I’m going to be honest with you; I mean, I always am, and if I was a more formal sort of journalist, I doubt I’d even share things like this with you, but, well, I’m not more formal. I’ve got so much stuff I need to cover from Goodwood and even Pebble Beach before that, and then there’s all those reviews and other stories – there’s a lot, and I’m getting that peculiar Large Task Inertia, where the mass of everything seems so daunting it makes it hard to start. So, this post is a way of snapping out of that: I need to just make myself do something, so let’s start with a little wonderful detail, something I’ve never noticed before but saw for the first time while at Goodwood: the design of the step on a Land Rover 101 Forward Control.
Are you familiar with the Land Rover 101FC? These were first developed to meet the British army’s need for something to tow a big howitzer gun along with enough cargo capacity to carry one literal ton of ammunition, equipment, and probably some snacks. Development started in 1967, and the 101 Forward Control (named for the 101-inch wheelbase) was essentially a Land Rover with the driver’s position moved to be just ahead of the front axle, the engine contained in a doghouse inside the cab, and a lot more space in the rear.
The 101FC managed to keep 75% parts commonality with the other non-cab-forward Land Rovers, which is impressive and very helpful for the logistics of dealing with a fleet of vehicles, like an army does.
The adaptation of the Land Rover body to be a forward-control setup was, as you might expect, kind of crude. Instead of designing new wheelarches and how to integrate the new axle positions into the bodywork, it looks like the designers just decided to knock off before they actually hit the wheels, making the body look like a flat-bottomed barge parked atop a wheeled chassis, which it sort of was.
This also meant that access into that short, high door was tricky, and that’s what leads us to the detail that I was so taken by. Look:
Let’s get in closer:
See that? That’s called a wheel-step, and it’s pretty much what the name says. I was looking at this truck with our Brit designer, Adrian Clarke, who is about eight feet tall and shaped like a long, slender tower, so much so that I think he leases some of his scalp space for British Telecom to place some cellular equipment.
Anyway, he saw me looking over the truck, and then jumping up in the air so I could get a glimpse as to what the interior looked like. After he saw me pogo-sticking up and down like an idiot, he happened to see these strange cheese-grater-looking drums bolted to the wheels and that’s when he realized the simple wonder of it all: it’s a step!
Yes, a step, a cylindrical step, cheaper and easier and simpler than making some sort of bracket to house a normal horizontal little step, like you might expect. This method requires no new fasteners into the body, no brackets, and is just one simple stamped part. It’s kind of a brilliant idea.
I tried it out, and as you’d expect, a rounded step isn’t quite as stable feeling as a flat one, but it definitely works. There’s room for your foot, it’s pretty grippy, and it can easily handle your weight. This may be the simplest possible solution to this problem, and that’s always something I admire.
I’m told some Unimogs used this method, too, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve ever seen something like this. I also like how one of the first things I chose to write about from one of the swankiest gathering of automobiles anywhere in the world is a crude tin can bolted to the wheel of a truck. I don’t always know what’s wrong with me.
When I was a kid, my friend’s dad had one of these* so these wheel steps were invaluable for tiny me trying to climb inside. You can use the bottom of the wheel step, then the top, then stand on the tyre, it’s actually really easy to climb in, even when you’re a small kid.
*(and a Series 2, and a first gen Range Rover, and a bit of steep river valley to drive them around)
No, this is awesome…little things like this that aren’t fancy are more interesting a lot of the time. Sort of along the lines of “one man’s junk is another one’s treasure”
-Fred G. Sanford (just kidding)
Really, it’s all about the Details, Details, Details of cars all adding up together that makes it so great
Start from the bottom and work your way up (watch clicks decrease accordingly)
Here in Australia we call them “step-rings”, and most of our off-road fire appliances have them (in safety yellow).
I seem to remember that Bedford trucks did something similar on their front hubs?
“…and I’m getting that peculiar Large Task Inertia, where the mass of everything seems so daunting it makes it hard to start.”
Welcome to my world. Seeing as you were in Sussex, not that far from the Hundred Acre Wood, here is the first verse of the A.A. Milne poem I always turn to in these circumstances:
There was once an old sailor my grandfather knew
Who had so many things which he wanted to do
That, whenever he thought it was time to begin,
He couldn’t because of the state he was in.
Wait – I knew about a cool car detail years before you did? That will likely never happen again…
“..cargo capacity to carry one literal ton of ammunition, equipment, and probably some
snackstea-making equipment”ftfy
…and a packet of Digestives.
Yeah, if Jason had run this copy by me before publishing I would have told him “tea bags, not snacks old boy’.
if you want to stop the British your country invading AGAIN, just hide all the tea bags.
The British Secret Service spent a lot of money for one DB5 to shred one Mustang. This is much more cost effective.
Oh I dunno, they kinda got their money’s worth out of that DB5 in the end, in a rare display of Ministry of Defence procurement competency.
Can’t help but wonder what might happen to the tires or sheet metal of anything this might sideswipe.
To me, it’s hardly more concerning than the Mad Max-looking spiky lug nuts on some semis’ front tires.
