudslay type.

Sounds like my AEC.
It was an Ergo bought in 72, and had the Maudsley diff swap after numerous AEC diff problems.
AV505 engine, not much of a power giant.
6-speed box with 2-speed air split, needed them all.
The Leyland 690 I mentioned in the Luya Julius trucks was the turbo 680, not the AEC 690.
I think that was Leyland's code name but we just called it a turbo 680.
Here's one of dad's after re-powering with a turbo 680.

If there was a Maudsley design as such it would have to date pre 1949 when AEC took over, so couldn't be hub reduction as they weren't made until the late 50's (correct me on dates here). As far as I am aware there were only two designs of hub reduction units, one by Albion and one by Leyland, both of which were in productiion before the Albion Leyland merger. It is quite possible that the Maudsley factory (which was actually a new build as a war time shadow factory) made both hub reduction units as well as the conventional axles, single and double reduction diffs.
Gearboxs are very confusing as they favoured a Thornycroft design for the lighter trucks while there were a range of permutations for the heavies, including variations on the two stick idea. AEC and Leylands used different drivelines, the exception being the 10 speed semi auto behind a 760 in the AEC Mandator and some Mammoth Majors, and 680 or 690 in Leyland Beaver. But.. as has been said Leyland Rocklea started getting into mix and match, and fitting roadrangers, so there were quite a few mongrels (meaning not pure bred AEC or Albion or Leyland) around in that era. The semi auto was never 12 speed. It was first as a 5 sp with 2 speed diff and subsequently with a splitter built in. Dumbarse Leyland never fitted an oil cooler and the consequence of sustained high speed/mountain climbing was boiled oil and destruction of box, even in cooler pommyland.

The Crusaders in the link show both the Maudsley hub (paulc20's truck) and the small Leyland hub.(Dave's truck photo courtesy Bigcam)
The larger Leyland hub on the Beaver, Hippo etc have the ring of bolts retaining the alloy end cover.
www.hcvc.com.au/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1352194684/12#12
Always thought the semi autos were 6x2 speed, so I've learnt something new.

Mammoth, I would imagine they were known as Maudslay diffs because they were made at the former Maudslay truck factory which became a LMC/BLMC axle plant. BLMC sold the Maudslay axle plant to Rockwell in 1972.

Leyland were calling the two types of hub reduction axles Albion and Maudslays. This photo of the rear suspension cross member of my 73 Crusader is marked with 8x4 and 6x4 Maudslay and when fitted in the other direction 6x4 Albion.


However this truck has had Albions fitted without reversing the cross member.
Paul

Well there you go. Strange that they stamp the cross member and not the axle.

I was researching a 1953 topic in 'Railway Transportation'.

This ad ran as the back cover for a whole year. Was AEC trying to target the railway infrastructure market? I don't think that it succeeded, and a colour ad was expensive (it subsidised the colour front covers). At least running the same ad resulted in only one lot of block preparation.

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

Great old advert, Roderick.