Juddian:
it’s thankfully an incredibly rare event, but as said it takes just a few seconds to look and you know absolutely that you’ve got it, i only do one tug test and then look see.
It’s true. In the last 14 years I’ve ducked under and checked the jaws are locked on every trailer I’ve ever picked up, even if just shunting it across a yard. In that time I had one dodgy event. I did the tug test and all was ok. But when I checked the jaws they were only half across. I’m not sure why that happened, and I’m not sure how far I’d have got with that trailer, but I thank my lucky stars I did check.
If you’ve been doing the job more than 5 minutes and you’re not deaf then you quickly learn the “right” noise the 5th wheel makes when the pin locks into place. Picking up an empty trailer is by the far the most distinguishable but occasionally picking up a loaded, heavy trailer doesn’t make the “right” noise and prompts a manual check to see what the status of the 5th wheel release handle is and if that’s okay, a check of the status of the jaws. Usually it’s because the release handle wasn’t correctly armed and the jaws of the 5th wheel were blocking the pin - easily solved by pulling out the handle until it locks into place to arm it properly. It’s something a lot of drivers don’t check - they think the pin has locked in the jaws and do a half-arsed tug test and all seems good, but the weight of the trailer sitting on the fifth wheel plate produces enough friction for it to stay in place when doing the tug even though the pin isn’t even in the jaws.
Always used to do it walk down offside number plate first then brake and legs (depends where the brake is which is first) jump up suizies off back down round to do dog clip and pull the handle then move forward drop suspension ease out from under it and put the suspension back up then bugger off lol.
Got distracted once done the number plate and brake for some stupid reason forgot the legs ( I know how bloody stupid) moved forward saw the trailer drop too far out to catch it middle off the yard with it on its knees 26 pallets of loo roll in it once the shunter had stopped swearing and laughing put tug under it inched it back up while I was red faced doing the legs up,never did that again just aswell it wasn’t the day before had 26 pallets of sugar on.
Wheel Nut:
Does anyone know what they are actually looking for when shining a torch at the Fifth Wheel? It’s foggy at 4 AM the unit is wet and dirty. What do you see?
The jaws when locked behind the pin, will appear to be a steel bar, around 1/2 to3/4 an inch thick going across the gap behind the pin, which will be fully down inside the fifth wheel.
If you look from the side view you will see the rubbing plate solidly on the fifth whee with no gaps showing anywhere.
Very good point though, its worth having a good poke nose first chance anyone gets, so they familiarise themselves with what a correct connection looks like.
I’ve had a browse on t’internet and there’s no pics i can find showing this in practice clearly enough with a pin locked in place, maybe if someone has a good camera on their phone they could take a pic and put one up, unless someone has better pic search than i.
1
In the pic you can clearly see the jaws, when you push against the king pin those jaws will swing around securing the locking device, which will look like a bar from behind when locked.
Found one, courtesy of ‘‘my truckalogue blogspot’’, not taken from his site but found on a general picture search
0
edit, not trying to teach grannies etc Wheel Nut, i know you’ve been around a while , just trying to encourage the younger/newer lads to take an interest in the mechanics of what we do, so they don’t come a cropper and hopefully are able to spot things going wrong before they do.
The picec of steel that fires across after the pin has locked in is called the wedge becasue its er wedge shaped and is about 2 inches deep at its thickest point, the bar you are talking about is actually the adjuster for the wedge itself, the adjuster bar controls how much the wedge can come across and is used to take the play out of the fifth wheel.
superscaniaV8:
So is anybody going to discuss ‘split-coupling’ ? *runs out of room screaming *
Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk
Don’t do it - end of discussion .
Its complicated and has to many chances for things to go wrong and as such I hate it . There is no reason to be in between a trailer and a unit these days with all these MAVIS rails etc . Why would a company put its workers lives at risk rather than spend a few quid putting a rail on the trailer allowing you to connect the lines from ground level ? Profit before a drivers life - not somewhere I want to work .
That’s if your Mavis rail works/slides. I always split couple with fridges because it easier to get the lines on. However I’d be very wary of doing it if the trailer was facing downhill. Some operators don’t have Mavis rails or swing over arms a la DHL.
