hello all, first of i have been driving hgv’s nearly 20 years now, so you kinda know when your truck aint right, i have been driving a little 7.5 ton tipper today when this afternoon it started pulling to one side quite bad under breaking. when i got back to the yard i checked it over, springs, tyres, nuts, all i could think of, i shon a tourch to look at the break pads, the nearside disk was heavily scorred and there was metalic filings around the wheel and hub, i could not see for sure but it looked like the pad was completly worn, now i know i have to report this but do i report it to the fitter who has got very lazy latley and is only interested in doing his own thing or take it higher, its my life and others i am thinking about how many of us could live with ourselfs if something happened we could have avoided. now i dont want to be alienated at work for snitching but if he is not doing his job right something has to be done right? he is on holiday at the moment so i am going to take the wheel off tomorrow and have a look for sure, if i find a bald pad what do i do?? if my little 7.5 aint right my 26 ton might go wrong down the line. thoughts please…
Surely it’s a no brainer.
Do you not fill out anything for daily vehicle checks?
Yep I do my walk round checks but I don’t check the break pads they should be checked every six week shouldn’t they, in any case they shouldn’t be allowed to get totally worn should they, but there again it might be something else with the metallic fillings that’s why I asked, I’ll know more tomorrow when I take the wheel off,
In my opinion it should of had a check last inspection but unless it’s your own motor I’d be filling in a defect notice and handing it in with a vor note. Not being funny in any way but is your boss ok with you taking a wheel off? He must have someone who does jobs when your fitter is off. Keep yourself safe drive and just report it
Write a defect sheet and tell the boss you are not taking it anywhere in my opinion.
Why take silly risks for a few quid of wages.
Let it become someone further up the food chains problem to sort out.
Are you a qualified mechanic/technician?
If you take the wheel off, do you have access to a torque wrench to re-tighten the nuts to the correct setting?
If any answer is NO,
Defect it, and VOR it.
No I am not a qualified mechanic, and all your comments are very helpful thank you, I will take your advise and send it up the food chain, guess I am not going to be Mr popular but what can you do, we all make mistakes from time to time but for a qualified fitter worn pads shouldn’t be one of them, guess I’ll be off the fitters Xmas card list if the pads are down to the metal,
jimroyale:
but for a qualified fitter worn pads shouldn’t be one of them, guess I’ll be off the fitters Xmas card list if the pads are down to the metal,
If the pads are down to the metal and the fitter/TM moans about you defecting it then they aren’t worth working for.
It’s a 2 hour job and back on the road, not worth risking your (or anyone else’s) life over.
Submit a defect notification end of day and hope you don’t get issued with that same vehicle… if so refuse to drive it…
Sorry mate, but if you’ve been driving hgv’s for nearly twenty years and you have to ask that sort of question, you’re either on a wind up or shouldn’t be out there with hgv’s.
There’s defects then there’s defects. Brakes on a commercial heavy vehicle. If there’s something wrong with them, it’s grounded until sorted. End of, no ■■■■■■■ about. If there’s any doubt there’s no doubt. Needs checking. As the driver of a commercial vehicle operated under an OL, it’s your legal responsibility to report via the defect system any known roadworthy items at fault.
Write defect detailing exactly what you discovered and importantly, categorically state that in your opinion after operating it, the vehicle has to be placed VOR until investigated by maintenance. Keep a copy for yourself. Do not take the wheel off. If something happens by some remote chance afterwards you’ll be a perfect whipping boy.
Grow some balls and man up. “Worried about upsetting people” FFS
I’d be more worried about causing an RTA and killing someone, or getting pulled over and given a fine. How long did you say you’ve been driving? 
Although not wanting to rock the boat is understandable, this day and age its not acceptable. That said even back in the day before the birth of the OCD elf and safety regime can I think of anywhere this wasnt an instant VOR.
If theres no set chain of command in place just report it to your manager and let him call someone out, keep a written record even take pictures if you want. If asked to use the vehicle refuse, if repeatedly asked and felt under pressure to comply then call the police, or threaten it.
