COVER STORY

Tata's World Truck:

the secrets revealed
Eliot Lobo looks at the contribution of some of the suppliers who
helped make Tata's new trucks the impressive vehicles they are.

T
he launch of four configurations and
two power nodes, 280 hp and 380 hp,
marks the culmination of the first
phase of Tata Motors’ World Truck Bosch
development. The top end of 560 hp Body control module
that MD Prakash Telang announced at the press
launch will probably be introduced only in a later
phase by 2012.
The engine that powers the 4028S 4×2 and
4928S 6×4 tractors and 3128T 8×4 cargo truck is
the Cummins ISBe 270 derated somewhat to
266 hp @ 2500rpm and 970 Nm @ 1200–1600rpm. Tata Ficosa
This 6.7-litre engine with single-piece head, four Automotive
valves per cylinder, 1600 bar common-rail fuel ORVMs
system, and wastegate turbocharger, was first
introduced in early 2005 at Euro 4.
It superseded Cummins’ 5.9-litre Euro 3
engine, which interestingly had been based Tata AutoComp
on a platform developed by the European ACSI & Interior
Engine Alliance (EEA) – the erstwhile three-way Plastics Division
joint venture between Cummins, Iveco, and SMC and plastic
New Holland – using the design technology of parts
Cummins’ legendary B-series engine. Since July
2008 the EEA is wholly owned by Fiat Powertrain
Technologies (FPT), Tata’s other engine supplier Tata Toyo
for the World Truck.
Radiator
For markets outside Europe, Cummins
developed Euro 3 ratings of the 6.7-litre engine
later in 2007 as part of its Worldwide Common
Platform (WWCP) strategy, of which 270 hp/1020
Rane TRW
Nm is the top of the slate presently available in
Steering
India. Autocar Professional learns that Cummins gears
is working on a few ratings lower down the scale.
The ISBe is the first fully electronic, common-
rail-fuelled heavy duty engine to be series-
produced in India, although the components
Tata Visteon
Automotive
are still mostly imported — for example the Headlamp cluster,
engine blocks and heads come from Brazil, and fog lamp
are only machined at Tata Cummins’ (TCL) plant
in Jamshedpur. The fuel system hardware is
from Bosch, and the electronic control module SKF India
(ECM) and software from Cummins. TCL has a Front
localisation target of 90 percent by 2012. wheel-end
The 6.7-litre engine carries forward the
performance and fuel-efficiency advantages
for which the 5.9-litre Euro 3 ISBe was famous MRF Gabriel India
worldwide. (These were based purely on the Tyres Primary & cabin shock absorbers
28 Autocar Professional 15 June 2009 www.autocarpro.in
 COVER STORY

Tata Yazaki
Autocomp Calsonic
Wiring harness HVAC

Tata AutoComp Systems Blaupunkt Continental Automotive Grupo Antolin Pune ISRI-TJC
Interior Plastics Division Radio Components India Interior soft trims Seats, sleeper berths
Cockpit Intelligent instrument cluster

Fleetguard Filters,
Mann + Hummel
Air intake system
Williams Controls
Electronic
throttle control
Tata Cummins, &
Fiat Powertrain Knorr-Bremse, Knorr-Bremse
Technologies WABCO Integrated pedal unit
Engine Air brake system

Eaton, ZF Cummins Exhaust

Gearbox Exhaust system
Telma, Voith
Retarder Jost India Auto
Components
Spicer India, Fifth wheel Kalyani Hayes
RSB Group Lemmerz
Propshaft Wheels HV Axles,
Meritor HVS India
Axles

Metalsa TACO Hendrickson Suspensions

Chassis frame Inverted bogie suspension
www.autocarpro.in 15 June 2009 Autocar Professional 29

high injection pressures of its common-rail
injection system, Cummins India engineering
vice-president Mike Lambert told Autocar
Professional in an interview last year.) And like its
predecessor, this engine delivers a fuel economy
advantage at the vehicle level as well, because it
is electronic and several useful features can be
programmed into it.
“For example cruise control and road speed
governing, which yield a big advantage in fuel
economy at the vehicle level, can simply be
activated inside the calibration. Moreover, the
customer can do that when the truck gets to
the end of the line. Using Cummins’ vehicle
electronic programming system VEPS, customers
can actually modify some parameters in the
calibration of the electronic control module
(ECM) to suit what they want for their vehicle
applications,” Lambert said.
For TCL, marrying the ISBe to the vehicle was
a challenging experience because this was the
first time it was dealing with an electronic engine
that can communicate with other electronically
controlled systems on the vehicle and support
onboard diagnostics. Cummins’ Interact (the ‘I’
in ISBe) electronic intelligence system enables
“drive-by-wire” electronic throttle control and
multiplexing, which both simplifies wiring and
allows data signals to be carried through to the
smart instrument cluster and driver controls.