Wheel Nut:
Does anyone know what they are actually looking for when shining a torch at the Fifth Wheel? It’s foggy at 4 AM the unit is wet and dirty. What do you see?
superscaniaV8:
So is anybody going to discuss ‘split-coupling’ ? *runs out of room screaming *
Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk
Don’t do it - end of discussion .
Its complicated and has to many chances for things to go wrong and as such I hate it . There is no reason to be in between a trailer and a unit these days with all these MAVIS rails etc . Why would a company put its workers lives at risk rather than spend a few quid putting a rail on the trailer allowing you to connect the lines from ground level ? Profit before a drivers life - not somewhere I want to work .
No reason not to do it, nothing dangerous about it at all.
I split couple every time I drop or lift a trailer, saves me getting dirty.
Back under, lift, check the brake and put the lines in. What can go wrong? If it suddenly decides to come forwards it’s going into the fifth wheel.
Dropping and the trailer is already taking its own weight and is essentially alone apart from the lines being on, again what is going to go wrong?
mark1284:
How do you drop a trailer?
Is this order ok?
Get out and take susies off… release kingpin… number plate off… (check trailer brake is on which automatically applies when you take red air line off) legs down… pull out abit… lower unit suspension then off you pop
Way I do it may not be the ‘‘Official dcpc way’’ but it’s my way.
T.brake on.(they don’t all come on when red line is detatched btw
Wind legs down.
Suzies off.
Remove dog clip pull pin.
No.plate off.
Pull out while lowering suspension gradually.
Had a couple of beers…have I missed something.
They don’t all come on when the red airline is detached■■?
mark1284:
How do you drop a trailer?
Is this order ok?
Get out and take susies off… release kingpin… number plate off… (check trailer brake is on which automatically applies when you take red air line off) legs down… pull out abit… lower unit suspension then off you pop
Way I do it may not be the ‘‘Official dcpc way’’ but it’s my way.
T.brake on.(they don’t all come on when red line is detatched btw
Wind legs down.
Suzies off.
Remove dog clip pull pin.
No.plate off.
Pull out while lowering suspension gradually.
Had a couple of beers…have I missed something.
They don’t all come on when the red airline is detached■■?
I imagine that he means that not all trailer brakes “lock on” when the redline is pulled. The SDC trailers we use at WS pop the trailer brake button when you disconnect the red line (worth checking anyway just in case) but back at Downton their Cartwright and Tiger trailers wouldn’t lock the brake on.
mark1284:
How do you drop a trailer?
Is this order ok?
Get out and take susies off… release kingpin… number plate off… (check trailer brake is on which automatically applies when you take red air line off) legs down… pull out abit… lower unit suspension then off you pop
Way I do it may not be the ‘‘Official dcpc way’’ but it’s my way.
T.brake on.(they don’t all come on when red line is detatched btw
Wind legs down.
Suzies off.
Remove dog clip pull pin.
No.plate off.
Pull out while lowering suspension gradually.
Had a couple of beers…have I missed something.
They don’t all come on when the red airline is detached■■?
I imagine that he means that not all trailer brakes “lock on” when the redline is pulled. The SDC trailers we use at WS pop the trailer brake button when you disconnect the red line (worth checking anyway just in case) but back at Downton their Cartwright and Tiger trailers wouldn’t lock the brake on.
Are you saying if you drop a downton trailer the brakes don’t come on when you take off the airlines? Sorry dude, don’t buy it
stevieboy308:
They don’t all come on when the red airline is detached■■?
I imagine that he means that not all trailer brakes “lock on” when the redline is pulled. The SDC trailers we use at WS pop the trailer brake button when you disconnect the red line (worth checking anyway just in case) but back at Downton their Cartwright and Tiger trailers wouldn’t lock the brake on.
Are you saying if you drop a downton trailer the brakes don’t come on when you take off the airlines? Sorry dude, don’t buy it
No, that’s not what I’m saying.
When you disconnect the red airline the trailer brakes come on, exactly like they’re supposed to. BUT they don’t lock on, the button doesn’t pop out.
Meaning that as soon as you put a red line back on the trailer and release the handbrake of the unit it blows the trailer brakes off without you having to push the trailer brake button in.
99.9% of posters here will not agree with me here (although I’m comfortable with that ) but with the notable exception of split coupling I never touch the trailer brake! The reason I have never been killed, injured or had a roll away is that I pay attention to what I’m doing and so consequently never leave the unit handbrake off. Those that do not have the attention span necessary to perform a simple task such as ensuring that the unit handbrake is on are in my mind somewhat akin to those that use a box of matches to search for a gas leak and quite frankly deserve to be removed from the gene pool.
