one thing i have never been trained to check is the trailer suspension although if you drive with it raised or lowered, you are breaking the law. why does no one mention this? i always check the trailer suspension is reset as part of my checks but no one has ever advised me to do it 
scanny77:
one thing i have never been trained to check is the trailer suspension although if you drive with it raised or lowered, you are breaking the law.
You got a link to that legislation scanny?
A lot of trailers these days will automatically reset to ride height over a certain speed.
Are you? Breaking the law that is? I thought you were just knackering the tyresā¦It did when I left one down when I pulled it off the ferry 3 days after passing my Class 1ā¦Didnāt notice until the black smoke started pouring off them past Oxfordā¦Had come from Doverā¦ 
(Fortunately it was a traction only, so we just sent it back to France on the next ferry and kept quietā¦Expensive for a subby, 6 super singlesā¦ 
)
has anybody advised u to cover ure arse or is it a natural reaction this has been a message from the learn your job party ferry trailer swaps are when i say goodbye to a trailer are S. O. C. P. someotheir [zb] problem BYE learn to look at things i know nobody bothers to actually teach drivers anything these days hence the pittance we now reiceve if it dont look rite dont take it
Language edit. If it needs special characters to get it past the auto censor, that is the clue itās not allowed.Please abide by the rules you agreed to when you joined the forum.
Coffeeholic:
scanny77:
one thing i have never been trained to check is the trailer suspension although if you drive with it raised or lowered, you are breaking the law.You got a link to that legislation scanny?
A lot of trailers these days will automatically reset to ride height over a certain speed.
unfortunately, this was discovered accidentally elsewhere. it came to light that driving with your suspension raised or lowered means the tyres are doing the work that the suspension should be doing and therefore means that you are driving dangerously or something like that. this was a few months ago so i cant remember the exact crime
this aside, why does no one mention it? the last time i had a decker at perth i noticed the bags were almost touching the ground (it was lowered) and i thought i had a problem until i reset the suspension again and the bags raised up.
scanny77:
this aside, why does no one mention it?
Dunno. Probably because it is so obviously part of the checks that it goes without saying? Regardless of the type of suspension you have a look for damaged components etc. and would notice the suspension wasnāt at the correct height.
Coffeeholic:
scanny77:
this aside, why does no one mention it?Dunno. Probably because it is so obviously part of the checks that it goes without saying? Regardless of the type of suspension you have a look for damaged components etc. and would notice the suspension wasnāt at the correct height.
no disrespect intended Neil but i think that is the voice of experience talking. especially with regards to double deckers on 17" wheels that are almost tucked into the bodywork. think back to when they first came out. would you think to check it or not? when i worked for rank hovis, the trailers were built in 1987 with non adjustable suspension. since then, most have it but not all. with experience, i look for it but as a newbie, i didnt know any better
scanny77:
think back to when they first came out. would you think to check it or not?
Back in 87 when I got my licence. I worked mainly in the computer and air freight transport sector and they were both early adopters of air suspended trailers so Iāve pretty much always used them. Those were the days when transport firms used to display messages on their trailers proclaiming they were āRiding On Airā because it was an exception rather than the ruleā¦ Nobody ever told me to specifically check the height adjuster but to me it is such an obvious check to make Iāve just always done it, walk past and tug on the handle to make sure it is is normal running position. Regardless of experience when you know something is adjustable on a vehicle - suspension, 5th wheel, height indicator, mirrors etc - isnāt it obvious to check how the last driver left it?
it is with experience but again, if you have never been told about it, how do you know to do it? your walk around checks are normally on paper. the 5th wheel, height etc is all part of the hooking up procedure but that handle/button/remote at the back end of the trailer is easy to overlook. even more so to the newly qualified
Up until just over 2 years ago i always rode on steel (rigids). And i can honestly say that the 1st time i ever checked round an artic i got to the lever and thought to myself āright i think this is to alter the trailer suspensionā So i played with it i tried turning it left and rightā¦nothing ā¦okā¦ so i tried pulling it out ā¦nothing ā¦okā¦so i pushed it in ā¦ah it moved and now i can turn it left and right and i can hear the air going in and out so i assume then being a highly intelligent being that if the lever started out pulled out then i have to pull it back out to put it into normal driving position and hey presto it settled at what looked like to me a normal running position so there you go lesson learnt in less than a minute no formal training costing ā ā Ā£ās no mensa enviable i.q. no truck forum to steer me in the right direction just good old fashioned common sense ā¦ohā¦ and an insatiable curiosity āwhat happens if i press this or turn thatā
And like Neil everyday since then on my walk around i pull on the handle as i walk past without even thinking about itā¦ Job done ā¦No brainer.
Scanny if you wanna ask on what people dont check you should have said brake lights i never see anyone check them i carry an old wooden hammer handle in my day bag and it wedges nicely between the underside of the dash and the brake pedel just enough to activate the brake lights and with that and the 4 ways and the sides on i can check all lights in one go ā¦sorted ā¦Again proving that a little bit of common sense can go a long way (and possibly help avoid a tug too)
Reef:
ā¦(and possibly help avoid a tug too)ā¦
But not the tug on the suspension handle obviously. 