I remember a friend had a similar setup on her Peterbuilt COE semi, she is not tall and I believe it was for maintenance rather than cab access. COE has pretty well disappeared and there are modern lug nut rules that would probably banish that step to history in commercial use in North America.
Some Unimogs use the same idea for a wheel step.
The 101FCs used a Rover V8, and there was a short-lived trailer designed for them that used the PTO to drive the trailer wheels to create a 6×6 setup, until it was discovered that the trailer could push the truck over when driving on rough terrain.
The Australian Army bought 50 of them as tow vehicles for Rapier missile launchers, which was probably the origin of the one that lived just around the corner from me in the mid 90s – it had the canvas roof replaced by an aluminium-skinned camper body built onto the back.
Came to say the same regarding Unimogs. In high school I had the privilege to drive a flat fender Unimog 412 around (and to make a low budget Indiana Jones movie whilst dragging ‘Indy’ under it – sadly the movie is long lost).
Hello, yes simple but effective. That Land Rover is actually the Series 2B 109″ wheelbase not the 101.
The 101 is even more of an extreme vehicle designed specifically for the Army with the Rover V8 (ex Buick)
It also has the hub step….
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Rover_101_Forward_Control
“I also like how one of the first things I chose to write about from one of the swankiest gathering of automobiles anywhere in the world is a crude tin can bolted to the wheel of a truck. I don’t always know what’s wrong with me.”
That’s because you know and we know this is good Torchtopian, although you may have pre-empted yourself from using it as a great Cold Start.
I do have to wonder how effective these are in icy conditions, but it’s probably not much worse than a step. Also, it’s much more likely a step would get knocked off or damaged in the harsh use of military environments.
My ‘wouldn’t it be cool’ brain wants to see pictures of the late Queen ferrying around her corgies in one of these…
My favourite FC Kandy I’ve ever seen, lo these many years ago now, was one I spotted Stroud, lo these many years ago, that had been repurposed as a milk float. The milkmen of Gloucestershire clearly do not fuck about, and your milk is getting*delivered*.
Excellent visual there: milkmen Morris dancers poling the barge with many a clack and a whack, Clearing the Way for the Delivery of the Milk….
My grandad was a milkman in Cirencester, but alas, he did fuck about.
Hi soldiers, this is Ron Popeil. Do your muddy army boots leave clods on your steps? Well now we have an answer for you, the TubeTread.
This revolutionary product actually slings the mud from the step as you drive.
Only £19.95. Order now!
There’s a Unimog I pass on walks in my neighborhood. I’m going to have to take a look for one of these next time I go past!
http://unimog.net/exchange/photos/230828-10.jpg
Helped a friend research new vehicles recently, and though they’re largely not my thing, I was pleased to see all the accessories that Subaru makes for its vehicles.
The one that really caught my eye for its simple ingenuity was its over-the-wheel step that fits over the top of the tire, giving you just enough of a step up to comfortably reach the roof.
This the OG version, even cooler for being permanent.
Being the type who often learns of my mistakes via the sickening crunch, I wonder how many Instagram posts feature one of those steps after someone forgot to take it back off? Regardless, it’s a great idea
I thought the exact same thing! Wondered if maybe it came with a lanyard you connect to yourself (that of course nobody would use, so back to your outcome…)
Backup plan: post it note on the Start button/keyhole.
Or what I use in the work van: bungee on the steering wheel
For years, I’ve been toying with putting hood pins on my Mustang (I have the OEM Ford kit), and as I’ve thought through it, one of the things that comes to mind is how to alert service people who aren’t me to not simply pop the hood before removing the pins.
I’ve settled on using an index card placed over the gauges with something like “pull pins before opening hood” or similar. Large enough and stands out in my otherwise shades of gray interior.
My first thought was British Unimog. The issue I see is the trail of oil for the enemy to follow. 😛
Nah, the FC Landy will absolutely get you up close and personal with the enemy, you just won’t be able to retreat ????
More seriously, they’re good enough for the long range desert patrols, so there’s that. They just need some TLC every now and then.
Added bonus here is that if an enemy combatant climbs onto the side of this thing like in Raiders of the Lost Ark, there’s nothing for them to step on while trying to punch you through the driver’s window. That step is definitely not helpful when the truck is moving.
First they knock off the Jeep, then they knock off the Jeep FC.
I thought it might be a wheel winch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY4cKc4FKSM
They still sell them
https://www.bushwinch.com/
I’m with you Torch – I think that is the coolest thing because it is so simple. It is easy, cheap, doesn’t get in the way. Way more interesting to me than unobtanium based trailer queens.
Some beverage trailers used a similar step that bolted to either the hub or the wheel studs.
I also remember them on some of the OG cab over semi-tractors.
Right on with the beer trucks! I think they still have them. There’s a bodega down the street from my place that often gets its deliveries early in the morning when I’m on my way to work…I’m absolutely going to check now.
Wait, what – the front wheel is held on by three nuts? The rears look to have five. Are two of them covered up?
Yes, two are covered.
Then, why?
My guess is it has 3 longer studs and is on top of the lug nuts.
You don’t want anything between the centering cone of the nut and the wheel.
Insert nut joke here….