Free Techspert Advice For All Your Heavy Duty Slides and Linear Rail Enquiries

Meet the Techsperts, the free technical advice from the heavy duty slides and linear rail motion system experts.  Chambrelan's sales and technical team have over half a century of experience in the heavy duty slide and linear rail market.  Having advised engineers, first time users, vehicle builders and defence contractors on a myriad of different applications.

"We've seen everything," admits Jeremy Binnington, "from large nuclear submarines, through to front line fire and emergency vehicles, high temperature manufacturing lines, materials handling applications through to amateur observatories."

"We have a no nonsense approach," adds Jeremy, "customers calling up can often over specify their needs and we're here to see that they get the right heavy duty sliding system for their application."

With no obligations to purchase Chambrelan UK and Linear Rails both offer detailed and informative sales and technical support for all customers, both first time buyers and repeat customers and in an age where the market is saturated by cheaper impostors, Chambrelan are committed to supplying not only the best product, but also the best advice, delivery and service.

For more information on how Chambrelan can support your heavy duty slide requirements, call the team today:  01746 783 972 or visit www.chambrelan.co.uk

Chambrelan Announces Price Freeze Across Heavy Duty Slides and Linear Rails

Chambrelan UK have just issued press releases announcing a price freeze across their entire range of heavy duty slides and linear rail motion systems for 2014.  The announcement comes at a time where other companies are forecasting price rises for next year and so the news comes as some relief to vehicle builders who want the best price without compromising on quality.

Jeremy Binnington, Director of Chambrelan UK, is quoted as saying:  "We're in a unique position to control our costs from our manufacturing site in France, but there many companies who have to pass the increase of costs from their suppliers onto their customers."

It's a point that we've picked up in the past, in so much as companies who are having to make cost making decisions generally look for cheaper options.  Unfortunately buying cheap, as we've seen, can often mean buying twice and therefore the immediate knee jerk reaction to make cost savings can have a knock on effect.

To give an example, one vehicle builder recently wrote to us with his experience of changing from steel slides to aluminium slides.  The load capacity of the slides had been understated and oversold and within three weeks of them being fitted the vehicle was taken off road due to severe brinnelling and new steel slides needed to be ordered and replaced.

Cheaper?  More cost effective?  We don't think so.

Emergency Services Show - 2013... Looking out for the best and worst heavy duty slides on the market

With the show still running at the NEC as I type, I felt it would be a good opportunity to reveal the type of heavy duty slides showcasing on this year's fire vehicles and what fantastic new products are out there.

Firstly let's start with how not to do it.  As you can see this primitive solution is basically a tube within a tube, we noticed a couple of blokes pull this and you could see their ears almost bleeding with the strain as they heaved the small generator out of it's housing.  The rust and the broken paint did not, in this case, lubricate the inner tube and I pitied the poor devils who had to use this on a regular basis.

Hungry for more I prowled the periphery, where vehicle builders were showcasing the big boys and here I found a set of Widney aluminium slides at the bottom of a pull out tray.

In my opinion the use of Aluminium slides on front line vehicles is more to do with cost, rather than performance and therefore I am always a little perturbed to see lighter duty options carrying heavy duty loads.  This is just my personal opinion, and no reflection on Widney who have a great range of products, but in my experience buying cheap often means, buying twice.

I wished them well with their life cycles and went out into the show to find out what I perceive to be the bad boys of the heavy duty slide market.

Chambrelan.  You see them everywhere and this years ESS was no different.  One build we noticed a pair of RA5's, on another a pair of RA7s and then, a small surprise, in that Chambrelan have only just started manufacturing them, was a slam lock draw front on the side of a glisteningly new fire vehicle.

Manufactured in France, Chambrelan's heavy duty slides are considered one of the best ranges of heavy duty slides on the market and with over 60 years of experience, working in the defence, manufacturing, marine, automotive, rolling stock and emergency services industries Chambrelan's heavy duty slides have an impressive pedigree are incredibly built and fantastically robust.