Spot on with the rest of it Reef.
Last week i took a trailer out and the suspension worked fine, bumping about on the tail lift caused a big piece of metal to drop a rivet and flap about a bit. On return to the depot the gaffer directed me to the trailer repair guy who was on site, he put a new rivett in. Gaffer noticed (before me) that the trailer was riding at full height. I said it was fine when i left the store and it was. However the lever would not budge anyway at all . The trailer guy told us toleave it till next week as it was going for MOT. The gaffer said wonāt it burst the airbags riding around like that? And the trailer guy said, no it will be fine.
Yesterday, i got an identical trailer ( i actually thought it was the same one) and i went to Newcastle with it. When i got to the store my suspension wouldnāt work, it was level but wouldnāt go up or down. On my return home i stopped on the A1 for a bacon butty and a cuppa and the trailer was now at full height. Again the lever wouldnāt work. I looked underneath.
The gaffer said, yeah we where waiting for a new valve for it (they knew it had a problem). You shouldnāt of drove it with it up as thats what broke the shockers.
Errā¦yeah, ok.
Now surley as part of your daily checks you check the trailer tyres
This would not be possible( in some cases) to do correctly if you canāt lift the suspension to allow better visibility thus you would know by adjusting to do so that the level would be correct for driving
As for damaging the air bags if running fully inflated, it shouldnāt but the ride would be horrendous and very noticable 
as would running with it down not to mention very hard on the tyres
I also would imagine that it would have some impact on the brake load sensing valve and that would be why it is Ilegal
scanny77:
one thing i have never been trained to check is the trailer suspension although if you drive with it raised or lowered, you are breaking the law. why does no one mention this? i always check the trailer suspension is reset as part of my checks but no one has ever advised me to do it
OOOPS - my hand is up, I am guilty of not pointing this out to trainees. I will now include it in the couple/uncouple procedure. Just goes to show that one never stops learning.
ROG:
scanny77:
one thing i have never been trained to check is the trailer suspension although if you drive with it raised or lowered, you are breaking the law. why does no one mention this? i always check the trailer suspension is reset as part of my checks but no one has ever advised me to do itOOOPS - my hand is up, I am guilty of not pointing this out to trainees. I will now include it in the couple/uncouple procedure. Just goes to show that one never stops learning.
It wouldānt have done me any good on my lessons ROG, I was pulling a 38ā flat on steel and it had the ratchet style park brake too.
Reef:
ROG:
scanny77:
one thing i have never been trained to check is the trailer suspension although if you drive with it raised or lowered, you are breaking the law. why does no one mention this? i always check the trailer suspension is reset as part of my checks but no one has ever advised me to do itOOOPS - my hand is up, I am guilty of not pointing this out to trainees. I will now include it in the couple/uncouple procedure. Just goes to show that one never stops learning.
It wouldānt have done me any good on my lessons ROG, I was pulling a 38ā flat on steel and it had the ratchet style park brake too.
SO DOES THE ONE I TRAIN WITH BUT I WILL STILL EXPLAIN THE OTHER TYPES TO THE TRAINEES.
On the trailers I pull, which are early 1992 vintage, no matter what position you leave the raise/lower lever in, it pops out to ādriveā when you take the park brake off. I suspect many do.
The reason for many of them being right up in the air or on their knees is that the ride height valve arm has corroded off.
ROG:
Reef:
ROG:
scanny77:
one thing i have never been trained to check is the trailer suspension although if you drive with it raised or lowered, you are breaking the law. why does no one mention this? i always check the trailer suspension is reset as part of my checks but no one has ever advised me to do itOOOPS - my hand is up, I am guilty of not pointing this out to trainees. I will now include it in the couple/uncouple procedure. Just goes to show that one never stops learning.
It wouldānt have done me any good on my lessons ROG, I was pulling a 38ā flat on steel and it had the ratchet style park brake too.
SO DOES THE ONE I TRAIN WITH BUT I WILL STILL EXPLAIN THE OTHER TYPES TO THE TRAINEES.
OKā¦ BUT WHY ARE YOU SHOUTINGā ā ? IM NOT DEAF!!! 
Dont you think your traineeās have enough on their plates without going through the A to Z of miscellaneous things though ā¦Not a criticism just a thought thats all
[quote="Reef
OKā¦ BUT WHY ARE YOU SHOUTINGā ā ? IM NOT DEAF!!!
Dont you think your traineeās have enough on their plates without going through the A to Z of miscellaneous things though ā¦Not a criticism just a thought thats all[/quote]
Fair point - might put it on a hand out post test.
I kEeP fORgETtiNg To TurN OfF THe CApsLOcK 
Reef:
OKā¦ BUT WHY ARE YOU SHOUTINGā ā ? IM NOT DEAF!!!
He was obviously trying to be heard over the lovely welsh ladies BAAAAAAAA