The engine ECM accepts inputs from
all powertrain components – electronic
transmission (if available), ABS, and ASR (anti-
slip regulation) – via a high-speed data link,
and responds exactly to requested adjustments
in torque or engine speed for gearchanging or
wheelspin correction. The result is smoother
and more fuel-efficient performance, lower
emissions, and added protection against
powertrain wear. In addition, sensors throughout
the engine continually send data to the ECM for
self-diagnosis and protection.
A regular laptop with Cummins InSite
diagnostic software and a couple of special
connectors are the only tools the service
technician needs to download and analyse fault
codes. But since electronics and the sophisticated
common-rail fuel system are novelties in the
industry in India, TCL has just launched a
major campaign to train Tata Motors’ service
technicians, having just completed a similar
programme for its own.
The four-axle 3138 tipper and the 4938
semitrailer tractor displayed at the launch are
powered by a 380 hp Chinese-built Cursor 9
engine from SAIC Fiat Powertrain Hongyan Co
(SFH). This 8.7-litre six-cylinder inline engine
with overhead camshaft, four valves per cylinder,
Bosch common-rail fuel system, and Holset
variable-geometry turbocharger, went into
volume production at SFH, Fiat Powertrain
Technologies’ joint venture in Chongqing, just
one week before the launch of the World Truck.
Originally introduced by Iveco in Europe
in 2006 as the C87 designed specifically for
industrial and agricultural applications, the
Cursor 9 (technical code name F2C E2681B*B)
www.autocarpro.in
Cummins ISBe, rated at 266 hp and 970 Nm at
BS3, is upgradable to BS4 and BS5 using SCR.
Cummins’ ISLe, now offered as 370 hp/1550 Nm
option, was Tata’s original choice for the 380 hp
node.
FPT Cursor 13 is most likely to be Tata’s top-end
engine choice for Euro 4 and 5 export markets.
COVER STORY
made its world on-highway debut only this
March on the Genlyon range of trucks from SAIC
Iveco Hongyan Commercial Vehicle Co (SIH)
based on Iveco’s Stralis. Weighing in at 865 kg, the
engine has been certified to Euro 3 and designed
to be upgraded to Euro 4 and Euro 5 with no
hardware modification.
In the SIH Genlyon the engine is presently
available in two ratings of 270 hp and 400 hp @
1800–2100rpm and 1300 Nm and 1600 Nm @
1100–1800rpm, the lower rating with a fixed-
geometry turbo. The customer buzz following
the World Truck launch is that a 310 hp version is
shortly going to be offered on a 40-tonne tractor.
The 380 hp/1500 Nm rating was developed for
Tata in Bangalore by Bosch Ltd, whose solution to
meet the OEM’s specifications for driveability in
these two applications involved reducing the rail
pressure to 1400 bar.
Tata’s original choice for this performance
class was Cummins’ 160kg-lighter 8.9-litre ISLe,
and the company’s presentation to the media
did indeed specify a 370 hp/1550 Nm ISLe as
optional on the 3138K and 4938S. The fact is,
Cummins India had developed and begun
productionising two Euro 3 ratings – 340 hp and
375 hp – of the Euro 4 WWCP generation of this
engine in 2007, but the programme has been
kept in limbo for over a year now after the Cursor
9 was inserted into the equation in what would
appear to be part of a quid pro quo that opens up
Iveco’s distribution and service networks in Latin
America and Eastern Europe to Tata.
Autocar Professional learns that the next
higher power node in the World Truck portfolio
is 420 hp, originally planned around Cummins’
ISMe but now designated as “above 380 hp” and
very likely to include FPT’s European Cursor 10
F3A at Euro 5 in 2015.
The 10.8-litre ISMe was the first heavy duty
engine in its class designed for a life-to-overhaul
of one million kilometres. Certified for Euro 3
and Euro 4 in a range of ratings, it is now built
in China by Xi’an Cummins Engine Company,
Cummins’ 50:50 joint venture with Shaanxi
Automobile Group Co. The 420 hp Euro 3 version
produces its peak output at 1900rpm and peak
torque of 2010 Nm at 1200rpm. Also available are
two Euro 4 ratings of 410 hp/2000 Nm and
440 hp/2080 Nm. The 10.3-litre Cursor 10, by
contrast, is presently available in selective-
catalytic-reduction-(SCR)-optimised Euro 4 and
5 ratings of 420 hp @ 1550–2100rpm and 1900
Nm @ 1050–1550rpm, and 450 hp/2100 Nm.
Starting from 150 hp, the range of power
ratings extends all the way up to 560 hp,
corresponding to the top available Euro 4 rating
of FPT’s Cursor 13 F3B. This 12.9-litre inline six-
cylinder engine with four valves per cylinder,
Bosch EDC-controlled unit injectors, and
variable-geometry turbo, delivers its peak output
at 1600–1900rpm and 2500 Nm @ 1000–1575rpm.