All in all it was a great show and I managed to press the flesh with vehicle builders, both large and small, and was gunned at how positive the vibe was.  All in all it was a good exhibition and I hope everyone had a successful ESS.

New Door Runner for ALE Heavy Lift

When Scan Cab, a danish re-fitter and engineering needed to modernise their Gottwald AK912 for ALE Heavy Lift after four years of heavy use, it was found that they needed to refurbish the operators cab door which could no longer safely and securely work and the door had begun to sag and new linear rails and carriers were needed.

Graham Roberts, ALE's Crane Superintendant was given the job to find the replacements and with a short lead time Graham contacted Chambrelan directly.

The door used the E28 rail and G40 carrier, which uses a series of recirculating ball bearings which 'glides' the carrier easily and efficiently even when carrying extreme loads

We caught up with Graham Roberts to find out his feedback, "Chambrelan's customer service is top class, from speaking with Tony through to having the parts delivered was within seven days.  Excellent, i can't fault it."

For more information on Chambrelan's range of linear rails and telescopic slides, visit www.chambrelan.co.uk

Heavy Duty Slide Brand Launches Linearrails.co.uk

Chambrelan, the French based manufacturers of heavy duty slides have given us a sneak preview of the launch of a new brand Linearrails.co.uk which is set to go online over the coming weeks.

The new brand will be dedicated to selling a selection of Chambrelan's most popular rails and carriers.  The initial range has been hand picked to deliver to the light duty, the medium duty and heavy duty requirements of UK and Australian markets.

"We believe our linear rails need a stand alone platform by which they can grow and I think many customers overlook our incredible range of linear rails because they are over shadowed by our telescopic range," confirms Jeremy Binnington.

All our linear rails use our unique range of Chambrelan's very own re-circulating ball bearing carriers, which - unlike other carriers, spread loads equally and efficiently, whilst allowing a smoother movement.

The new launch will allow customers a greater access to Chambrelan's linear rail products at the touch of the button, whilst retaining the same quality and service you'd expect from our telescopic slides.

Although the launch of the new site hasn't been announced we are told it will be online in the next few months.  100% Extension will be reviewing and announcing the launch as and when we receive the news.

Until then for more information on our linear rails or telescopic heavy duty slides please contact www.chambrelan.co.uk

Chambrelan - Get 'em While They're Hot....

Burger vans and road side catering vehicles are some of the more every day applications and lack engineering sex appeal, but nevertheless it shows how independent people are using Chambrelan heavy duty slides across every day applications.

In this instance, Peter was having problems with his generator.  Since it was hard fixed to the vehicle wriggling it in and out by hand was time consuming and dangerous.  Originally he'd have to pull and wriggle the generator out by hand whenever there was a problem.  This is an easy enough job when there's two of you to do it, but Peter always found himself on his own when things went wrong and so he decided - in what we believe to be his infinite wisdom - to contact Chambrelan to see how their heavy duty slides could be used to help out.

Pete's van is a temple of culinary expertise and his customers come from far and wide to enjoy the best of british breakfasts, but the hot plates, refrigerators, ovens and tea makers all need power and when the source of that power goes wrong ease of access is of paramount importance.

Pete needed length and strength and subsequently with the help of the Chambrelan team he chose the RA5R - made from stainless steel section.  As one of Chambrelan's most tried and tested slides, this three beam nested slide has been designed to take incredible loads whilst delivering pay loads smoothly and securely.  Using a zinc plated finish this slide is incredibly durable and not only that, is easy to fit easy to maintain.

We caught up with Pete to find out how his experience was with Chambrelan - "I have to say," Peter confirmed, "i couldn't fault it.  Tony and the team were very helpful in identifying what i needed and i received the sides in a few days of ordering.  I'd definitely recommend Chambrelan to anyone who needs heavy duty slides or linear rail motion systems."  Peter Challis

For more information on Chambrelan's products - please click here

Chambrelan Heavy Duty Slides: Better Protection

Due to the WEEE Directive of 2007 certain heavy metal finishes had to be removed from our heavy duty slides and linear rails, forcing the industry to change their protection.  Chambrelan now use a chrome free white zinc plate.

