ZIL-130 (diesel) - the legend of the Soviet truck automotive industry

As you can guess from the title, in this article we will talk about a very interesting car, designed and constructed in the period of the Soviet Union. Why is this car considered a legend? Let's try to figure it out together.

Excursion to the history

First, you need to plunge into the history pages containing basic information about the ZIL-130 model. The production of the 130th dump trucks belongs to the Mytishchi Machine-Building Auto Plant located in the Moscow Region. The first car came off the assembly line of the Likhachev plant back in 1962. It was the dawn of the production of medium-duty trucks ZIL-130. Diesel, gasoline, gas was already widely used as fuel at that time. In addition, the production of this model of machines was oriented to various operating conditions.

The company produced trucks that could be operated even in harsh climates, where temperatures could reach minus 60 ° C. However, most of the production was focused on the production of cars for operation in agriculture in a temperate climate. These models were equipped with diesel units and were often referred to as ZIL-130 (diesel) "Kolkhoznik". Also, the production included several variations of the model for use in countries with tropical climates.

The main purpose of ZIL vehicles is the transportation of medium-tonnage cargo during construction, maintenance and other works.

Main advantages

It can be seen from the history that the ZIL car was manufactured for many years and was delivered to various regions and countries. How can this be explained? First of all, the main advantages that allowed to occupy at that time the leading positions in the market are increased reliability, strength of the basic mechanisms and fault tolerance of the ZIL-130 (diesel) model. The dump truck had such characteristics that at that time they were considered advanced and served as a benchmark for foreign competitors.

More about features

Considering this brand of trucks, it is impossible to ignore the functional features and characteristics of ZIL-130. Diesel, gasoline and gas, as already mentioned above, could be used as fuel for engine operation. However, there were units that could work in combination both on gasoline and on compressed natural gas.

Most modifications of the ZIL-130 were equipped with an 8-cylinder liquid-cooled engine. The design of the cylinders was V-shaped, due to which significantly increased engine power (up to 150 hp) and the carrying capacity of the car itself.

However, in some cases, this power was redundant, so from the mid-1970s to increase fuel efficiency in the production of steel widely used gasoline 6-cylinder engines, the power of which reached a mark of 110 liters. from.

Of particular interest are the engines of the ZIL-130 export models. Diesel in Soviet times was rarely used, while foreign countries were focused mainly on the use of diesel fuel for trucks. Therefore, the export versions could be equipped with three types of engines: Perkins 6.345 (8-cylinder, 140 hp), Valmet 411BS (4-cylinder, 125 hp) and Leyland 0.400 (6-cylinder, 135 hp. ).

Transmission, electrical system, braking system

All the complete sets were rear-wheel drive. To manage this car used a 5-speed manual transmission. ZIL-130 (diesel), like other modifications, was equipped with a single-wire 12-volt electrical system consisting of a 90 Ah battery and an alternator. The car is equipped with a pneumatic drum brake system installed on all wheels.