The Cummins alternative is the new 13-litre ISZ,
developed and produced by Dongfeng Cummins
Engine Co in Wuhan, and available (for the
Chinese market) in ratings of up to 545 hp.
The development of heat exchangers that
15 June 2009 Autocar Professional 31

would manage the massive charge air and engine
cooling requirements of these powerful engines
was entrusted to Tata Toyo Radiator (TTR). The
company responded with an aluminium radiator
that has a thinner core and is both lighter and
cheaper than conventional designs, directly
contributing to improved fuel efficiency and
reduced operating costs.
Besides, being thinner, it requires less coolant
than the conventional designs, in which higher
cooling demands are typically met by increasing
the thickness of the core. Reducing the size of
the radiator meant reducing the heat exchange
surface, and hence the challenge was to get better
efficiency from a smaller surface area.
“We achieved this by enhancing the geometry
of the core for better heat exchange efficiency.
Using our past experience, we simulated the
actual conditions under which the entire system
consisting of the radiator, intercooler (which we
also developed), and various other components
would be used, and optimised the design and
configuration to arrive at this solution,” TTR’s
Ravi Chidambar said.
Asked what his engineers’ main challenge
was, the CEO of this joint venture between Tata
AutoComp Systems, T.Rad Co of Japan (a major
supplier of heat exchangers to Iveco and Hino),
and Mitsubishi Corporation Nonferrous (supplier
of aluminium to both Tata Toyo and T.Rad), cited
Tata’s far more exacting durability targets for
the World Truck compared to other vehicles for
which they had developed radiators.
The emphasis was on commonisation to
reduce costs, he pointed out. “Hence, while the
radiator and intercooler will be the same across
models, there will be minor changes in terms of
tooling and customisation to suit each model.”
Tata’s orders for air intake systems, from air
inlet to turbo inlet, have been split 50:50 between
Fleetguard Filters (FFPL) and Mann + Hummel
across all applications. Designing a system for
BS4 and BS5 requirements was one peculiar
challenge for Fleetguard, according to marketing
head Tarun Dham. “Another was to develop
aesthetic designs in plastics that would withstand
extremes of temperature and still meet Tata’s
stringent life requirements — after all, this was
the first time our products would go on trucks
exported around the world,” he said.
This 50:50 joint venture between Cummins
Filtration and Pune-based Perfect Sealing
Systems, has so far supplied Tata’s alpha and
beta requirements from its Nandur plant near
Pune, but production supplies will come from its
Jamshedpur facility beginning September.
Cummins Filtration is the global leader in
filtration, exhaust, coolant, and fuel additive
technology for engine-powered systems of all
kinds, and FFPL is the exclusive supplier of all the
wet filtration products for the Cummins ISBe and
ISMe on the World Truck. It is also in discussions
to provide Fleetguard coolants as first fill.
Cummins Exhaust (CEIL), the 50:50 joint
venture that Cummins Filtration had with
Cummins India till recently, is Tata’s exclusive
source for Euro-3-spec acoustic mufflers for
www.autocarpro.in
Fleetguard Filters MD Niranjan Kirloskar with
Cummins India CMD Anant Talaulicar at the
launch in Mumbai. Besides engines, Cummins’
value package on the World Truck includes
turbochargers, air intake and filtration systems,
exhaust mufflers, and emission solutions.
COVER STORY
the programme. It will supply these in six
configurations including, for the first time in
India, a vertical model for the 3138K.
Director Manoj Solanki told Autocar
Professional last month that initial deliveries of
30–60 a month for the World Truck could rapidly
grow to “10,000 next year, or even 20,000”, even
as CEIL transitions into an entity that will be 100
percent owned by Cummins Emission Solutions
(CES) ahead of the advent of BS4 emissions
legislation in April 2010.
CES is the leader in emission solutions for
medium and heavy duty on-highway truck
manufacturers in the Euro 4 and 5 markets
worldwide, ahead of other big names like Emcon,
Tenneco, Cornaglia, and Eberspächer.
Wearing his CES shirt, so to speak, Solanki
revealed that eight prototype SCR systems
airfreighted in from China would be installed on
test vehicles with Cummins engines by the first
week of June. “Combining a CES system with a
Cummins engine allows Tata Cummins (ISBe) or
Cummins India (ISLe, ISMe) to tune the entire
system, with the SCR aftertreatment controlled
by the engine ECM,” he explained.
“For a non-Cummins engine the strategy is
to have a separate dosing control unit, which
links the SCR system to the ECM and allows
CES to maintain control on the system and its
performance. We’re trying to make it plug-and-
play, because in these situations our interactions
will be limited by the ECM.”
While the mufflers are supplied from CEIL’s
Daman facility, the SCR systems will initially
be imported from China, where CES started
producing them this April. “However, if we see
the volumes for SCR going up suddenly, we may
advance our plans to set up manufacturing
here,” Solanki said, adding that this would be at
Cummins’ megasite at Phaltan near Pune.
