1986 KRaZ-256B1 and MAZ-504V: Custom lead-armored trucks built for the Chernobyl cleanup.
Posted by StrategyMore5356@reddit | WeirdWheels | View on Reddit | 9 comments
OldWrangler9033@reddit
Did they leave the truck at Chernobyl, I would imagine that thing would be "hot" given it's duty.
JumboChimp@reddit
I can't speak specifically to these trucks, but a lot of the equipment used in the initial cleanup was buried in the exclusion zone to discourage people from taking parts for sale as used parts or as scrap.
GiftedGeordie@reddit
I'm sure even thieves wouldn't knowingly nick something radioactive.
JumboChimp@reddit
They absolutely would.
Poverty and desperation drive people to do stupid, risky things. The money behind it all would lie about the danger to the people on the ground, they would go in and recover things, and when they started dying, or it was discovered that radioactive scrap was showing up in the market, the money would pretend they didn't know anything about it, and in the USSR of the day, they'd bribe the right officials to make any investigations go away.
But if the stuff is buried, you can tell if people are scavenging by seeing if the dirt over the site has been disturbed.
GiftedGeordie@reddit
I know that they just look like ordinary lorries of the era, but I still get Mad Max vibes.
7aturn@reddit
I love KrAZ trucks. They always look just a bit too big, bit too loud. Like humans tamed it, not built it
DasistMamba@reddit
Features of the Special-Purpose MAZ
The vehicle bears no factory emblem, for obvious reasons. The right windshield wiper is also missing. Instead of the interior lining of the driver’s cab, a capsule made of 10-mm lead sheet was installed. Access to the interior was through an airtight hatch located on the passenger side.
A FVUA-100N-24 filter-ventilation unit was mounted on the roof, serving two functions: it pressurized the interior of the cabin and prevented contaminated air from entering.
Visibility was provided by a small window protected by a 400x400x100 mm plate. The capsule weighed over 3 tons, causing the vehicle to tilt to one side; to level it out even slightly, the designers added several sheets to the leaf spring shock absorbers. They also had to devise a new mounting system for the rearview mirrors.
notfunattentionwhore@reddit
nice apocalypse daily driver
StrategyMore5356@reddit (OP)
Built in under 30 days for the 1986 Chernobyl cleanup, these trucks were designed to survive lethal radiation. The KRaZ had its cabin completely replaced by a 3-ton solid lead bunker with 75mm-thick armored glass. The MAZ is even crazier: to keep its purpose a secret, workers used sledgehammers to build a 3-ton lead capsule inside the original cabin. I made a full deep-dive video on how these mechanical mutants were engineered here: https://youtu.be/0hTb7FMDnYc?si=Qsmkn47d6ifrxFHp