Customer case

Lighter side walls for tippers and flatbeds with Hardox® wear sheet

August 13, 2021 6 min read

A blue tipper truck with body built in Hardox® sheet steel, dumping out a load of rocks.

Case details

Product Hardox® 450

Country Austria

Company Fuhrmann Fahrzeuge Ges. M.b.H.

Industry Trailers and body builders

Discover how Austrian company Fuhrmann’s lighter-weight, heavy-duty profiled side walls in Hardox® wear sheets give customers tipper side walls that are more durable and longer-lasting.

Hardox^® wear steel in sheet format – the right choice for Fuhrmann

The option of using Hardox^® steel in sheet form has given Fuhrmann a high yield in the production of its side walls. The Hardox^® wear sheets are available in thicknesses that range from 0.8 mm (0.032”) up to 8.0 mm (0.315”) and in lengths up to 16,000 mm (629.9 “). The sheet steel is rolled to exacting tolerances for thickness and flatness and a high surface finish, which contributes to reliable workshop performance and quality welds.

As an added bonus of Hardox^® wear sheet, the smooth surface makes a perfect base for high-quality striping or painting of logotypes and other messages.

A side-dumping tipper body built in Hardox® 450 sheet steel.

Case details

Product Hardox® 450

Country Austria

Company Fuhrmann Fahrzeuge Ges. M.b.H.

Industry Trailers and body builders

“We have recommended that our trailer and tipper body customers use side walls in Hardox® 450 wear steel for a long time now. Initially they were produced in 4 mm (0.157”) thickness. Today we make our heavy-duty side walls in 2.5 (0.098”) and 3 mm (0.118”) thick Hardox® 450 wear sheets, which of course makes the vehicle lighter.”

Franz Fuhrmann, CEO

Hardox^® wear steel has proven itself to be a premium wear-resistant material in all applications where the steel construction comes into contact with gravel, building rubble, scrap, glass granulate, excavated soil and other abrasive materials that are handled in for example recycling or construction.

“In order to be able to manufacture thinner-walled yet highly wear-resistant side walls, 2.5 (0.098”) and 3 mm (0.118”) thick Hardox^® 450 metal sheets were used,” says Michael Glaser, SSAB regional manager for Austria. “With the same stability and wear resistance, the weight of the sides can be reduced by a good 37% compared to standard sheet metal.”

An open-bed tipper body dumping out a heavy load of dirt and rocks.

Hardox^® sheet steel in the body’s walls is highly resistant to heavy impact despite the reduced wall thickness.

Reduced thickness offers more load capacity at the same total weight

Thinner side walls give a substantial increase in loading capacity without exceeding the allowed total weight for the vehicle. This results in less fuel needed per transported ton. And since 50% of the trips are usually unloaded, the lighter vehicle saves fuel in both directions.

Less fuel means less CO₂ emissions, and less steel used reduces the CO₂ footprint already in the steel manufacturing process.

The lighter side walls also have practical advantages – they are much easier to handle for the driver when they are folded up and down.

And you can go even lighter with Hardox^® 500 Tuf, now also available as wear sheet. You get 50 HBW higher hardness than Hardox^® 450, allowing for a thinner side wall with the same excellent wear life.

A one-piece design from sheet steel

Fuhrmann designs a variety of side wall profiles to fit different vehicles and wall heights depending on the type of load being hauled. They are often made according to customer specifications.

For rigidity and ease of production, the top and bottom rails are bent to form an integrated part of the side walls. This minimizes the need for welding, making the walls stronger and faster to produce. The entire side wall with its profiling is exceptionally resistant to impact, even from heavy rocks.

“We are very impressed by the high flatness and dimensional accuracy of the Hardox wear sheets,” Fuhrmann says.

A heritage of quality

The company Fuhrmann Fahrzeuggesellschaft m.b.H. dates all the way back to 1856. The former village smithy in the Austrian city of Steinebrunn has now evolved over six generations into a modern family business with around 160 employees. Fuhrmann exports its steel wall sides to well-known trailer and commercial vehicle manufacturers in over 30 countries. For the regional market, Fuhrmann also produces trailers of its own design for agriculture and transport vehicles for wine and fruit growing.