The Cummins ISBe is mated to the ZF Ecomid
9S1110 OD gearbox or Tata’s own G1400, while
Eaton has been contracted to supply its Fuller
transmissions for the Cursor 9 and higher-
powered engine applications. The latter presently
has three nine-speed transmissions on the World
Truck — the FS 10309 and FSO 10309 (overdrive),
and the FS 15409, a variant of the 10309 specially
developed for the heavy tipper.
Interestingly, while ZF is initially importing
its transmission from a plant in France, it is
expected to localise the design with gears sourced
from Ashok Leyland and housings sourced from
Jaya Hind, sister company of MAN Force Trucks,
its other erstwhile licensee for this model.
For Eaton, the application approval process it
used on the World Truck programme is standard
practice worldwide for new truck developments
but unique in the Indian context in that it directly
captures the “voice of the customer” and clearly
elicits the requirements in terms of application,
terrain, duty cycle, GVW, startability, and
gradeability in maximum detail at the earliest
stage of engagement with the OEM.
“The OEM’s marketing and engineering
organisations fill out an application approval
form, which Eaton uses to search its database
15 June 2009 Autocar Professional 33

for the available transmissions that best fit the
application. We then present these options to
the OEM, and then sit and discuss with them the
pluses and minuses of each. Of course, we also
suggest ways to compensate for those minuses
by means of changing the axle ratio, tyre size,
driveline angle, etc. We’ve had this discussion
for each vehicle configuration,” Pavan Pattada,
India head of Eaton’s Truck Group, explained to
Autocar Professional.
The result of this process so far has been the
selection of the 10309 model for the 4038S and
4938S, on the one hand, and the 3138K on the
other, despite the contrasting requirements of
these applications. The difference, he explains,
is in the choice of the overdrive version for the
tractors, and the development of a new direct-
drive variant designated 15409 for the tipper, in
which the lower gears have been strengthened
because the vehicle will be operated for longer
periods in those gears.
“As part of the application approval we studied
the duty cycle, i.e. the number of hours the
vehicle is going to be operated in each gear. We
had the option of either looking for a different
product, or working on an existing family to meet
the requirements. Together with Tata, we decided
to do the latter,” Pattada said.
With a torque capacity of 1750 Nm the single-
countershaft 10309, presently imported from
Poland, could still fit into some applications
above 380 hp, though Tata and Eaton are now
applicating Roadranger 10- and 13-speed twin-
countershaft models for off-highway applications
using the 420 hp Cummins ISMe. Eaton displayed
its 10-speed RTO 16910B-DM3 transmission at
last year’s Auto Expo and a variant of this could
very well be out on the roads in a year.
Eaton is the only independent supplier
worldwide of this extremely robust design,
which is used both on- and off-highway. “In
Brazil the European players often choose the
twin-countershaft solution over their own in-
www.autocarpro.in
Eaton 10309 series (above) will make way for
Roadranger 10- and 13-speed twin countershaft
transmissions in “above 380 hp” applications.
RTO 16910 twin-countershaft model will go into
severe service and off-highway applications.
ZF Ecomid 9-speed is mated to Cummins ISBe.
ZF Ecosplit 12- and 16-speed could make their way
onto Tata’s “above 380 hp” models for export.
COVER STORY
house models for severe-service applications,”
Pattada pointed out. In line with the company’s
worldwide manufacturing strategy the
transmissions will initially be imported from
China, where they are assembled from parts
supplied out of Eaton plants in Brazil, Poland,
China, and India, and then progressively
localised as volumes pick up.
The next critical link in the driveline – the
propeller shaft – comes from Spicer India and the
RSB Group. While Spicer is contracted to supply
“approximately 25” designs with varying torque
capacities for the full spectrum of applications,
RSB has developed six designs for five World
Truck models in the 31-, 40-, and 49-tonne
classes that it will begin supplying as soon as
these models go into commercial production.
Among the technical highlights of the Spicer
products that chief operating officer B D Singh
points out are their “lubed-for-life” service-free
joints, low NVH, and increased torque capacity
at reduced component weight resulting in lower
axial forces on the slip joints and increased
durability compared to the shafts it supplies for
Tata’s legacy truck models.
“Tata’s requirement was that the durability
and performance of the shafts under Indian
vehicle utilisation conditions be enhanced
— in particular, they needed highly statically
and dynamically balanced shafts for high-
speed applications and improved corrosion-
resistance,” he explained.
Meeting these expectations was a challenge
for Spicer’s engineers, not least because of the
number of design iterations they had to perform
without falling behind on Tata’s strict sample and
supply timeline. But Singh is proud of the end
result: “All vehicle validations so far have qualified
the customer’s expectations,” he told Autocar
Professional.