I normally do a split couple/drop.
I dont like getting greasy, and also find putting airlines on easier by standing straight up on the catwalk. Doing the tug test its always tug, reverse again, then a 2nd tug. Big tugs too!
If someone wants to interrupt my routine I tell em to wait, and I wont interrupt anyone else.
And whenever dropping or connecting I always stand away from the truck and do a quick mental checklist of my actions. Worth doing after loading or tipping too. Just take a few seconds of calm to check you`ve done the paperwork, closed the doors, etc etc.
stevieboy308:
They don’t all come on when the red airline is detached■■?
I imagine that he means that not all trailer brakes “lock on” when the redline is pulled. The SDC trailers we use at WS pop the trailer brake button when you disconnect the red line (worth checking anyway just in case) but back at Downton their Cartwright and Tiger trailers wouldn’t lock the brake on.
Are you saying if you drop a downton trailer the brakes don’t come on when you take off the airlines? Sorry dude, don’t buy it
No, that’s not what I’m saying.
When you disconnect the red airline the trailer brakes come on, exactly like they’re supposed to. BUT they don’t lock on, the button doesn’t pop out.
Meaning that as soon as you put a red line back on the trailer and release the handbrake of the unit it blows the trailer brakes off without you having to push the trailer brake button in.
That’s how every trailer I’ve ever used except the old stuff with a ratchet works.
So you pull the air lines off and the brakes are on
the maoster:
99.9% of posters here will not agree with me here (although I’m comfortable with that ) but with the notable exception of split coupling I never touch the trailer brake! The reason I have never been killed, injured or had a roll away is that I pay attention to what I’m doing and so consequently never leave the unit handbrake off. Those that do not have the attention span necessary to perform a simple task such as ensuring that the unit handbrake is on are in my mind somewhat akin to those that use a box of matches to search for a gas leak and quite frankly deserve to be removed from the gene pool.
I’m the 0.1%!!!
Plus there’s a massive lack of understanding by people who seem to think if they use the trailer brake they can’t have a runaway, all you’re doing is changing the point at which the runaway process starts to happen.
I think they’ve a dangerous mindset, and a trailer that’s been stood a while and dumped it’s air can still runaway and squash you at the back whilst you’re putting the number plate on several seconds after you released the trailer brake
the maoster:
99.9% of posters here will not agree with me here (although I’m comfortable with that ) but with the notable exception of split coupling I never touch the trailer brake! The reason I have never been killed, injured or had a roll away is that I pay attention to what I’m doing and so consequently never leave the unit handbrake off. Those that do not have the attention span necessary to perform a simple task such as ensuring that the unit handbrake is on are in my mind somewhat akin to those that use a box of matches to search for a gas leak and quite frankly deserve to be removed from the gene pool.
I’m the 0.1%!!!
Plus there’s a massive lack of understanding by people who seem to think if they use the trailer brake they can’t have a runaway, all you’re doing is changing the point at which the runaway process starts to happen.
I think they’ve a dangerous mindset, and a trailer that’s been stood a while and dumped it’s air can still runaway and squash you at the back whilst you’re putting the number plate on several seconds after you released the trailer brake
Youre making a lot of sense there. A routine is good, but to be safe you need to understand the reasons behind it, not merely learn parrot fashion. For myself I dont put myself between two hard objects if at all avoidable. Number plate? Pull forward far enough to get a big gap to work in.
And another thing I always do every time is to check the brakes. Pull forward and give `em a good push. If there is a problem you want to find out at 5mph in a yard. Not at 20mph heading onto the road. Same routine with my cars and bike. Few yards down the road and check them.
I know how bloody stupid) moved forward saw the trailer drop too far out to catch it middle off the yard with it on its knees 26 pallets of loo roll in it once the shunter had stopped swearing and laughing put tug under it inched it back up while I was red faced doing the legs up,never did that again just aswell it wasn’t the day before had 26 pallets of sugar on.
, just trying to encourage the younger/newer lads to take an interest in the mechanics of what we do, so they don’t come a cropper and hopefully are able to spot things going wrong before they do.
but it’s my way.