Fun fact!

"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike) 07/20/2020 at 16:19 • Filed to: ZIL-135

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Those insane Soviet ZIL-135 Missile Carrier trucks that are MASSIVE and have 8 wheels have TWO engines!

I had no idea that was the case! Even more weird, each engine drives one SIDE of the truck, so if one engine goes out, you’re pretty much screwed unless you’re on very flat, easy terrain without a heavy load and want to go very slowly...

Two engines driving one side each, though, means it doesn’t need differential locks or the like for ‘4wd’ because each set of wheels from side to side is independent of the other side, so that’s pretty cool! It also means (as in the start of this video) that if one engine doesn’t want to start on the starter, you just use the engine on the opposite side to drag the entire truck to bump-start the engine that didn’t want to start! :P

(You’ll need to use caption translate as the video is in German)

It’s one hell of a beast of a thing! I love this guy’s channel....really cool old Eastern Bloc vehicles! Cars, trucks, agricultural equipment like tractors and combines and cranes...and, apparently, now military equipment! :D

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 07/20/2020 at 16:28

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I can’t even imagine the fuel consumption...

Great content, very interesting. I’ll check out more of this guy, thanks for sharing!

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 07/20/2020 at 16:31

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There we go - 1 liter per motor per kilometer of terrain.
Edit: That’s 20L per 10km - or 200L/ 100km. Jesus christ.
In yankee that’s 1.17 607 mpg

Jb boin > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 07/20/2020 at 16:32

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A brownish cold-era diesel manual almost wagon, why not.

For Sweden > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 07/20/2020 at 16:33

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That is a fun fact

and 100 more > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 07/20/2020 at 16:35

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If one engine doesn’t work, the entire machine is rendered useless.

There’s an analogy to Communism in here somewhere.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 07/20/2020 at 16:45

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Because in the workers paradise there is fuel for every military.

kanadanmajava1 > and 100 more 07/20/2020 at 16:49

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I’m assuming that auxiliary equipment would be doubled and it could operate with one engine in emergency . Maybe you can somehow put the other gearbox into neutral ? It wouldn’t move very well though.

xc90v8/I4 :( > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 07/20/2020 at 17:09

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But that’s offroading! Probably a lot less usually

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 07/20/2020 at 19:07

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Hey man, at least it’s not a flat-out 1mpg....1.17607 is almost a whole quarter-mpg more than 1! :P

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > xc90v8/I4 :( 07/20/2020 at 19:08

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If anything, that mpg is BETTER. Remember, these were missile carriers...imagine what that figure would be if it still had the missile rack and equipment and missile on the back! :P

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 07/20/2020 at 19:09

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He’s really good! My favorites so far are some of his on East German trucks and, of course, the Trabant and Wartburg videos...even if they are the lowly VW-powered later ones :P

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Jb boin 07/20/2020 at 19:10

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Man, if you put a wagon back on the rear end of it, imagine the crap you could haul!!!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > For Sweden 07/20/2020 at 19:10

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I thought so! Really cool video! :D

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > kanadanmajava1 07/20/2020 at 19:11

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The gear lever controls both sides at the same time, but I imagine there’d be a way to put one side into neutral...there’d have to be!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > and 100 more 07/20/2020 at 19:12

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True, but keep in mind this is the most simplistic Soviet engineering...just weird....so I bet it didn’t break down that often if it was maintained correctly!

Jb boin > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 07/20/2020 at 19:29

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And plenty of wheels !

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Jb boin 07/20/2020 at 20:45

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That is a lot of wheels...