The RSB shafts are based on designs developed
by its technology partner Eugen Klein GmbH in
Esslingen, Germany. “Models similar to the ones
we have developed are already in use in similar
applications abroad. Our new shafts are both
lighter and cheaper for the same transferrable
torque,” GM (corporate strategy) Rajnikant
Behera said. He cited face serrated mountings,
Rilsan-coated sliders with metallic dust covers,
and sealed universal joints as the salient features
of his company’s products.
Axle partner Meritor HVS India is gearing
up to supply its MS14-160 hypoid axle, which
Tata is expected to fit on the 3128T 8×2 cargo
truck going by the fact that it is already used by
MAN Force on its 4×2 and 6×2 rigid trucks for
the domestic and export markets. An 18-inch
crown wheel, the largest on the market, and
other design enhancements give this model a 30
percent higher torque capacity than MHVSIL’s
other available axle in this load class, the MS14-
1495. According to vice-president S Raghunathan
a tandem version, the MT28-160, will also be
available to Tata.
Another Meritor axle the OEM is presently
testing for the World Truck is the two-speed
MS-240 for 4×2 tractors and 6×2 and 8×2 rigids.
15 June 2009 Autocar Professional 35
 COVER STORY
A design that has already been proved in Brazil
and Mexico for over seven years now, this axle
has a planetary gear reduction built into the
differential itself, adjacent to the crown wheel. By
means of an electropneumatic control the driver
can either engage the regular ratio or step the
propshaft input down through the reduction.
“Typically you can operate in power mode
when, for instance, you’re negotiating a steep
gradient, and then switch to economy mode
when you’re at grade. This improves the flexibility
of usage and yields better fuel efficiency and
operating economics,” Raghunathan told
Autocar Professional in an interview a few
months ago. So even though this axle is more
expensive, he is convinced the market will absorb
the additional cost without fuss because the
value it offers is “readily realisable in terms of fuel
efficiency, starting from day one”.
CHASSIS
The six-rod inverted bogie suspensions for
the tandem rear axles on the 49-tonne tractors
and 31-tonne tipper and cargo truck were
indigenously designed and 100 percent localised
by TACO Hendrickson Suspensions (THSL) in Pune
to meet Tata’s demanding cost targets.
Suitable for a wide variety of multiaxle
applications, this design improves the vehicle’s
stability and braking performance. Other crucial
advantages over current systems, particularly
in Indian operating conditions, include ease of
serviceability and better ride quality (a function
of the rubber bolsters at the spring ends, which
also act as effective rebound stoppers).
The first of its kind in India, the 48-tonne
suspension on the 3138K is THSL’s heaviest-
duty model. A lighter 26 tonne (plus 15 percent
overload capacity) version is available on the
4938S and 4928S, and the 3128T offers the
additional options of a regular 26-tonne model
or a 19-tonne-plus-30-percent.
The front axles on all models are suspended
by means of parabolic leaf springs, believed
to be from a Korean supplier even though,
interestingly, THSL’s parent company
Hendrickson International is the world leader
in this type of springs.
Parabolic springs deliver far superior ride
characteristics to the conventional multileaf
variety, and will continue to be used on the front
axles even when air suspensions from THSL
make their appearance on the World Truck as
early as next year for export models. “Although
air suspensions on front and rear axles are ideal,
OEMs even in Europe save costs by matching the
frequencies of the parabolic front suspension
with those of the rear air-ride system,” an Autocar
Professional source said.
The twin-steer systems on the 3138K and
3128T are variants of the Servocom 8099 twin-
circuit power steering gears from ZF Lenksysteme
GmbH. For single-steer applications with lighter
front axle loads such as tractors that will be used
for long-distance haulage, tip-trailers, bulkers,
and reefers, Tata has chosen TRW Automotive’s
latest THP-series from Europe rated at 175 bar.
36 Autocar Professional 15 June 2009
B D Singh points out a Spicer propshaft on 4028
tractor. The company’s shafts are also standard
on the heaviest-duty 3138 tipper.
Meritor’s MS14-160 axle will soon feature on
3128T. Tandem version could go on tractors.
This 26-tonne version of TACO Hendrickson’s
6-rod tandem bogie suspension is standard on 49-
tonne tractors and optional on 3128 cargo truck.
This is the same series presently used in the USA,
Brazil, and Europe, which Rane TRW Steering
Systems in Chennai has adapted for India.
The superior features of the TRW system
include faster steering ratios for improved lock-
to-lock turns compared to existing gear designs,
lower internal gear friction for better return-to-
centre response, and a reduced package size for
increased wheel cut, according to P B Rajan, GM
(marketing) of Rane TRW Steering Systems in
Chennai.
“This model delivers the highest torque
per unit weight in the world,” he told Autocar
Professional. “It has automatic poppets and
advanced rotary valves for user comfort and
provides power assistance from lock to lock even
while the vehicle is stationary.”
Rajan cited the tight lead time for submission
of special prototype parts and Tata’s stiff cost
targets as specific challenges his engineers faced
in developing this product.
