milodon:
yeah I do agree you should keep well clear of live lanes when stopped on the motorway, my comment was only regarding the “I’ll break a fingernail doing that” crowd
Fair play
Some drivers don’t / won’t / can’t change a bulb without breaking a nail. Never mind a wheel 
milodon:
PremiumTrucker:
Not sure about your gaffers but mine would rather make a few calls to get help then one call off the boys in blue telling them there scraping me off the A1.yeah but you can’t make a call as you’re in control of a vehicle and on a motorway!!!11!
whatever you do is only as dangerous as you make it. I always keep a close eye on the pressure and condition of the tyres, hence only having a total of 3 failures in 8 years but I’d say I have a better chance of getting hurt slipping on spilled beer in the local pub than changing a tyre on any of those occasions.
3 failures in 8 years is a lot. 
I think there are are a great many people on here who live in a cotton wool enclosed, cossetted existence. I dont, nor do a great many others. if I get a blow out on whatever side its my job to change it, its always been so and probably always will be so. Personally i live in the real world where every penny counts, at the end of the day my very job can depend upon me being able to do what it seems a great many are too frightened to do, thats fine by me, but we dont all work for companies who can throw vast sums of money at minor repairs. Welcome to the real world gents.
extrucker:
I was watching on camera as a foreign driver finished changing a wheel yesterday on M1 S/B J14-13 and was casually strolling around lane 1, wheeling the flat tyre and trying to put it in a locker, making trucks swerve into lane two. Luckily for him, traffic was quite light, so they had room to move over. We wont let foreign drivers change offside wheels now. They will have to pay ATS or similar or they get removed. Not closing a lane for a driver to take 45 mins to change a wheel. Best I have had is eight minutes for a Three Counties Tyres fitter to change a tyre. He should get a job in F1 !!
Who won’t ?
NB M6 this afternoon just after j16 foreigner changing os wheel on trailer HATO had kindly shut lane one and the queue was back to thelwall - i know i clocked it - all to save some foreign ■■■■ a few quid
But what about the cost of delaying all that traffic - sometimes HATO should just say no way not until night when theres no traffic
Hombre:
I think there are are a great many people on here who live in a cotton wool enclosed, cossetted existence. I dont, nor do a great many others. if I get a blow out on whatever side its my job to change it, its always been so and probably always will be so. Personally i live in the real world where every penny counts, at the end of the day my very job can depend upon me being able to do what it seems a great many are too frightened to do, thats fine by me, but we dont all work for companies who can throw vast sums of money at minor repairs. Welcome to the real world gents.
As your company value your life at less than the cost of a tyre change, I’d be finding a new company mate!
If you make a habit of changing tyres on the M62/M25/M1 etc.etc. you won’t be living in any world for long matey. This country isn’t France with 3 trucks an hour going past. The motorways are very busy and packed with idiots…if you’re happy to risk death for a tyre, plenty of us aren’t. 
Loads of heros in this thread, bet all the ones that are giving it the whole i’d change a wheel on the h/s ■■■■■■■■ are the same mincey little ■■■■■■ boys working for the likes of tescos/stobarts etc where your not even allowed to wipe your own arse.
gm:
extrucker:
I was watching on camera as a foreign driver finished changing a wheel yesterday on M1 S/B J14-13 and was casually strolling around lane 1, wheeling the flat tyre and trying to put it in a locker, making trucks swerve into lane two. Luckily for him, traffic was quite light, so they had room to move over. We wont let foreign drivers change offside wheels now. They will have to pay ATS or similar or they get removed. Not closing a lane for a driver to take 45 mins to change a wheel. Best I have had is eight minutes for a Three Counties Tyres fitter to change a tyre. He should get a job in F1 !!Who won’t ?
NB M6 this afternoon just after j16 foreigner changing os wheel on trailer HATO had kindly shut lane one and the queue was back to thelwall - i know i clocked it - all to save some foreign [zb] a few quid
But what about the cost of delaying all that traffic - sometimes HATO should just say no way not until night when theres no traffic
but as already stated, which is the better option,
a hato shut’s lane one for an O/S tyre/wheel change. either for
45min’s for the drver to change it,
or,
90min’s for a tyre fitter to come out and change it for him. so now lane one would of been shut for nearly two hr’s for a blow out…
Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear. As a HATO (womble), I can stop someone from doing something that is causing a danger to themselves or other road users. Not physically, but if they won’t listen to me, Police will be a lot more decisive. If the vehicle cannot be limped to a safer location, then in our region, we would not let a driver change an offside tyre without a lane closure and we would be reluctant to close a lane for someone except a proper tyre fitter, ATS etc. I know that 99% of the time, ATS etc will take about 10-15 mins. I have had a Three Counties Tyre fitter change a tyre in 8 minutes. Didn’t even remove the wheel. A lorry driver does not usually have a fully working jack, torque bar etc, in my experience, so the lane closure time gets dragged out. Four hours to change a wheel in a refuge area a couple of weeks ago!! I would not hav ebeen happy if we had closed a lane for that!! Maybe this is what happened on the Thelwall?? Cieranc is correct in that it is difficult to recover a truck with a blowout, apart from front axle. But anything is safer than having an idiot strolling in live lane. The people that are moaning about closing a lane for a tyre fitter, or recovery, will be the same people moaning when we don’t close a lane and a person gets struck by a vehicle and splattered all over the road and the Police close the motorway for hours and hours whilst investigation is carried out. if a company cannot afford a tyre contract, then surely that raises doubts about their financial standing with regards to their Operator’s Licence?? When I took my Operator’s CPC, if you cannot prove you have sufficient finances to run legally and at an expected standard, you could not hold a OL.