This plate is now provided as the standard Chambrelan finish across the whole range of products utilising carbon steel sections that are produced and refined on site at Chambrelan's Le Havre factory.  The benefits of this system include improved corrosion resistance, amounting to 480 hours of protection against the salt spray test (see pics) before appearance of white rust (more than 5% of surface), which means Chambrelan have more than doubled the amount of protection at no extra cost to the customer.  This treatment also improves the protection of the appearance of red rust, by roughly 12% – from 600 hours to 672.

The zin plating also adds structural strength to the slide, providing extra rigidity and making them more ruggedised than ever before.  As a company Chambrelan is dedicated to continually improving their range of products, whether it's introducing new slides or improving on their most popular designs and a huge amount of investment has been made in the drawing, refining, cleaning, annealing and machining of their slides, which all combine to improve the life expectancy of the slide, whilst maintaining a competitive price point.

For further information on any of Chambrelan products please visit www.chambrelan.com

Head Farrier Uses Heavy Duty Slides For Mobile Forge

As head Farrier for the Great British Endurance team and one of only three farriers chosen for the Beijing Olympics, Kelvin Lymer is the Christian Louboutin of horse shoes, the problem is, his customers are generally to be found wandering in the most inhospitable places and therefore he knew he needed to design and build a one piece mobile forge and workshop, operated by heavy duty slides, that could take him into the wilds.

Being a farrier means I need to be out and about," said Kelvin.  "It also means I need to carry a huge amount of kit around with me.  The only option was to carry this equipment in a vehicle strong enough to manage such heavy loads, whilst having the 'off-road' capabilities to access the most inhospitable terrain."

Having chosen a Landrover Discovery 4, a bruisingly big brute of a vehicle that sports a 3.0 litre, 255hp diesel engine with a four corner air suspension and Landrover's unique Terrain Response as standard, the next problem was the design of the stainless steel pod and the sliding movement to extend and retract it from the vehicle.

With the help of the boys from Stainless & Alloy products Limited, headed up by Jeremy Hughes-Hubbold, the pod needed to be capable of being slid from the back of the vehicle and then 'unfolded' to deliver a fully operational forge.  Space was always the biggest problem for the team, closely followed by the load capacity of the pod, but with over 30 years of experience in

"It was like," confirms Jeremy, "Squeezing 10 gallons of water into a single pint."

The pod, made of stainless steel is designed to house all the kit a farrier might need, including a forge, an anvil and grinding stones to name a few and to house it all in one, took a lot of trial and effort, but once designed, the next problem was to make the pod retractable.  That's when the team decided to contact Chambrelan UK, manufacturers and distributors of heavy duty slides and sliding systems.

Chambrelan advised the only slide capable of carrying these extreme loads was the E1700 slide, a zinc coated, three beam nested slide, which uses reinforced ball bearings to deliver a soft and smooth sliding 100% extension.  Easy to fit and easy to maintain, the E1700 is one of the preferred heavy duty slides used by the defence and emergency services and therefore has a good track record and pedigree.

Suffice to say the project was an enormous success and Kelvin is now designing and building these pods for other farriers.

For more information on a full range of Chambrelan's heavy duty slides and linear rails please visit www.chambrelan.co.uk 

SEM Fire and Rescue Uses Chambrelan's Heavy Duty Slides

SEM Fire and Rescue - sporting Chambrelan's heavy duty slides

SEM Fire and Rescue, the specialist vehicle builders based in Australia, recently won a contract from the Country Fire Authority (CFA) to build a Technical Rescue Vehicle (Hino FM 2630) for front line fire and rescue alerts, which could also include water rescue, control and a range of fire and rescue operations including forest fire, house fire and commercial properties in and around Australia.  Complete with Chambrelan's heavy duty sliding systems, this build was something that took our breath away when we first saw the designs, but when we saw the photographs, we were blown away.

