We have just bought a FH low ride unit (example below) and muggins here is in charge of it for its maiden voyage over the water next week
Any tips greatly appreciated
Any tips greatly appreciated
Low ride trucks really do look so much better. Sorry I can’t help on advice 
Erm… Avoid high kerbs?
My advise would be carefully with the potholes.
Is the front axle on air?
Mine is, so I lift it up if I’m not sure, as in the past I’ve driven into what looks like a puddle and its turned out to be an elephant trap, ouch.
She has the scars to show.
Echo what’s been said. You need to be a bit more careful especially with the volvo’s. I have several and some drivers just can’t get their head around that they need abit more care. You’ll have front and rear air and be sure to use it. Also. watch the front bottom of the trailer hitting the catwalk.
never seen one of these before, is it for going under low bridges or what?
Plambert:
Also. watch the front bottom of the trailer hitting the catwalk.
+1 nothing worse than banging your front bottom 
Extra care when hooking up is needed, I would probably raise the front and rear suspension to keep it as level as possible when going for the pin. Never driven one myself though so feel free to jump on me if incorrect.
As has been said its got air f&r and as the low ride trailer isnt arriving til xmas im pulling our old step frame box as our curtainsider is toooo close to back of the cab 
?:?:?
jay0:
never seen one of these before, is it for going under low bridges or what?
really■■?
Low ride combination = more volume
Or in our case better/safer vehicle loading angle and more load height.
truckertang:
As has been said its got air f&r and as the low ride trailer isnt arriving til xmas im pulling our old step frame box as our curtainsider is toooo close to back of the cab
yeah, it because standard uk trailer’s the king pin is around 1150mm from the ground at running height, where as the low ride trailer’s run at 950mm, this mean’s the head board of the trailer will sit a lot closer to the cat walk due to the angle that the trailer is running at, the best guess to why the curtainsider wont fit due to the king pin location, as the unit probably wont have a sliding 5th wheel.
Is the 5th wheel not a dual height? On TransAm we had them, iirc you undo a dog clip and pull a lever, then flick a switch on the side and it will raise by air up to ‘normal’ ride height.
As has been said watch for front bottom of trailer smacking your catwalk.
I never had any ‘low ride’ problems whilst driving (as opposed to driving at normal height)
Theres not really a lot to worry about tbh.
I think the low ride trucks look so much better , why can’t we have them more in uk .
In Euroland they used to like to see the official
stamp from the maker of that large fuel tank to show the cubic volume.And how many litres it holds.
Diesel Dave will advise if you need Adr if carrying so many litres.
Few things to watch out for.
By the sound of it you’ll be running a dual height 5th wheel. The main thing to look out for here is remembering to have the 5th wheel in the lower position when pulling a low running trailer. As has been said, the height difference between the 2 levels is around 200mm or 8 inches. If you back under a 16 foot double decker with the 5th wheel at the top your trailer is now 16 foot 8. The minimum height for motorway bridges is 16 foot 6 so you can imagine what could possibly happen there.
If you back under the trailer slowly you’ll be ok as it’ll feel like you’re backing into a brick wall when you try and go under. I’ve done it myself a few times. If, like some of the numptys at our place you ram them under with your foot to the floor, it will go under. And I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes.
If you get it wrong the other way round, and try and back under a high trailer with the 5th wheel down you’ll miss the pin even with the suspension at the top. Result being the trailer will hit the back of the cab. Again, no big deal if you’re going slow but still not something you want to do.
Something else I see on a weekly basis. When you’re connecting to a low running trailer and you’re suspension is at the top your mud guards will fowl on the trailer. This is no problem if you’re driving in a straight line but they’re susceptible to being ripped off if you try and turn. Our bays are so tight you can’t wind the legs up so we have to drive forward to raise the legs which blocks half the yard off when it’s busy. Now I don’t care who has to wait but some drivers do so they drive off all round the yard to somewhere quiet so they can do their legs. Go talk to our maintenance department about how much this practice costs every year. We could have a substantial pay rise out of it put it that way.
And one last thing. If it’s a Jost type 5th wheel, in the control box there’s an arm you have to pull up to release the locking mechanism. On some 5th wheels when you release the arm/button it automatically re-locks itself. With the Jost you have to physically re-lock it by pulling the arm down. If you forget and you’re running a trailer in the high position the 5th wheel will drop after the first big bump you go over. Again, seen this happen several times. Seen our trucks on the motorway with trailers pointing at the floor and I’ve seen them pull in the yard like it too.
Slightly off topic (and seeming a bit nebby), but watch out for Low Emission Zones if that '06 plate is not at Euro 4.
Just watch the trailer on the mud guards when over the water coz the roundabouts in France have adverse cambers & if heavy can result in ripping the things off!
You need to be very careful when backing on bays because sometimes the bumper on the trailer almost touches the floor if it’s on a slight down hill and it’s easy to catch it on the banana bars, kerbs aren’t really to much of a problem but potholes will do damage and on some speed bumps you may have to go over at an angle to avoid scrapping the underneath and don’t let the trailer bounce on them as you’ll catch the rear bumper.
GCR2ERF:
Slightly off topic (and seeming a bit nebby), but watch out for Low Emission Zones if that '06 plate is not at Euro 4.
That’s not the truck weve got, ours is an 09, it was just an example
Good thing is we move cars so no backing on bays and no stroppy goods in muppets to worry about, its mainly the ferries & le ■■■■■■■ that will need yje slowly slowly approach
toby1234abc:
In Euroland they used to like to see the official
stamp from the maker of that large fuel tank to show the cubic volume.And how many litres it holds.
Diesel Dave will advise if you need Adr if carrying so many litres.
are you for real … in that case you need a Haz by sea for every truck that has a fire extinguisher on board