extrucker:
we would be reluctant to close a lane for someone except a proper tyre fitter, ATS etc. I know that 99% of the time, ATS etc will take about 10-15 mins. I have had a Three Counties Tyre fitter change a tyre in 8 minutes. Didn’t even remove the wheel.
You must be bloody lucky then it takes them longer than that to get through the formalities of the phone call, let alone walk out to the van etc 
I’ve waited well in excess of an hour for ATS and other companies in several locations for a fairly standard tyre change let alone for one with a specialised tyre type or size
A lorry driver does not usually have a fully working jack, torque bar etc, in my experience, so the lane closure time gets dragged out.
Some of us do though especially when you’ve got a high value wide load on with likkle wheels that tyre vans don’t carry.
But anything is safer than having an idiot strolling in live lane.
Well if you did your job then the “idiot” would be in a closed lane
if a company cannot afford a tyre contract, then surely that raises doubts about their financial standing with regards to their Operator’s Licence?? When I took my Operator’s CPC, if you cannot prove you have sufficient finances to run legally and at an expected standard, you could not hold a OL.
It’s not always about the cost, it’s also about flexibility and availability. Your no more a policeman than a Traffic commissioner, so stop jumping to ill thought conclusions
I’ve clearly never had a blowout in “your area” then because the last one I called your colleagues who put a lane closure in so I could fudge it up enough to get it shifted to a safer place. Professional, knowledgeable and pleasant lads they were too Just sayin 
Back in the sixties and early seventies I’ve changed wheels on a main drag/motorway, but things wre a lot quieter then and dare I say it, driving standards were a lot higher. But nowadays, a blowout on a motorway or busy road means (as in when I was working) Hazard lights on, nurse it along to somewhere safe and get the job done. Like someone else said, even changing a nearside on a motorway is pretty dodgy nowadays.
As an aside, are you allowed re grooves/ retreads on trailers/ rear axles now like we are here, or do they have to be new.
billybigrig:
extrucker:
we would be reluctant to close a lane for someone except a proper tyre fitter, ATS etc. I know that 99% of the time, ATS etc will take about 10-15 mins. I have had a Three Counties Tyre fitter change a tyre in 8 minutes. Didn’t even remove the wheel.You must be bloody lucky then it takes them longer than that to get through the formalities of the phone call, let alone walk out to the van etc
A lorry driver does not usually have a fully working jack, torque bar etc, in my experience, so the lane closure time gets dragged out.
Some of us do though especially when you’ve got a high value wide load on with likkle wheels that tyre vans don’t carry.
But anything is safer than having an idiot strolling in live lane.
Well if you did your job then the “idiot” would be in a closed lane
if a company cannot afford a tyre contract, then surely that raises doubts about their financial standing with regards to their Operator’s Licence?? When I took my Operator’s CPC, if you cannot prove you have sufficient finances to run legally and at an expected standard, you could not hold a OL.
It’s not always about the cost, it’s also about flexibility and availability. Your no more a policeman than a Traffic commissioner, so stop jumping to ill thought conclusions
I’ve clearly never had a blowout in “your area” then because the last one I called your colleagues who put a lane closure in so I could fudge it up enough to get it shifted to a safer place. Professional, knowledgeable and pleasant lads they were too
+1 for most tyre co’s you’d think it’d be worth keeping a super single on the van but I’ve called and them have to travel to another depot to get one.
Our deckers have no jacking points and you have to use the air suspension to raise the wheel so you might as well do it yourself than have to explain it all to a tyre fitter.
Don’t see why anyone should pay a fortune for someone to do a job they could do themselves just because they’ve got an Iveco Daily with a lightbar.
peterm:
As an aside, are you allowed re grooves/ retreads on trailers/ rear axles now like we are here, or do they have to be new.
Yep
chester1:
as the tyres already shagged it wont of hurt him to drag it a bit further to a safer place to change it
I think anyone would do this if possible but even at absolute crawling speeds loose tread can tear off spray suppression and light clusters. There are ways and means to lock the wheel and drag it though but might not always be practical.
billybigrig:
extrucker:
we would be reluctant to close a lane for someone except a proper tyre fitter, ATS etc. I know that 99% of the time, ATS etc will take about 10-15 mins. I have had a Three Counties Tyre fitter change a tyre in 8 minutes. Didn’t even remove the wheel.You must be bloody lucky then it takes them longer than that to get through the formalities of the phone call, let alone walk out to the van etc
A lorry driver does not usually have a fully working jack, torque bar etc, in my experience, so the lane closure time gets dragged out.
