As we know, Lift axles will go down on there own once a certain amount of weight is put on them.
I have driven a couple of lorries where the load sensor has been bypassed. I much prefered driving these in icy conditions and on farms. I know i’d be overweight on the drive axle, But over a short distance at low speed, The extra drive axle weight gave more traction, Therefore it was safer as far as i’m concerned.
I asked an old boss if we could sort out the lorry i was driving to give me controll over the lift axle, But he was convinced it was illegal.
What do you think?
I had an ERF EC12 6x2 with a lift axle which didn’t drop on its own regardless of how much weight was on the trailer. It was completely within the driver’s control which was very handy when reversing into an awkward spot. An Actros on the other hand seems to regard the load imposed by an empty trailer on the fifth wheel as enough to warrant dropping the axle… 
If you just need the extra weight on the drive at low speeds and over short distances surely the air dump button is the one to use? Rarely does it lift the wheels completely clear of the road but in my experience it makes a considerable difference. If heavy it can take a while to work however as it seems to use a lot of air. Resets itself after minutes or when you exceed 15mph, as I remember.
Every vehicle that I’ve driven with an automatic lift axle has had a button/switch on the dash to enable the driver to lift the axle for low speed maneuvering Phil. Iirc the axle stays up until a speed of say 10mph is reached before dropping again.
I’d be very surprised if anything you’re driving doesn’t have this facility although I do as ever stand to be corrected! 
depending on the make of veh as I don’t know what other manufacturers do ,but we can get software where the lift axle will stay up so you can get traction but …it is speed related ,so as long as you stay below say 10mph the axle will stay up,obviously no one is going to drive on the main roads at 10 mph ,so in theory it is better than the 30 sec lift that you get just now .E.C.A.S has to be computer controlled as it is now linked in to all the other systems ,and to abide with current laws,you used to be able to get Swedish spec software ,which gave a longer lift ,if I remember correctly …but your really stuck with what the manufacturers give you ,but there is some leeway ,speaking to your dealer is the best idea ,just depends how helpful they are
the maoster:
Every vehicle that I’ve driven with an automatic lift axle has had a button/switch on the dash to enable the driver to lift the axle for low speed maneuvering Phil. Iirc the axle stays up until a speed of say 10mph is reached before dropping again.I’d be very surprised if anything you’re driving doesn’t have this facility although I do as ever stand to be corrected!
sorry maoster I never read your post before I wrote mine
Hello! A guy from Norway here!
We have all of our lorries with lift axle “sorted out” so we can lift them with load on. But it is illegal. We just don’t care about the rule. But last year some random guy in the Norwegian VOSA found out that hey let’s stop everybody and complain about it. So it was completely madness here for a month or two, with trucks being stopped, and new trucks not being able to become registered. But after much pressure from the drivers and owners of trucks they went away from checking it. But it is still illegal, but nobody cares. The Norwegian Minister of Transport and Communications said: Let’s just oversee that rule as we always have.
It’s the jerks in Brussels that have conclude that it is illegal. It is in some weird EU-directive.
But the question you have to ask yourself is: Does anybody care and check this? If they don’t, then f*** the police! 
The ability to lift the axle brings higher traffic safety in winter time, if one use it with caution.
Good idea me thinks, too bad the British are too stupid to understand this…
The 2nd steer on my Stralis (and most others too) isn’t even a lift axle. Becomes rather irritating when trying to ascend a decent hill in the wet, especially with an empty trailer on as there just isn’t enough weight on the drive axle to get going when stationary.
Reubs766:
The 2nd steer on my Stralis (and most others too) isn’t even a lift axle. Becomes rather irritating when trying to ascend a decent hill in the wet, especially with an empty trailer on as there just isn’t enough weight on the drive axle to get going when stationary.
Ah good thanks for that, about three years since i drove a Stralis but couldn’t recall it having the facility to dump any air from the tag, thought it would be a liability without that facility.
A lappy can sort the problem but finding someone to do the override is difficult.
Reubs766:
The 2nd steer on my Stralis (and most others too) isn’t even a lift axle. Becomes rather irritating when trying to ascend a decent hill in the wet, especially with an empty trailer on as there just isn’t enough weight on the drive axle to get going when stationary.
mine is on my stralis, also have air dump if I need extra traction 
You used to be able to run with them up…then Top Gear in its pre-Clarkson days did an expose of how this was ‘destroying Britain’s roads’ (they never explained why it was sometimes necessary to run with them lifted), and the C&U law was changed to they could only be lifted for a short time at low speeds if the truck had any kind of a load on.
If you have a lift axle conversion say rear lift rigid there is some times a manual lift lever on the solenoid air valve which will over ride the auto system, its ok if your stuck with a load on and don’t mind getting mucky.
So…and sorry if I am just not reading between the lines correctly !
Some of the units we run have the mid lift, Scania, and we often have very light loads, maybe just a few tons, as long as your axle weights are not exceeded can you still run with your lift up if you have a light load on, or must you by law run with it down regardless if any load is on the trailer, or something different.
From what I read above I am under the impression it must always be down regardless of how heavy that load is, correct ?
Does the Scania have a load sensor for the mid lift to drop automatically ■■ doesn’t appear to, only ever seems to drop when I have told it tbh.
We had an Axor for a while, that would drop the axle with two tonnes on the trailer and refuse to lift it. A dangerous motor in the wet, never mind snow or ice.
Phantom Mark:
Does the Scania have a load sensor for the mid lift to drop automatically ■■ doesn’t appear to, only ever seems to drop when I have told it tbh.
because your not carrying anything ‘heavy’! Ours do, over approx 9t when picking up a trailer it drops & I always try to lift it, if the weight is just under it’ll lift if not it comes up with a message in the dash that says something like ‘lift axle denied overweight’ or something & stays down, all you can do is use the switch just next to it to transfer weight at low speeds…
@Scanner-Axors are a heap of ■■■■ so no surprise there…
Well the unit and fridge box tares at 17.5t iirc ■■ and I have been out the gates at a total of 32t recently and I still do not recall the mid lift going down automatically, however on my old 4 series I do remember that dropping when you picked up a load of more than a few tons ? maybe it is just the company speccing a poverty spec unit without the sensor ? other R series Scania’s I have driven for different companies have the weight sensor stuff on the OBC, which is also missing in my current employers units ?
Can someone update the legal part of my question please as well 
Err
Phantom Mark:
Well I have been out the gates at a total of 32t recently and I still do not recall the mid lift going down automatically
It’s not dependant on total weight, it might just be for the drive axle weight as its the closest to the lift axle. You could have 6+6+6 on a tri axle trailer then 6.5 steer & 7.5 drive to give you 32t total mid lifted, perfectly legal & safer in my opinion especially in poor traction conditions.
The answer to the ‘legal’ part of your question is NO (otherwise what’s the point)…!
Phantom Mark:
Well the unit and fridge box tares at 17.5t iirc ■■ and I have been out the gates at a total of 32t recently and I still do not recall the mid lift going down automatically, however on my old 4 series I do remember that dropping when you picked up a load of more than a few tons ? maybe it is just the company speccing a poverty spec unit without the sensor ? other R series Scania’s I have driven for different companies have the weight sensor stuff on the OBC, which is also missing in my current employers units ?Can someone update the legal part of my question please as well
you can legally run at 40 tonne with a 4 axle unit so why would the lift axle drop at under that weight 