The air brake systems for truck and trailer
come from Knorr-Bremse and WABCO, the two
leading suppliers worldwide. The former’s scope
of supply includes the air processing unit (APU),
foundation brakes and actuators, trailer brake
system, and ABS for truck and trailer.
The Knorr system is designed for a brake
circuit pressure of 10 bar, as against the 8.1 bar
systems that go onto Tata’s existing range. It is
able to deliver higher braking torques at the
wheel ends using similar-sized, albeit more
robust and reliable, actuators that have actually
been validated at pressures of above 10 bar,
according to sales, marketing, and business
development head Anirban Mukherjee.
The APU ensures better air management,
higher reliability, and longer service life than
the traditional air dryer by integrating this
function with an oil separator and multicircuit
protection valve into a single unit. Interestingly,
it constitutes the mechanical basis for one
of Knorr’s most recent innovations: the EAC
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electronic air control system.
The EAC combines the functions of the
APU with electronics that intelligently
reduce compressor fuel consumption unlike
conventional air processing systems that
operate independently of the drive situation.
Measurements on various European road circuits
have indicated potential fuel savings of several
hundred litres per year using EAC, for which
Knorr sees possibilities on Tata’s export models in
the next couple of years.
Knorr’s 325mm S-cam drum brake has already
been validated by Tata and it is awaiting approval
for samples of a 410mm version it has supplied,
though the foundation brakes on the front and
rear axles on the launch vehicles were from
Meritor HVS India associate KTMS and the TVS
Group’s Brakes India respectively.
Having already developed and begun
exporting disc brake components, it is now
working with Tata on disc brakes that will be
introduced on the World Truck in the next two
years. Concurrently, Autocar Professional learns,
Knorr has kicked off the exercise of designing the
first EBS electronic braking system, which should
be ready for testing and validation in the next six
months for a Tata vehicle that will only be rolled
out in 2012.
For the first time in India the hand brake valve
has been designed with a trailer check function
that senses when a trailer is coupled to the towing
vehicle and automatically applies the trailer
brakes as well. In fact Knorr has also developed
separate brake systems with ABS for the two- and
three-axle semitrailers from Tata International
DLT that Tata Motors will offer with its tractors,
and for centre-axle drawbar trailers that the OEM
is also planning to introduce later.
An interesting safety feature of this system is
the park/shunt valve on the trailer, which is used
to activate the spring brake when the trailer is
uncoupled from the tractor. This parking brake
cannot be released unless the trailer is once again
www.autocarpro.in
Kodlikeri with a hi-spec 10-stud steel disc wheel.
Kalyani Hayes Lemmerz is Tata’s single source of
these wheels for domestic and Korean production.
Knorr-Bremse CEO Venkat Potturu with APU on
3128T. Below: Knorr ABS 6 Premium on World Truck.
COVER STORY
coupled to a tractor and there is pressure in the
palm coupling.
Every World Truck that Tata produces will roll
out on steel wheels from Kalyani Hayes Lemmerz
(KHL) in Pune. MD Prakash Kodlikeri reckons
that Tata will first market the World Truck in non-
European countries just to establish the product.
“In such a case Tata’s decision to go in for 20-inch
rims is appropriate. In fact we already supply
these wheels to Daimler, Volvo, and Iveco in
Europe,” he told Autocar Professional.
KHL had the wheels for the World Truck
specially tested at its parent Hayes Lemmerz
International’s European test facility in Germany.
For the heavy duty tippers and construction
vehicles, it will shortly begin supplying 24-inch
wheels homologated for and approved by Tata
Motors for this application. KHL is already the
sole supplier of these wheels to Volvo India for the
FM400 and Mercedes-Benz India for the Actros,
and exports large numbers of this type to Europe,
Africa, and Southeast Asia.
As for the peculiar challenges KHL faced
designing and manufacturing the wheels for this
project, Kodlikeri singled out the mining area in
particular, which he said poses lots of challenges
that need to be taken account of while designing
the wheels for this application. For one there are
practically no normal roads, and the vehicles in
these areas are often very heavily overloaded,
because of which the maintenance of the tyre/
wheel assembly in such areas needs special
consideration.
“Before we designed this wheel, our engineers
spent lot of time in the mines to understand the
product application. I must say that our wheels
last for more than 10 years in such areas and are
performing very satisfactorily, not only in India
but also outside the country.”
Interestingly, the World Truck models
produced at the Tata Daewoo plant in Gunsan,
Korea, will also roll on KHL wheels, he pointed
out: “We initially supplied Daewoo, and then Tata
Daewoo, from our plant in Pune.”
The high-performance wheel-ends from SKF
on the front axles of the 4028 and 4928 tractors
each consist of two optimised premium tapered-
roller bearings (TRBs), two premium hub seals
developed by SKF Sealing Solutions, Bangalore,
and high-temperature lithium-based grease for
increased regreasing intervals.
SKF India is the sole supplier of the front wheel
end for these applications, and also developed
the kingpin seal especially for the World Truck.
