For 25 years, the Mercedes-Benz Custom Tailored Trucks (CTT) business unit has been responsible for converting vehicles according to individual customer wishes. The CTT expert teams would thus handle inquiries from almost the entire world from nine different locations.
Specific Customizations
This includes truck variants that go beyond the standard Mercedes-Benz truck range, such as chassis adaptations, changes to wheel formulas, cab adaptations, but also the configuration of individual complete vehicles such as heavy-duty tractor units.
Since the founding of the CTT network to today, more than 325,000 vehicles have been converted for use in over 140 countries, according to the information.
“Where the serial program ends, Custom Tailored Trucks comes into play. Worldwide we offer our customers absolutely individual solutions – from implementing smaller special requests to realizing highly complex special customizations,” said Franziska Cusumano, CEO Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks, and added: “Our aim is to tailor every truck optimally to the specific requirements and to deliver quickly and in the familiar Mercedes-Benz Trucks quality.”
According to Marc Schulz, Head of Custom Tailored Trucks, the special needs of customers are also increasing. With Custom Tailored Trucks, one can offer tailored solutions for almost all inquiries.
“These scopes are primarily realized by our upfit experts at the Molsheim plant, but also in Wörth am Rhein and with our CTT partners across Germany,” explains Schulz.
CTT Network
According to the manufacturer, expert teams operate at the two Mercedes-Benz Trucks locations Molsheim (France) and Wörth am Rhein. This is complemented by seven small- to medium-sized partners.
At the Molsheim site, which
is located near the Franco-German border and about 100 kilometers from the largest Mercedes-Benz Trucks plant in Wörth, this is the headquarters of the Mercedes-Benz Custom Tailored Trucks business organization. With around 600 employees, they have specialized in the conversion of trucks there, with a total of 63 upfit bays available.
The site founded in 1967 has been carrying out truck conversions since 1991. In 2000, the establishment of the CTT business unit within the Daimler Truck organization took place, with the goal of simplifying processes with specialized teams and establishing a partner network. At the Molsheim site, moreover, the production of Unimog cabs as well as the parts production for series trucks is located.
But through the CTT business unit, customer requests outside of the serial program are also realized at the Wörth truck plant and in a network of partner companies. These include S&G Automobil AG, F&B Nutzfahrzeug-Technik GmbH, Werner Forst- & Industrietechnik Scharf GmbH, Eggers Fahrzeugbau GmbH, Paul Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH, Bickel-TEC GmbH and Titan Spezialfahrzeugbau GmbH.
Fertigungsschritte
The vehicles are initially produced in serial production at the Wörth plant. After that, the individual customer-specific adaptation takes place. Each year, several thousand tailored trucks leave the upfit workshops in Molsheim, Wörth and at the partner companies, it is said.
By close coordination with the central development department of Daimler Truck, it is ensured that recurring special solutions, if needed, can also flow into the Mercedes-Benz Trucks serial production line on the Wörth assembly line.
Individual Customizations
The services range from shortening and lengthening wheelbases over the
installation of additional axles, frame reinforcements and changes to the cab, to complex heavy-duty upfits. All vehicles can, according to the information, be serviced and repaired in authorized workshops.
As many standard components as possible are used to preserve the manufacturer’s typical character and properties, and to ensure the smooth availability of spare parts.
Schlanke Mercedes-Benz Econic
The CTT unit in Molsheim is currently handling, for example, the Bundeswehr Fuhrpark Service GmbH large order. Another order: particularly slim Mercedes-Benz Econic with a cab width of only 2.40 meters for the Berliner Stadtreinigung. In addition, more than one hundred vehicles are currently being converted in Molsheim from 2-axle to 3-axle for higher payloads for Autobahn GmbH. CTT also supports the transformation toward battery-electric propulsion through individual conversions of E-Lkw.
Actros 8x4/4 Full-SLT
As an example of the collaboration between the sites, the manufacturer cites the Actros 8x4/4 Full-SLT at the end of 2023. After the serial Actros rolled off the line in Wörth, the original 3-axle was converted in Molsheim and at Titan in Sulzbach into a 4-axle Full-SLT with two driven axles so that it can be used as a tractor for heavy-haul transport (SLT).
For this purpose, an 8-ton front lead axle was installed and a frame behind the cab mounted, providing room for a 900-liter tank, air-pressure container, and a rear cooling unit for cooling in powered operation and in retarder operation. The fifth wheel hitch and the sliding device for efficient axle-load distribution were also retrofitted.
Mercedes-Benz Arocs SLT 4463 AS 8x6
Also manufactured was
the Mercedes-Benz Arocs SLT 4463 AS 8x6 with a maximum trailer load of 1,000 tonnes for the heavy-haul specialist Baumann - at Molsheim and at the Paul company. In the CTT plant in Molsheim, the vehicle received the front lead axle with starting aid via relief control.
In addition, the fifth wheel hitch, heavy-duty sliding arrangement and heavy-duty trailer attachments were retrofitted front and rear. In addition, the SLT frame behind the cab with an additional cooling system, a 900-liter fuel tank and the hydraulic system for the trailer steering were added.
Then the Paul company with its conversion team came into play: the StreamSpace cab with a width of 2.3 meters was replaced by the wide BigSpace cab with a width of 2.5 meters. This required adjusting all interior fittings, such as dashboard, bed, or drawers.
To ensure the permissible overall height of four meters was not exceeded, the vehicle had to be lowered at the front and a small engine tunnel installed in the cab floor. Moreover, Paul installed an additional tower with storage boxes behind the cab and the ballast deck. In total, around 9,500 parts were newly installed or replaced by the company.
Für japanische Anforderungen
Specific adaptations for the Japanese market were made on the Mercedes-Benz Arocs 4763 8x6. In Japan, a maximum height of 3.8 meters applies, therefore CTT in Molsheim for the first time developed a combination of the ClassicSpace 2.3 cabin with a compact additional cooling tower on a four-axle chassis and installed a heavy-duty-compatible coupling as well as a
