Sport tractor

A sport tractor or SUT is a tractor truck–like vehicle that doesn’t have the towing capacity of a standard size tractor truck, but does have a larger towing capacity than the largest of pickup trucks. A new version of truck has now been created. The ISUZU Sport Tractor (first of its kind) is a miniature version of the large tractor trucks on the road today. It has coined the term of “SUT” or “Sport Utility Tractor” by its owner and designer.

This tractor is not for off-roading and does not have four-wheel drive. The truck is in the class of LCF (Low Cab Forward) where the driver sits above the front tire. The last of the large Cabover tractor trucks built in the US in 2006 is the Argosy manufactured by Freightliner. The object of the SUT is for those truck enthusiast who want the look and feel of the large tractor trucks but have no place to store such truck. Hence, the Sport Tractor. This ISUZU tractor is shorter than the average pickup truck, but the carrying capacity is 12,000 lb GWVR.

Popularity

This is a limited scope, and would not be generally available for most. Therefore, this is a special case version of the ISUZU NPR which is a standard 9 ft truck which the owner modified to produce a cabover style tractor truck vehicle.

Design characteristics

The SUT are medium sized commercial vehicles constructed using a standard C frame chassis consisting of two parallel straight C-shaped beams, or in some cases stepped or tapered beams, these held together by crossmembers.This is typically considered a light truck. They can be either gas or diesel.

Common features include:
* High ride height and seating position
* High capacity engine
* Heavy suspension (for carrying loads and towing)
* High load and tow capacity
* Large interior cabin space
* Seating maximum 3
* Tight turning radius
* ABS brakes (Hydraulic)

Due to consumer trends, Ford now introduce its version of the LCF in 2006. The other manufacturers are IVECO, Mitsubishi, Mercedes-Benz, Hino, UD, and International.

Original design

The original design for this light truck chassis normally would be for stake beds, container and refrigerator boxes, and other utility type designs.

New design

This new version of the truck incorporates a fifth wheel on the chassis. Understand that the manufacturer only produces the truck and chassis, it is up to the user to add the bed design, and in this case, the fifth wheel. At this time there are no trailers manufactured to the same width as the tractor width. It can accommodate standard versions of fifth wheel light trailers.

The fifth wheel provides the means to connect a trailer to the truck. The fifth wheel attached to this truck is manufactured by Holland Group. Fifth wheels are designed to carry from 10,000 lb up to 165,000 lb depending on the load. There is also a pull capacity that also must be taken into consideration when sizing the fifth wheel. The sport tractor uses the lighter version capacity of 12,000 lb maximum vertical load and 32,000 lb maximum gross trailer weight. Another area of concern is the location of the fifth wheel and whether the need to have an adjustable fifth wheel for the load on the drive axle. The sport tractor uses a fixed fifth wheel design.

See also

* Fifth wheel coupling
* Semi-trailer truck
* Tractor
* Truck

References

[http://www.isuzucv.com/nseries/index.html ] Isuzu Trucks Low Cab Forward Truck Since 1986.February 2, 2007

[http://www.thehollandgroupinc.com ] Holland fifth wheel models & popular fifth wheel variations February 2, 2007