Ural » 379A
A few years after the start of a serial production of Ural-375 truck The Ministry of Defense has issued an order to design a replacement - a whole rangey of unified 3- and 4-axle diesel army vehicles. The range should included bonneted and cabover models and equipped with its own more powerful and economical diesel engines, an original chassis, independent suspension of all wheels, tire pressure control system and fiberglass cabs.
In November 1969, Ural made a cab-over-engine model 379A with a short 3-place cabin made in Miass. Thanks to fiberglass, the cab become the main feature of the whole range. According to the general design, the bonneted 379B and cabover 379A were very identical and equipped with advanced four-stroke liquid-cooled diesel engine Ural-2E640 V8 (9.14 litres, 200 hp), drum brakes, power steering gear, 14.00-20 tires and AC electrical system. But the idea of an independent suspension was not realised. The transmission had dry twin-plate clutch, manual 4-speed gearbox with two-stage splitter, two-speed transfer gearbox with a pneumatic control, and original drive axles with stamped and welded housings. All-metal cargo platform with an enlarged 120 mm loading height had a flat floor.
Factory and military tests of both cars proved the superiority of the 379A, but rear visibility was reduced by side doors opening backwards. Neccessary of tilting the cabing (using a winch) made some difficults during maintenance. Ural 370A had a maximum speed of 86 kph, could forse a 1.5 m ford and had a range of 800 km. Total weight of a trailer did not exceed 6.8 tonnes.