Some of us do though especially when you’ve got a high value wide load on with likkle wheels that tyre vans don’t carry.
But anything is safer than having an idiot strolling in live lane.
Well if you did your job then the “idiot” would be in a closed lane
if a company cannot afford a tyre contract, then surely that raises doubts about their financial standing with regards to their Operator’s Licence?? When I took my Operator’s CPC, if you cannot prove you have sufficient finances to run legally and at an expected standard, you could not hold a OL.
It’s not always about the cost, it’s also about flexibility and availability. Your no more a policeman than a Traffic commissioner, so stop jumping to ill thought conclusions
I’ve clearly never had a blowout in “your area” then because the last one I called your colleagues who put a lane closure in so I could fudge it up enough to get it shifted to a safer place. Professional, knowledgeable and pleasant lads they were too
^ ^ This ^ ^
billybigrig, your welcome and thank you , till we meet again . keep them wheels a rollin`.
Some crack on and dont sit watching 
If it can be moved to a safer place - so beit.
…
As an aside, are you allowed re grooves/ retreads on trailers/ rear axles now like we are here, or do they have to be new.
…Trailers ok …^^Yes — …^^Yes …^^^^^ and Yes . …Dont fit retreads on front steer.
Problem with fitting retreads is that they often delaminate sooner than expected and often work out as false economy compared to a new one on trailers.
Regrooving ( cutting ) can bring new life to a worn so long as you keep within the limits,
the gauge holes in tread and wearer bars will give you a good indicator visually – a tread depth gauge will confirm tread mm depth.
Mine get re-cut, so long as the casings and sidewalls are all still in good order to max` lifespan and wear availability.
I do not use retreads from choice and previous experiences.
.
.
awaits incoming flak or mince pies
Saaamon:
Loads of heros in this thread, bet all the ones that are giving it the whole i’d change a wheel on the h/s [zb] are the same mincey little ■■■■■■ boys working for the likes of tescos/stobarts etc where your not even allowed to wipe your own arse.
Saaamon:
Loads of heros in this thread, bet all the ones that are giving it the whole i’d change a wheel on the h/s [zb] are the same mincey little ■■■■■■ boys working for the likes of tescos/stobarts etc where your not even allowed to wipe your own arse.
don’t be sad now, I’m sure someone will teach you how to change a tyre when you grow up
trux:
billybigrig:
extrucker:
As an aside, are you allowed re grooves/ retreads on trailers/ rear axles now like we are here, or do they have to be new.
…Trailers ok …^^Yes — …^^Yes …^^^^^ and Yes . …Dont fit retreads on front steer.
Problem with fitting retreads is that they often delaminate sooner than expected and often work out as false economy compared to a new one on trailers.
Regrooving ( cutting ) can bring new life to a worn so long as you keep within the limits,
the gauge holes in tread and wearer bars will give you a good indicator visually – a tread depth gauge will confirm tread mm depth.
Mine get re-cut, so long as the casings and sidewalls are all still in good order to max` lifespan and wear availability.
I do not use retreads from choice and previous experiences.
.
.
awaits incoming flak
That’s how I thought it would be. My last blowout was the inside, offside, middle axle on trailer, so I just dragged it off the M1 (that’s Qld) and changed it.
Fair play to the lad ,bEen there enough times. but NOT on the road, should of dragged it a few miles, steady.
Few years ago went out to one of our trucks on Sandbach services to change a drawbar wheel.While Im dancing on the wheel bar some dork comes over and tells me I cant do that there as its a franchise.I said you got a 10 hundred 20 wheel? No he says so I carry on undoing the nuts.
Next thing he turns up with a motorway plod.Now its 3am in the morning and its an offside wheel and the copper tells me to pull the outfit onto the hard shoulder off the sevices and change it there.Yeh right!
Says to the copper if this truck aint got a tax disc can you do him on here?
Copper say of course he can
I say therfore its the queens highway and im changing the bloody wheel here.
Copper said I never thought of that shrugged his shoulders and buggerd off.
redboxer850:
OTS:
Truckulent:
What a bunch of heroes on here!I wouldn’t change a wheel at the side of a motorway for all the tea in China, India and Sri Lanka!
Much too dangerous. I stopped playing silly ‘he-man’ games many years ago.
I wonder if the people supporting his actions will be the first to post another RIP post when the nob gets squashed?
You never did international driving then ?
I’ve been to the Isle of Man. does that count
Seriously, fair play to the driver for fixing it, BUT, international driver or not, no-one in their right mind would/should change an o/side wheel on the hard shoulder.
I would drag it to a more convenient location IF I was going to change the wheel.
I would do the same and try get it out of harms way