Boniface Engineering has supplied its first-ever polyester bodied unit to French company Sadra Sud of Beziers. Boniface assembled the truck at its Norfolk factory using polyester components developed and manufactured by Jige International. These were used with a Century 1060S, 2-stage rotating boom recovery unit mounted onto a Volvo FH16-660, 8 x 4 chassis.
As well as obvious benefits in terms of corrosion elimination, Boniface say the choice of polyester offers several advantages over traditional metal bodywork. One of these is in saving weight, which is able to provide a useful increase in rear bogey carrying capacity. With the body moulded rather than fabricated, Jige has also been able to incorporate more style into the exterior design.
The finished vehicle, which weighs in at 33,500 kg, is equipped with a Eurotow 42 underlift with a fully extended capacity of 9 tonne and a total of five winches. A pair of 22 tonne pull units on either side of the boom, a 30 tonne drag winch on the underlift and a further pair of 14 tonne units integrated into the Sumo Sidewinder front stabiliser legs.