Customer case

Hardox® 450 helps KH-Kipper lose half a tonne weight in the W1CE body

December 21, 2021 6 min read

Case details

Product Hardox® 450

Country Poland

Company KH-KIPPER Sp. z o.o.

Industry Trailers and body builders

Brand program Hardox^® In My Body

To meet customers’ demands for more cost-effective transport solutions, KH-Kipper upgraded its well-known tipper body W1C to W1CE – with the letter E denoting a body that is around 500 kg lighter than the previous version thanks to the use of Hardox® wear plate.

A red truck with an elevated tipper body in Hardox 450

Case details

Product Hardox® 450

Country Poland

Company KH-KIPPER Sp. z o.o.

Industry Trailers and body builders

Brand program Hardox^® In My Body

The benefits of Hardox^® wear plate in a tipper body

The wear resistance of Hardox^® wear plate makes it possible to optimize the weight of the body and to increase its load capacity. Vehicle weight is a critical factor. A lighter body means greater capacity, which lowers the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions for every load during the vehicle’s entire lifespan compared to a conventional body.

With the W1CE body, KH-Kipper reduced the steel thickness and the number of elements to optimize the design for reduced weight, since the tipper does not require unnecessary reinforcements on the sides. The floor of the body is made of Hardox^® 450 wear steel in 6-10 mm thickness and the side walls are 4-8 mm. Hardox® 450 is both hard and tough, ensuring a long service life and high structural integrity even in the harshest operating conditions.

A truck viewed from behind with a blue body made in Hardox 450 wear steel

“Customers appreciate the quality that these steels provide. It increases the life of their equipment, especially in difficult operating conditions. It extends the time between repairs and can reduce the costs of transporting the excavated material.”

Sławomir Berniker, Technical Director at KH-Kipper

Benefits in numbers:

500 kg (1,102 lbs.) lighter body
Increased load capacity: 0.3-0.6 cubic m (10.6 - 211.9 cubic ft.)
Steel thickness sidewalls: 6-10 mm (0.236-0.934”) to 4-8 mm (0.157-0.315”)
Steel thickness floor: 8-12 mm (0.315-0.472”) to 6-10 mm (0.236-0.934”)
Reduced number of parts in manufacturing: 8-12%

A KH-Kipper truck with an orange body photographed from behind

A workhorse in every climate

The W1CE body is designed for the toughest jobs in the freezing Siberian climate as well as in the scorching African heat. The bodies carry sand, gravel, smaller fraction stones and asphalt, mainly in construction work and in open pit mining.

KH-Kipper is a Polish manufacturer with a wide international presence. 20 000 of KH-Kipper’s bodies operate in over 60 countries all over the world – in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and remote Oceania.

A truck with an orange cabin and black tipper body in Hardox® wear plate

The value of membership

KH-Kipper has been using SSAB steels for more than 20 years. The company uses Hardox^® 450 wear plate to produce tipper bodies which are qualified for the Hardox^® In My Body brand program, and Strenx^®high-strength structural steel to produce trailer chassis which are qualified for the My Inner Strenx^® program.

“We’ve been members of SSAB’s brand programs Hardox^® In My Body since 2009 and My Inner Strenx^® since 2015. This is something we communicate to our customers as a further confirmation of the quality of our products,” says Sławomir Berniker, Technical Director at KH-Kipper.