acd1202:
This bit about if you have any load on all axles need to be down goes back to the reduced tax for 38 tonnes on 6 axles. If you were on the “cheap” £1,240 6 axle only tax then you had to have all axles down even with one letter on, but that is 20 years ago now.
No you didn’t.
Kerbdog:
I was under the impression (more from hearsay years ago) that if your vehicle is loaded then your lift axle should be down. If you are empty then it should be up. This raises the obvious issues that you could be wheel spinning in wet conditions when you only have a tonne on board so wouldn’t make sense to me. Also you have designated weights for your drive axle and if you have a full load on of mixed pallets you would be just guessing as to the weight on your axle, even if you added the weight then the counter balance of the goods at the back of the trailer would change that. So what is the definitive answer ? Up or down, loaded or empty.I do recall getting one of the first Actros’s with an automatic lift axle, what a pain in the hoop… It was up and down depending on hills and depending on what I’d delivered, at the time i was doing multi drops (up to 20) and the load was constantly decreasing and not always from the back to the front either haha. I’ve never seen this setup since and that to me is good, it didn’t even have an overide button on it so you could lower it if it did start lifting and dropping willy nilly !!!
we have to have it down at all times[told on cpc],there worried we might forget its up and hit a bridge
kindle530:
:shock: surely you didnt believe that!youre not that bint from stobarts who got stuck in the snow with midlift down when empty are you??
Ha ha, no definately not. Usually these days I only put the axle up when either I’m empty or I have a light enough weight up front on that is certainly not going to push the drive axle weight for overloading at all, especially when conditions are slippery.
I did jacknife in 1998 on snow in Scotland in a Scania, the lift axle wouldn’t lift up and despite my best efforts I lost it at 15mph on a back country road near Dumfries !!! I was told by the garage when the wagon was recovered back to the depot later in the week that the lift axle was pushing down on the ground too hard, although I have never found out how that works or whether it’s correct !
kindle530:
Kerbdog:
I was under the impression (more from hearsay years ago) that if your vehicle is loaded then your lift axle should be down.
Did you notice that when the towtruck came to pull her that it was raised, obviously the recovery bloke told her to lift it, thought they had to undergo ‘extra’ training to ‘make it’.
the 16’2" trailers at our place can be 3" higher with the axle up, so we are all advised to run with it down whether loaded or empty.
FLIP:
Imho it should be illegal to run with the axle down when empty as it causes major traction/steering problems in less than perfect road/weather conditions.
Never had this problem.
ady1:
we have to have it down at all times[told on cpc],there worried we might forget its up and hit a bridge
Company policy to run with it down at all times because of daft drivers is not the same as a legal requirement to have it down when the axle or gross weight does not require it.
I hope this helps.
@ady1…not a dig at you but more the firm really.
I really pity you if the firm you work for thinks they have to tell you to do that.Do they spec twin steers on the lifts?
They’ll be telling you that you have to breathe next.
I just dunno how blokes on general with flats cope,I mean with the different heights each day the driver must be a wreck…either that or they’re drivers.
A bit off topic but I used to have a caravan (twin axle) that had a lift up front axle.
just thought that i would share that with you 
No point in having a lift axle if it is going to be down all the time 
They are there so you can carry extra weight, if you are empty why the hell would you have them down? it uses more fuel, wears the tyres out and you have less weight on the drive axle so less control.
del949:
A bit off topic but I used to have a caravan.
just thought that i would share that with you
That must have took some guts admitting that,fair play. 