Chas:
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.
What’s the difference between fitting a wheel and checking the nuts on a wheel that’s already on?
Apart from the obvious extra bit of manual labour and the use of a wire brush, There is no difference.
I would expect things like changing a wheel or tyre, and basic mechanics were the sort of things a lorry driver should already be competent in.
i had a blow out one evening about 7.00 pm,just before the slip road off the A1 about 4 miles from home.limped on to bottom of slip road and had to wait for tyre man.got home at 10 oclock!!
if i’d have had a spare it would have took 20 mins or so to change it and been home by half seven…(dont even need a jack for fronts on a grab lorry-put the leg down and front wheel can be lifted off the floor)i had the knackered wheel off ready and waiting for tyre man anyway.
its not rocket science to change a bloody wheel ffs.
perhaps it should be part of the initial dcpc for newly passed drivers (but that might mean drivers getting dirty eh?)
The problems used to come when changing a trailer wheel which might not have been taken off for a few years, on more than one occasion no amount of thumping it with a hammer would get it to budge and I had to put two wheelnuts back on, both just turned up by a few turns, and then drive round in circles until it gave up and came off the hub.
Harry Monk:
The problems used to come when changing a trailer wheel which might not have been taken off for a few years, on more than one occasion no amount of thumping it with a hammer would get it to budge and I had to put two wheelnuts back on, both just turned up by a few turns, and then drive round in circles until it gave up and came off the hub.
That’s the best way really, even in the workshop it beats flogging it with a 14ib sledge until it feels like your arms are about to be ripped out of their sockets. Tends to be more of a problem when they’re on drums rather than discs, worst are the small low-loader/stepframe wheels.
Harry Monk:
The problems used to come when changing a trailer wheel which might not have been taken off for a few years, on more than one occasion no amount of thumping it with a hammer would get it to budge and I had to put two wheelnuts back on, both just turned up by a few turns, and then drive round in circles until it gave up and came off the hub.
oops forgot about that lol. i have on several occasions had to batter an inner rear with a sledgehammer in the yard to get it off
Chas:
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.
If someone can get hold of a class 1 licence they ought to have enough about them to be able to safely change a wheel.
The risk isn’t really with the mounting it’s with the processes of inspection and re-torqueing afterwards. As long as the wheel nuts are put back on in a star pattern with the correct tools provided the truck will almost certainly get back to base without wheel loss. I don’t share the faith in tyre fitters chances are they’ll have stretched the studs with the buzz gun before they get they get the torque wrench near them.
robguildford:
I just did my CPC (module 2) and it said something about needing a safety cage to inflate tyres, not sure what that was about.
It’s about someone that has little or no real world experience of HGV operating doing a DCPC feeding pointless and potentially misleading information about the tyre fitting industry to pad out an unnecessary training course.
You don’t need a tyre cage to inflate a tyre, only after a tyre has been seated on the rim and is being inflated to max pressure for the first time, and even then I personally think they don’t make things 100% safe and encourage complacency.
I would recommend using an inflator that you clip on with a long enough hose to stand away from the tyre wall when inflating though. I would concede that tyre inflating probably isn’t suited to a driver’s duties in larger operations though.
Yep, I’ve done a few, changing tubes and fixing casings with plugs, on split rims! It was a bugger when you caught the tube between the locking ring, and had to do the whole thing over again!
Would I do it again? Well, apart from the fact there are no split rims these days, no way in the world. Not when there’s someone to call out and bill the guvnor! That and the fact I’m too old these days!
On contract tip work me and my oppo changed dozens of the buggers, we kept a few spare made up wheels on site.
The reason its not worth carrying spares on lorries any more is all the different sized involved, OK trailer will be one size usually but many tractor units run three different sizes on the three axles.
To be fair unless you go off road blow outs are not as common as in the days when 70mph was normal motorway cruising speed.
If there was a spare the precious wheel attendant wouldn’t have the strength or nous to do it anyway.
Couple of mentions above about bulb changing, its annoying if you work somewhere you’re not allowed to do this most basic thing, but understandable from the companies point of view.
I’ve seen so many twin contact bulbs in single contact holders and vice versa, its incredible the intelligent bleeders can’t even check what type of bulb is required and just stick anything in.
Best the steering wheel attendant stays safely behind the wheel in stitched on hi viz, out of the way.
I’ve fitted and inflated dozens of tubeless tyres and dozens more tube type in split rims, never used a safety cage yet, you keep out the way and once pressure gets above 30 psi and you’ve seated the locking ring effectively, you lean the tyre against a wall so if the ring did ping off they wouldn’t shoot hundreds of yards.