Heavy duty slides carrying tool boards and kit drawers

You see, this is no ordinary rescue vehicle and has been designed as a transportable pod or module, which is dismounted from the chassis and thereby be operated as a stand alone unit, encompassing all the necessary equipment relevant for that particular operation.

By using a massive hino A09C-TT turbo charged intercooled 6 cylinder diesel engine, the pod is lifted and dismounted using the multi-lift LHS 250, which has enormous lifting capabilities up to 17,000kg.  The module itself has been designed to carry a series of storage compartments, work benches and sliding generator as well as a series of slide and tilt pull out drawer systems, that deliver essential kit to the operator, quickly and easily.

A range of Chambrelan's heavy duty slides have been integrated into the build and were chosen for their high strength and extension, as well as being easy to fit and easy to maintain.

Work benches and tool drawers extending out

We caught up with Jeremy Binnington, Director of Chambrelan UK, to find out a little more about the build as well as finding out how growth in the South East Asian market is faring.

"It's going well, as you know we've been stocking Australia quietly now for about a year and in that time we've come across some very interesting applications."

By doubling their commitment to the Australian market Chambrelan continues to lead the way in the development of sliding systems for heavy duty applications in the mining, fire and emergency and defence markets.

For more information on these or other Chambrelan heavy duty slides and linear rails, please visit www.chambrelan.co.uk 

Chambrelan Heavy Duty Slides Used Down Under

Multi-drive technology, the leading Australia manufacturer of multi-drive vehicles, has recently announced a collaboration with Chambrelan UK.  The order, which comes from Rio Tinto, one of the largest mining companies in the world.  Commissioned to carry out rail maintenance on a 400 kilometre line in one of the most extreme desert climates in the world, namely the Pilbara Region of North Western Australia, these vehicles needed to carry enough equipment to manage the long haul.

Using a seriously beefed up Land Cruiser - the MDT 5750kg GVM Model with 2500kg load capacity, boasts another drive axle and uses a torque management power divider, making it able to tackle the most extreme conditions without any wind-ups or spinning of axles, even when it's carrying 2.5tons.

In addition the vehicles will be carrying specialised lightweight custom built trailers, which have been tailor made to store the right equipment.  Using Chambrelan heavy duty slides and linear rails these trailers are packed with tool boards, storage draws and compartments each carrying vital engineering equipment.

For more information on how Chambrelan products can help you, please contact Bruce Elliott from Integrated Equipment on +61 (0) 353 673 513 or visit www.integratedequipment.co.au.

For UK based enquiries you can contact Chambrelan directly by visiting www.chambrelan.co.uk

Champion's Use Chambrelan Heavy Duty Slides

When two professional carriage racers contacted Chambrelan UK for a set of heavy duty slides to extend their horse-box, with the aim of increasing their living space, we were all ears.

But before we did anything we had to find out what carriage racing was all about.  There are two things one immediately realises about carriage racing, firstly its fast and secondly it's furious.  Pulled by two horses on what can only be described as a two wheeled cart called a 'sulky' they tear round race tracks all over the UK.

That's about it.

As British Champions of the sport Sue Denney realised that her horsebox was too small for long weeks and sometime months competing and realised they wanted to 'kick' their horsebox out to increase their living space inside the vehicle.  Having a larger horsebox for living quarters as well as mobile stable, required re-hauling the entire frame to add an extra large single cab, designed to contain the bathroom.  This was achieved by extending the sides of the pod by hydraulics, which once extended added an additional 9 square metres of space.  The problem the team had was finding a set of heavy duty slides capable of taking the weight and delivering the extension they needed, repeatedly.

Chambrelan's RA7 heavy duty slide was the only product on the market that could carry the weight and offer the extension they needed whilst being operated by the hydraulic pump.  Chambrelan's RA7 has a triple bar design, meaning it's highly durable and easily operated regardless the working conditions.

These environments and the loads involved meant the slides needed to be easily fitted and easily maintained and for this reason Chambrelan's RA7 heavy duty slide was perfect for the job.

To see a very short clip of how the horsebox pod kicks out, check out the video below or click her to view