Isuzu NKR Grafter Range : ROOFLESS EFFICENCY

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Tipper or Dropside, Isuzu's NKR Grafter Is A Tough Little Truck Designed To Thrive On Hard Work. Steve Walker Reportsâ€¦

"A good day's hard graft never did me any harm." It's a familiar mantra that frustrated fathers have drummed into truculent sons across the dinner table for generations. Of course, the offspring never pay much heed. One sullen glance over the pepper pot at their ranting old dad's antiquated features serving as ample evidence that hard graft is not the tonic he claims. Hard work certainly can make some people and vehicles old before their time but others thrive on it. Isuzu hope their 3.5 tonne Truck falls into the latter category and to remind us, they've christened it `Grafter'.

The Isuzu NKR Grafter, to be more precise. It's the smallest in the N-Series Range of trucks that's being sold in the UK by Isuzu Truck. The company is not to be confused with Isuzu UK Ltd who import the Isuzu pick-up trucks. The NKR models are manufactured by Isuzu in Japan and then assembled at a plant in Portugal before finally ending up in old Blighty at one of Isuzu Truck's 65 franchised outlets. Grafter is the term used to refer to the off the shelf tipper and dropside models in the Range, as opposed to the stripped down NKR chassis cabs which come ready to take any specialist conversions that buyers may require. Until the Grafter came along, Isuzu Truck had not given a proper name to any of their models. Instead they employed a rather impersonal 3-letter designation system that gave rise to the NPR, the NQT and, not forgetting, the NPT. This is fine for sober corporate customers at the heavy duty end of the truck market but if was felt that to compete with the likes of Toyota's Dyna and Nissan's Cabstar in the light commercial market, the NKR would need a more memorable moniker. The NKR Grafter was born but only after some urgent reassurance of the Isuzu top brass in Japan. They looked up `grafter' in an American dictionary and were concerned to find it meant `man who takes bribes'. Presumably, they were relieved to learn that the term has significantly more respectable connotations here in the UK. So, what of the vehicle itself? Buyers are faced with a Range that's made up of three basic models. There's the Grafter NKR-S Dropside, the Grafter NKR-S Tipper and the Grafter NKR-T Tipper with its twin rear wheels. The dropside model can achieve the greatest payload with 1,400kg being possible largely thanks to the absence of a tipping mechanism. The NKR-S Tipper, meanwhile, can manage 1,180kg on its single rear wheels and the NKR-T Tipper will carry 1,034. The twin rear wheels on the NKR-T limit payload capacity but they serve to improve stability and traction for buyers who may need to drive their load across muddy or undulating terrain.

"The engine is perfectly suited to the Grafter's preferred role of short trip urban delivery vehicle."

All Grafters are delivered packing the same 3.0-litre diesel engine fitted with turbocharger and intercooler. It will produce 130bhp at 3,400rpm but the best bit is the 280Nm of torque that's marshalled at a usefully low 1,700rpm. The engine is perfectly suited to the Grafter's preferred role of short trip urban delivery vehicle. It will haul the Grafter and its heavy load briskly off the line and up to speed but top-end performance is not such a strong point. The powerplant isn't the quietest or the most refined but on the kind of short haul journeys the Grafter is designed for, that won't matter too much. It does the job. The Grafter's essential characteristics are largely a product of its forward control design. Most purpose- built tippers and dropside trucks are forward control vehicles which basically means that the steering rack is located in a position forward of the front wheels. The driver, therefore, is seated above the front axel. This layout produces a number of key advantages over the conventional arRangement found in light trucks converted from panel vans but it also creates the odd problem. The Grafter benefits from an ultra-tight turning circle which is ideal for squeezing it in nice and close to the items you want to load up or the space you want to unload into. The absence of a bonnet in front of the driver also creates excellent visibility which, again, aids manoeuvrability. With the engine located out of the way under the seats, space in the cab is impressive, although the inclusion of a second passenger seat may be a little ambitious. Its dimensions are definitely more chimney sweep than burley bricklayer. The downside of forward control comes in the shape of the ride quality and the fact that cab must be accessed by means of an awkward clamber up over the front wheels. With no load on the back, the Grafter's suspension will feel a little lively for most tastes but that's mainly because you're sitting right on top of it. Put some weight on the rear and the ride settles down considerably. By adding some hefty cargo you also replicate the conditions under which most of the Grafter's journeys will be undertaken, so the choppy unladen ride is not the issue that you might imagine. The dropside models come with a steel framed aluminium body with a full height steel headboard to prevent rogue cargo from sliding into and damaging the cab. The sides are removable but when in place they can be folded down by unclipping the spring loaded plastic-coated catches. On the tipper, the body is steel with a steel lined floor instead of the Wisadeck floor in the dropside. The whole thing tips-up thanks to a 12-volt electro hydraulic ram and the controls are mounted at the end of a 9-meter wander cable so you can maintain a sensible distance when that load of dusty rubble hits terra firma. The Isuzu NKR Grafter is a strongly built, businesslike vehicle that is ideally suited to contractors who mainly travel short distances in built-up areas where roadspace is at a premium. It is a specialised product so, inevitably, it's not as multitalented as some competitors but buyers with this kind of usage in mind will like it a lot. It's also worth noting that Isuzu Truck are fast building a reputation for their innovative approach to customer care. They offer comprehensive back-up with the focus placed on ensuring that customers can always get through to speak to a person with the power to actually do something about any problem. The Managing Director's mobile number is even printed on their website! This is one of the benefits of having a comparatively small-scale operation but it's striking a chord with truck operators and it could be the thing that swings more buying decisions in the Grafter's favour.

Facts At A Glance VAN: Isuzu NKR Grafter Range ENGINES: 2,999cc 130bhp turbo diesel with intercooler GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT: 3.5 tonnes PAY
LOAD CAPACITY: 1,034kg-1,400kg WARRANTY: 2 or 3-year/unlimited mileage or 4-year/120,000 miles