Google tyre fitter death and see how many people have died from tyres failing on inflation. Tyres could expoled at any pressure. Most of the ones I have repaired and reinflater start to go around 80psi. I have yet to have one blow touch wood. But a few of the other lads have had them blow and the damage they do is something I dont want to have. Safter cages are not much use know days unless doing slit rims. As for call outs every company and individual is different but we will be on site with in 90min max and costs no more then £100 at night, cheaper in the day and free if your at your service againt or fleet location in the day. I am on site on average in 45min that is me personally any time of night. Remember we dont always get the call stright away when you phone it through. I have had a driver say hes been sitting for 3hour when I only got the call half hour before. It is more the health and safety why most companys dont let there drivers change wheels or even re torque wheel nut. Hurting backs been take to court for injurys for not been trained just cheaper to get another company to do it.
how many car drivers cant change a spare wheel? you see loads of them with a flat and they are crying for help
i was trained to change a truck wheel in the army (and tracks but that is irrelevant here) but no company seems to allow it these days (not that there are spares to put on anyway) and some dont even allow you to change a tail light bulb. tyres arent my problem but after my little check by VOSA a couple of months ago i now carry spare bulbs. they expect you to have the truck fixed there and then or they will give you a PG9 and fine for a tail light bulb so i will do what i can to ensure my truck is legal throughout my shift, doing mid shift checks if necessary and convenient like today. i dropped a trailer in bathgate and did a quick walkaround while i had to drop the legs and take the rear plate anyway. the lines are behind the cab so its not a big effort to give the wagon a scan as i am walking round it anyway. not a great deal i can do about an LED side marker though so i reported it when i got back to my depot even though it will be on a third party site until i pick it up this afternoon (only got 5 hours off on split shifts)
se4n:
Google tyre fitter death and see how many people have died from tyres failing on inflation. Tyres could expoled at any pressure. Most of the ones I have repaired and reinflater start to go around 80psi. I have yet to have one blow touch wood. But a few of the other lads have had them blow and the damage they do is something I dont want to have. Safter cages are not much use know days unless doing slit rims. As for call outs every company and individual is different but we will be on site with in 90min max and costs no more then £100 at night, cheaper in the day and free if your at your service againt or fleet location in the day. I am on site on average in 45min that is me personally any time of night. Remember we dont always get the call stright away when you phone it through. I have had a driver say hes been sitting for 3hour when I only got the call half hour before. It is more the health and safety why most companys dont let there drivers change wheels or even re torque wheel nut. Hurting backs been take to court for injurys for not been trained just cheaper to get another company to do it.
It’s worth remembering that, even if it’s company policy not to let drivers touch the tyres, it is still the driver who’s in charge of the vehicle and the driver- as well as the operator- who will be charged if anything nasty should happen as a result of wheel or tyre failure.
se4n:
Google tyre fitter death and see how many people have died from tyres failing on inflation. Tyres could expoled at any pressure. Most of the ones I have repaired and reinflater start to go around 80psi. I have yet to have one blow touch wood. But a few of the other lads have had them blow and the damage they do is something I dont want to have. Safter cages are not much use know days unless doing slit rims. As for call outs every company and individual is different but we will be on site with in 90min max and costs no more then £100 at night, cheaper in the day and free if your at your service againt or fleet location in the day. I am on site on average in 45min that is me personally any time of night. Remember we dont always get the call stright away when you phone it through. I have had a driver say hes been sitting for 3hour when I only got the call half hour before. It is more the health and safety why most companys dont let there drivers change wheels or even re torque wheel nut. Hurting backs been take to court for injurys for not been trained just cheaper to get another company to do it.
the call outs were never that expensive when i had trucks problem was would not get discount on new tyre and the buggers always had to put the best on …
Retired Old ■■■■:
It’s worth remembering that, even if it’s company policy not to let drivers touch the tyres, it is still the driver who’s in charge of the vehicle and the driver- as well as the operator- who will be charged if anything nasty should happen as a result of wheel or tyre failure.
So if I inspect my tyres tommorow to the best of my ability i.e. a visual check for tread depth, damage, wheel nuts etc, then suffer a front wheel blow out, that sends me into an oncoming vehicle, both me & my Boss will be charged?
change a tyre? maybe. change a wheel? yes if i had to. its not a job i would relish though, we don’t carry spares anyway but my boss is very proactive on the tyre front, cuts his own and is always swapping them about. i have helped him on a few occasions. i don’t mind mucking in to help us all out and get us moving quicker
