The Mercedes-Benz L 337 is a lorry made by
Daimler-Benz, sold under the
Mercedes-Benz brand. Introduced in March 1959,
it was already discontinued in 1961, and replaced with the L 338. The L 337 is the first generation of Mercedes-Benz' heavy-duty "
short-bonnet lorries", and has, in its default configuration, the "long" short bonnet, which is 300 mm longer than the typical Mercedes-Benz medium duty short-bonnet lorry's bonnet. Mercedes-Benz also offered the L 337 as a forward-control lorry, called the LP 337.
The L 337 was designed to comply with "
Seebohm's legislation", which limited the maximum permissible total mass of lorries registered in West-Germany to 12,000 kg (plus another 12,000 kg of trailer mass). However, the L 337 was rendered obsolete by rescindment of this legislation in 1960.
Models
*L 337: Base model, offered either as a rolling chassis or with a flatbed
*LK 337: Tipper lorry
*LP 337: Forward control lorry
*LS 337: Tractor
*LPS 337: Forward control tractor
Description
The L 337 is a two-axle lorry with a total permissible mass of 12,000 kg and rear-wheel drive. It has a ladder frame with U-profile longitudinal sections. At launch, Mercedes-Benz offered three different wheelbase options, (3700 mm,
4200 mm, and 4400 mm);
in 1960, a 5000 mm option was added. The cab is either the long version of the short-bonnet lorry cab (L, LK models), or the short version of the forward-control cab (LP models). From 1960, Mercedes-Benz offered a long variant of the forward-control cab (LP models).
Both front and rear axles are beam axles. The front axle is a
stub (dead) axle, the rear axle is a
hypoid drive (live) axle. Usually, such axles do not have additional reduction gearboxes if used in large on-road lorries. However, the L 337's hypoid axle was fitted with an additional, pneumatically-shifted two-speed planetary gearbox, giving the lorry 5 × 2 = 10 forward gears. This design allowed Daimler-Benz to install their modular ''Daimler-Benz G 32'' synchromesh five speed gearbox, which otherwise would not have had proper gear spreading.
The clutch used to transmit the torque from the engine to the gearbox is a dry ''Fichtel & Sachs GF 50 KR BH'' single-disc clutch. The engine used in the L 337 is the naturally aspirated, straight-six
OM 326IV Diesel engine. It is
precombustion chamber injected, water-cooled, and rated 190 hp (SAE gross) / 172 PS; 127 kW (DIN 70020).
Technical specifications
See also
*
List of Mercedes-Benz vehicles
*
List of Mercedes-Benz trucks
The following is a list of trucks produced by Mercedes-Benz.
1926–1944
The first Mercedes-Benz truck range, presented at the 1926 Berlin Motor Show (October) and at the 1927 International Motor Show for Trucks and Special Vehicles in Cologne ...
References
[Verband der Automobilindustrie (ed.): Daimler-Benz AG, Werk Gaggenau: Typ ''L 337 / LK 337'', Group 14, Number 1200, Frankfurt am Main, April 1959]
[Verband der Automobilindustrie (ed.): Daimler-Benz AG, Werk Gaggenau: Typ ''LP 337'', Group 14, Number 1200a, Frankfurt am Main, April 1959]
[Verband der Automobilindustrie (ed.): Daimler-Benz AG, Werk Gaggenau: Typ ''LP 337'', Group 14, Number 1200a, Frankfurt am Main, May 1960]
[Deutsche Verkehrswissenschaftliche Gesellschaft (ed.): ''Internationales Verkehrswesen'', Volume 11, A. Tetzlaff-Verlag, 1959, p. 96]
[Daimler AG (ed.): ]
Mercedes-Benz truck premiere on 5 March 1959: Global success with a short nose
', 4 March 2019, retrieved 17 December 2020
[Harry Niemann, Armin Hermann: ''100 Jahre LKW: Geschichte und Zukunft des Nutzfahrzeuges'', Steiner-Verlag, 1997, , p. 97]
[Olaf von Fersen (ed.): ''Ein Jahrhundert Automobiltechnik: Nutzfahrzeuge'', Springer, Heidelberg 1987, {{ISBN, 978-3-662-01120-1, p. 142–144]
Mercedes-Benz vehicles
Mercedes-Benz trucks