Your licence, the buck stops with you… but you already know that surely with 20 years under your belt.
ok update, the fitter is on holiday so the apprentice took the wheel off today, the nearside pad was beyond anything, it was down to bear metal, he said the calliper had stuck and this had caused the pads to wear, there was no sign the nearside wheel was sticking, i would have known, he said the pinns the calliper slides on seized, this i know nothing about, does this sound viable? like i said before i dont want to rock the boat unless i am right, its nothing to do with man up, its about getting it right, the truck is off the road until parts come monday, but experience has taught me get it right before you start chucking mud, if the caliper was sticking enough to wear the pad out would i have not noticed it pullin to the left or somthing?? i like to think i know when something aint right… maybe im totaly wrong, i hope so., the bushes on the front leaf spring wore a while ago causing the truck to make knocking noises when i went around sharp corners, the fitter told me it was because i had not greased the king pinns, thats what im up against they are lazy ■■■■■■■■■
it may as well have been a sticking caliper slides…
jimroyale:
ok update, the fitter is on holiday so the apprentice took the wheel off today, the nearside pad was beyond anything, it was down to bear metal, he said the calliper had stuck and this had caused the pads to wear, there was no sign the nearside wheel was sticking, i would have known, he said the pinns the calliper slides on seized, this i know nothing about, does this sound viable? like i said before i dont want to rock the boat unless i am right, its nothing to do with man up, its about getting it right, the truck is off the road until parts come monday, but experience has taught me get it right before you start chucking mud, if the caliper was sticking enough to wear the pad out would i have not noticed it pullin to the left or somthing?? i like to think i know when something aint right… maybe im totaly wrong, i hope so., the bushes on the front leaf spring wore a while ago causing the truck to make knocking noises when i went around sharp corners, the fitter told me it was because i had not greased the king pinns, thats what im up against they are lazy [zb],
You’re over thinking this. The vehicle drove like crap. The brakes were defective. Write the vehicle up in the defect log and walk away. End of. No emotion. No doubt. Sometimes you have to make a judgement and make it stick you know. I make judgement calls like this everyday in my job. Trust your judgement and have some self resolve. It’s a piece of crap, it was defective. The fitter has confirmed it was defective. The details aren’t your concern. You walk on.
Yep calliper pins can and do seize… from lack of maintenance more often than not. You wouldn’t necessarily have felt it, but as soon as I felt that the brakes were dodgy, I’d have put it off the road and have done on one occasion. This ‘mechanic’ needs to replace both front rotors, pads and strip down the callipers to free and lube the pins and check the piston on both to see if they’re pitted (I’m assuming air/vacuum over hydraulic here seeing as it’s only a small truck.
As has been said, defect it and walk away.
jimroyale:
ok update, the fitter is on holiday so the apprentice took the wheel off today, the nearside pad was beyond anything, it was down to bear metal, he said the calliper had stuck and this had caused the pads to wear, there was no sign the nearside wheel was sticking, i would have known, he said the pinns the calliper slides on seized, this i know nothing about, does this sound viable? like i said before i dont want to rock the boat unless i am right, its nothing to do with man up, its about getting it right, the truck is off the road until parts come monday, but experience has taught me get it right before you start chucking mud, if the caliper was sticking enough to wear the pad out would i have not noticed it pullin to the left or somthing?? i like to think i know when something aint right… maybe im totaly wrong, i hope so., the bushes on the front leaf spring wore a while ago causing the truck to make knocking noises when i went around sharp corners, the fitter told me it was because i had not greased the king pinns, thats what im up against they are lazy [zb],
This company is presumably small fry, and IMO the sooner they go out of business the better.
Why are you even listening to a unfitter who suggests that knocking spring bushes are somehow down to your lack of maintenance (unless greasing and running repairs are part of your duties, are they?), they were knocking because its obvious to most of us here that the vehicle you are driving isn’t getting serviced at all, it’s getting the minimal and infrequent attention of Bodgit & Scarper when it makes horrible noises or the bloke driving it finally does what’s right when the vehicle becomes undriveable.
I suspect your brake calipers are still caked in the grunge left by winter salt and haven’t been attended to by a mechanic since the last MOT.
Generally it does seem to be these smaller lorries that are held to together with string and gaffer tape, and its high time VOSA (whatever they are called this week) started targetting such vehicles.
peterm:
Sorry mate, but if you’ve been driving hgv’s for nearly twenty years and you have to ask that sort of question, you’re either on a wind up or shouldn’t be out there with hgv’s.
Have to agree with the above.
If the brakes are pulling that makes the vehicle unfit to use and the obvious next step is to complete a defect and refuse to take the truck out until it’s fixed, if you still continue to drive it with defective brakes it is you who will be prosecuted.
If it happens again do not drive the vehicle on a public road ,they can hire a truck when it is being repaired, the worst case scenario of a fatal accident is a long time in prison, and loss of the driving licence, I suggest you contact Dvsa enforcement about their maintenance issues.