The assembly of the first production batch of KAMAZ-5490 NEO has been commenced at the automobile plant of KAMAZ PTC (part of Rostec State Corporation).
The KAMAZ-5490 NEO freight truck arouses much interest on the market – the first orders for trucks have already been received. It is expected that 135 vehicles of this model in all will be assembled in April. The demand for the novelty is natural because the upgraded version of the flagship KAMAZ-5490 meets all needs of the customers using KAMAZ truck tractors of the new generation. According to Evgeny Makarov, Chief Constructor of Advanced Vehicles, the main focus was made on increasing the capacity of fuel tanks. "We developed four versions of NEO: two of them with automatic gearboxes made by ZF, the other two with mechanical ones by ZF KAMA," told Makarov. "The vehicle features a base longer by 200 mm (this is a distance fr om the front axle to the rear axle), which enables to increase the capacity of the fuel tank on one side to 695 litres, and if you need another one, the total capacity can reach 1,100 litres."
ТAlso, Evgeny Makarov noted that they had had to change configuration and a number of characteristics. The longer the base, the better the axle-load transfer. "Having made it longer, we managed to do it, adding load to the front axle and avoiding overweight on the rear axle that, as a rule, bears the maximum permissible load. This is critical for open roads of Russia wh ere drivers pay overload fines," he stressed. Besides, the willing to maximize the capacity of fuel tanks urged the designers to create two more configurations with a rear accumulator box (it is usually located on the left or, like in new models, on the right side). One of the sides is free, so the space can be used for a fuel tank.
After analyzing the "behaviour" of the new truck tractor in operation and peculiarities of its maintenance, the experts modified the construction of some units. "We use a somewhat modified leaf suspension now. It requires no periodic maintenance due to its rubber and metal articulated linkages. And this means lower service costs for clients," explained Makarov.