I wouldn’t advise any driver to change a wheel. If the replacement wheel came off and caused an accident they’d probably send you to prison.
There’s now a process for changing wheels involving using a torque wrench, driving a short distance/waiting a while, then torquing the thing up again. Basically if you don’t do it that way you would be judged negligent if it caused an accident by coming off. No doubt your boss would drop you in it as fast as he could too.
We live in a world where at least one big fleet calls DAFaid to change trailer light bulbs, because ‘drivers mustn’t tamper with their vehicles.’
I’m not saying this is right…mind…just the corner that the big corporations painted themselves into
GasGas:
I wouldn’t advise any driver to change a wheel. If the replacement wheel came off and caused an accident they’d probably send you to prison.
There’s now a process for changing wheels involving using a torque wrench, driving a short distance/waiting a while, then torquing the thing up again. Basically if you don’t do it that way you would be judged negligent if it caused an accident by coming off. No doubt your boss would drop you in it as fast as he could too.
This, these days a driver shouldn’t change a wheel unless he has a torque wrench. What we used to do and what the Law requires today are two totally different animals.
Since I own the rig I will change the wheel it’s cheaper but I did raise the cost of tyre call out in France with my local ATS dealer.It is not all one sided.I was informed that ATS
charges foreign operators the same fee as we are charged by them,and yes it seems damned expensive.And I suppose this works because ATS and Euromaster are the same company.
However the guy who’s fleet I work with,he prefers a call out,the great Health 'N Safety Bogey Man again.As for changing on a French Autoroute,I do see Spanish n Portugese
regularly just getting on with it,once they’ve dragged themselves into an SOS usually protected by a patrol van which is then wiped out by another passing rig.
In all honesty,as someone who dosen’t drive for a living,I honestly thought todays drivers were expected/trained in wheel changing,just in case as they say.
I just thought that was how it was!.
I’m a bit suprised what seams to happen when you lads suffer a puncture.
Just go’s to show what joe public knows about the job.
Back in the “Good Old Days” of backloading from scrapyards and tipping in steelworks, it was quite normal to change wheels sometimes two or three times a week. I still can’t recall if it was more fun to do it in freezing, windy rain or in blistering, dusty heat!
Until about ten years ago I was also in the habit of carrying quite a decent selection of tools with me in case of a problem which I was able to fix when miles from home. I was happy to do this until the night when my toolbox was broken into while I was parked in the firm’s depot and all my equipment was stolen, presumably by a fellow employee. When I had a moan to the boss about it, he just shrugged and said, “I can’t do anything about it- they weren’t MY tools”.
I haven’t laid a spanner on a lorry since!
A decent tool kit will have a tommy bar you can adjust the length, based on driver weight and stand on to get the correct torque on the nuts which should be done in a star pattern.
When i was on tippers if you got a flat that couldnt limp in you broke the wheel nuts and a guybcame in a van with a spare wheel and you replaced it.if it was in the yard you still did it yourself but had bettter tools.the tyre fitters only put them on the rims.i still shudder thinking about being under a tipper with a sledgs hammer trying to get a inner wheel off thats caked in mud
Hiya…i’ve changed a few over the years and changed tyres on rims.you needd to learn when on the scrap job.
anyhow non of that…what i really need to get over is moblie phones was just a myth to drivers untill the mid 80’s.
if you got a puncture in the late 60’s early 70’s the first jub was to find a red phonebox.Now if your on a road that
you don’t know, where did i see the last phone box???it could have been 2 or 3 miles away.40 mins walk.yes in
those days another lorry would stop to help you or give you a lift to a phone box…now just a moment i,ve got a
spare i’ll change it myself.not having a go at the new lads but you’ll never belive how on your own you was without
a mobile.plus no payed by the hour most jobs was trip money mileage and tonnage or a bonus.BRS was’nt all hourly
paid you got a bonus that needed you to keep rolling.
I think a call out from ATS cost’s about £800 and as much as £1400 on a sunday.who wants to pay out that money.
John
On my first trip over the water I had to change a wheel on the step frame tilt in Italy, which was easy. I then got a puncture on the way home on the M11, it was on the inner wheel on the drive axle and had to swap that, that was a different story. Sweating my knackers off with that one, but I was working for a bit of a cowboy at the time! I was driving an Iveco eurostar it had a spare under the unit which you wound down with the landing leg handle iirc. Good experience looking back, probably didn’t think it at the time though!
I spent my 21st Birthday sweating my nuts off in a German service area sorting out 16 trailer blowouts on a tank transporter trailer. We not only were expected to change them ourselves but also to build them up ourselves. Split rims anyone?
billybigrig:
Spot on for the UK but one blowout on a French motorway and the ensuing bill might change your thinking Harry. :
A driver hasn’t been allowed to change a tyre on a motorway hard shoulder in France for years, if you attempt to and the Police see you, they will stop you (Been there, done that, got the T-shirt)
You can change a wheel on a motorway in France even these days. I had the dubious pleasure last year without any problems from the gendarme - the patrouille turned up and coned me off. This was on the Rennes rocade/A84 Caen intersection.
It seems to depend upon the road and how much hard shoulder, traffic, which side of the truck etc…
There are still a huge number of drivers who change there own wheels, particularly in europe, this no doubt is down in part to the horiffic cost of having a tyre company come out to you - charges of up to 1650 euros not being uncommon.
Hiya i have a spare on my classic lorry (it cost £35) as i only drive at weekend i don’t think i could afford
a call out…as long as i have a spare you don’t ever use them…well thats what i hope.
just remember always tighten towards the cab…(thats for the old boys).
John
3300John:
Hiya i have a spare on my classic lorry (it cost £35) as i only drive at weekend i don’t think i could afford
a call out…as long as i have a spare you don’t ever use them…well thats what i hope.
just remember always tighten towards the cab…(thats for the old boys).
John
Own Account Driver:
A decent tool kit will have a tommy bar you can adjust the length, based on driver weight and stand on to get the correct torque on the nuts which should be done in a star pattern.
A good selection of scaffolding poles helps
I think carrying spares has died out because a, they can get nicked b, a phone call can be made 24/7 to whoever and c, why drag around something for nothing when you can max you payload without.
Ooops sorry, forgot about 'Elf n Safety regarding the driver.
When a trucks wheel & tyre part company with the rest of the vehicle, people can die.
Hopefully, this will never happen to you, either losing a wheel or being struck by one.
The reasons why truck wheels come loose (& they do) are actually quite interesting, if you’re interested then a quick Google should bring up the white papers by a full blown Engineering Professor working on the solution.
One of the main reasons why they come loose, fly off on their own & kill or seriously injure people, is because of mistakes made while fitting them.
Please, if you are not a competent tyre fitter, DO NOT attempt your own repair folks.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who don’t understand, no explanation is possible.
but that’s a different story! 
can’t carry a safety cage round Europe with you! 