“As a part of our drive towards sustainability and
environment-friendly products and solutions,
we have supported a unitised bearing for the first
time in an application like the steering link to
omit grease leakage and spillover in the vehicle
and into the environment. This solution will be
launched on the tipper series in September,”
Ranjan Kar, director of SKF India’s automotive
business unit, revealed to Autocar Professional.
In addition, the company supported HV Axles
on the prototype development of its HR210 hub
reduction axle with a wheel-end TRB, a pinion-
class TRB, and a deep-groove ball bearing for the
15 June 2009 Autocar Professional 37
 COVER STORY
tandem version. It is also one of the suppliers of
TRBs for the differential.
The JSK36DV1, and JSK38DV50 and JSK38C1,
fifth wheel couplers on the 40- and 49-tonne
tractors respectively are from Jost India Auto
Components, Tata’s exclusive supplier of this
critical device that connects truck to trailer.
Designed for an imposed load of 20 tonnes
the JSK36, with a two-inch kingpin, is the
most widely used fifth wheel model in the
Asian market and one of Jost’s largest-selling
worldwide.
The JSK38DV50 is a pressed version of the
JSK38C1 cast fifth wheel for an imposed load
of 28 tonnes that Tata has so far used on its
existing 4923 model. “Since the Indian market
traditionally prefers the pressed version,
this development was undertaken for cost-
optimisation,” G S Pradeep, senior sales and
marketing manager for Jost India, explained.
“It costs about 30 percent less, and has passed
all the standard life tests required to ensure
reliability. More importantly it is reworkable,
which is a vital requirement in the Indian market.
While the cast version is extremely strong, it
could possibly crack under the extreme abuse to
which fifth wheels are subjected here and cannot
be welded or bent back into shape in the event,”
he pointed out.
According to Pradeep, the JSK38C1 2J on one
of the 4938 tractors displayed could be an option
on the World Truck for export markets, where
the weight limits of semitrailer combinations are
seldom exceeded and cast fifth wheels are usually
preferred.
An important feature of this model is
the interchangeable locking mechanism
that can accommodate both, two-inch and
3.5-inch kingpins, allowing the operator
to switch the rated imposed load on the
coupler to the maximum 36 tonnes for
which the JSK38 platform was originally
designed.
38 Autocar Professional 15 June 2009
Jost India director and CEO Amarjeet Singh and
sales & marketing head G S Pradeep. The company
meets Tata’s domestic and export requirements
for fifth wheels from Jamshedpur and Germany.
SKF bearings on the World Truck: top three are
for steering and front axle application; bottom
four are for rear axle.
LCD on Continental instrument cluster displays
menus and error messages in Hindi and English.
INTERIORS
Grupo Antolin Pune is Tata’s exclusive source for
soft trim parts, i.e., the headliners and fabric
trims for the doors, sides, and rear of the cab. For
this company, which is supplying “more than 20”
part numbers from its Ranjangaon plant near
Pune, the World Truck was a significant challenge
because it was now dealing with parts of “huge
truck” proportions, according to GM (marketing)
Ajay Apte.
“For the first time an Indian truck was being
developed with a trim level that compared
to those sold in Europe. For us, maintaining
tolerances and fit and finish across such
large dimensions was a herculean task,” he
reminisced. GA Pune supplies headliners with
integrated lamp bezels, speaker grills, and
air vents, which will be added on at a small
subassembly warehouse the company is setting
up in Jamshedpur preparatory to the commercial
launch of the trucks.
Also for the first time in the world, the
company developed a special solution for the
side trims using knitted fabrics treated with
3M Scotchguard to ensure cleanability, Apte
pointed out. “GA uses a different, more expensive
material in Spain. For India we had to come out
with a cost-effective solution based on the same
basic sandwich.”
The high-end air-sprung or mechanically
suspended driver and co-driver seats with
integrated seat belts are a first on a truck in
India. Designed and developed in Germany by
Isringhausen GmbH, the world leader in driver’s
seats for trucks, in a joint venture with Tata
Johnson Controls Automotive (TJC), they have
gone into limited production at a TJC facility in
Pune till ISRI-TJC’s plant in Jamshedpur is set up.
The seat squabs can be adjusted for height,
fore and aft movement, and tilt; adjustable lower
and upper lumbar supports and high-density
foam and bolsters make for additional comfort.
The seats are optionally fitted with a heater to
provide comfort in extreme cold conditions.
“The World Truck was conceived with a seating
system of global standards with respect to safety
and comfort. The challenge was to design the
seats keeping Indian road conditions in mind.
That took an intensive R&D effort, following a
global benchmarking exercise we did on truck
seating systems,” CEO Vinayak Lingayat said.
The result is seats that not only meet the
stringent ECE norms concerning ergonomics
and occupational safety but also conform to
AIS regulations. A lot of effort has been made
to localise the design, but certain critical
components will continue to be imported from
Germany, he added.
The complete wiring harness that Tata Yazaki
Autocomp (TYA) designed and supplies for the
World Truck compares to that on any premium
European truck, marketing head Prashant
Gajendragadkar told Autocar Professional.
“The bus bar design drastically reduces the size
of the wire bundle coming into the fuse box for
ease of handling, assembly, and maintenance. A
single connection joins all vehicle applications
www.autocarpro.in

to the battery power through the bus, and
individual functions are activated by insertion of
a simple fuse. This sleek new concept has helped
reduce 75 circuits and liberates a large space for
other aggregates,” he said.
That wasn’t all: a special bulkhead was
designed as an interconnector between the
engine cabling and the dashboard wiring
harness. This not only ensures ease of fitment on
the vehicle but also enhances serviceability.
The routing of the harness on the vehicle was
developed with 60 different clamping options.
The complete design also involved preparing the
circuit schematic and the fusing and earthing
strategy, and situating the bulkhead so that the
cabin and engine compartment connections
could have a common interface point with the
unique fuse box to suit all models in the World
Truck programme.
At the moment there are 11 distinct variants
of the electrical system for the right-hand-drive
vehicles that will be sold in India, seven of them
in L1 (low-end) and L2 (high-end) versions, he
revealed. Each of these will operate on the same
bulkhead and fuse box design.
“In LHD vehicles meant for export the
bulkhead will simply be a mirror image of the
present design, while the fuse box will remain
the same. By this commonisation TYA has been
successful in dramatically reducing the variety
and thereby saving on resources like costs and
time,” he added.
The intelligent electronic instrument
cluster from Continental Automotive Components
India was developed at Continental Automotive
R&D locations in Germany and Romania. It is
the first of its kind with contemporary European
features to feature on a commercial vehicle in
India.
The cluster evaluates digital and analog inputs
from various sensors fed to it via a CAN bus that
also networks the electronic control units around
the vehicle. Using this information it calculates
current driving and vehicle parameters, such as
fuel consumption, which it then displays either
on the analog gauges (driven by high-precision
electronic stepper motors), or as warning
symbols (illuminated by LEDs), audible alerts, or
as average mileage or “distance to empty” data on
the TFT LCD panel in the centre.
In addition, error messages received from
various ECUs are displayed in the menu
in English and Hindi. This keeps the driver
informed about the state of the vehicle so that he
can act accordingly. The cluster also stores error
information in itself, which can be downloaded
at the service station later by service personnel
using diagnostic tools.
According to GM (commercial vehicle) Hemal
Shah, the low awareness of, and appreciation
for, the technical sophistication of the product
in the Indian truck market made the project
particularly demanding.
“The technical specifications have evolved
since we first started in 2006. It was particularly
difficult adapting a system architecture
predominant in Europe and other developed
www.autocarpro.in
Rishi and Rahul Kshetry of Taurus Flexibles with
air brake coils on 4928S. The company supplies
fuel lines, air brake tubing, electrical coils, and
leak-free compressor outlet pipes for World Truck.
Williams Controls WM542 electronic throttle pedal
(above) and Knorr integrated pedal unit
are emblematic of Tata’s modular approach.
COVER STORY
Photography Ashley Baxter
countries to the Indian market even as the
system requirements were continuously being
upgraded in the last 2½ years, and called for an
intensive R&D effort. But we finally achieved it
in cooperation with Tata’s Engineering Research
Centre,” he said.
The cluster’s scalable architecture allows Tata
to meet future demands for communication with
tachographs and integrated telematics. Shah
told Autocar Professional that Continental would
supply tachographs for the World Truck in a later
phase of market penetration. “Continental is the
world leader in tachographs with a more than
95 percent share of the market,” he said. Other
prospects are body control modules (BCMs),
supplied solely by Bosch for now, and sensors.
The electronic throttle control pedal is a WM542
model from Williams Controls, the world’s leading
manufacturer of such pedals and the dominant
supplier for BS3 truck programmes in India with
an 80 percent share. This all-plastic suspended
pedal uses a non-contact sensor that provides
an electrical signal to the ECM in response to the
driver’s demand for engine power.
While the pedal is already fully compatible
with the Cummins and Iveco engines on the
World Truck, Shailendra Goswami, CMD of
Williams’s India representative Pushkaraj
Engineering Enterprises, says it can easily
be adapted for any engine or application
requirement by simply programming the sensor
according to the configuration of the ECM. This is
done either by Williams Controls itself, or by the
supplier of the ECM if the latter insists on being
proprietary about its load circuit diagrams.
For brake and clutch actuation, Tata has
chosen an integrated pedal unit (IPU) from
Knorr-Bremse in keeping with its modularisation
strategy. This assembly saves space in the
footwell by integrating the respective pedals with
the foot brake valve, clutch master cylinder, and
brake light switch in a single aluminium die-cast
support structure. n
15 June 2009 Autocar Professional 39