^^^^
Agreed.
My point is that regardless of blame why would you not check and ensure that you’ve done EVERYTHING to prevent a trailer coming off.
I understand you’ve not been taught or shown. However it’s not difficult to see if anything looks amiss it’s just a case of getting in under. Shining your torch about and having a look to see if all looks well.
This coupled with your tug test (good practice but not all drivers do them either) ensures the accident is less likely to happen.
Blame and fault shouldn’t come into it.
Check and test, check and test is how I live my driving career and it’s not steered me wrong yet.
If my boss or anyone else wants to blame me for anything. Let them. Because for every finger pointing at me there are 4 pointing back at them.
I lower the unit suspension before going under, then raise it to its maximum before connecting the lines, as all our work is split coupled due to the gap. I then back on to the pin and move back once then forward twice.
Never had a problem, though I do see other drivers not bother using the suspension.
Mucker1:
martinviking:
That’s why you have a torch, always tug test, get out & have a look up her ‘Jacksie’ with your torch to make sure the bar has come across & the trailer is square on the fifth wheel plate/no daylight.Some of our drivers have a habit of dropping them to high (don’t know why, it means more winding down the legs
) if you go in low, tug test, then jump out & connect up without checking to gap, you might be surprised when the Trailer decides to Part Company 100 yards down the road.
Nearly happened to Alex on Ice Road ‘F’ (sorry) truckers, I think the mechanism was frozen, but he didn’t check it properly when he hooked up.
After tug test and fitting dog clip I still get the torch out & check underneath at the pin to ensure bar is across. Others say its OTT but nice to see others do the same.
Same here, I tug test it with the legs down and suspension raised, I then leave the suspension up, makes it easier to raise the legs, only takes a few extra seconds and if she does drop, she sits back down on her own legs. Always expect the unexpected.
Tipper Tom:
I understand you’ve not been taught or shown. However it’s not difficult to see if anything looks amiss it’s just a case of getting in under. Shining your torch about and having a look to see if all looks well..
Tom,I don’t think it’s because Smoggie can’t be bothered,it’s a case of how do you look for something you don’t know is there?
Shining a torch and seeing if all is well is good…if you know what you’re looking for. Obvious things like a bloody big gap between the 5th wheel etc stand out.
You and I know what to look for in the jaws but perhaps many don’t,I’d post a pic of what to look for just for those that don’t know but I’m off to work and also not sure as I know how.
Perhaps Tom,or someone else if you have a minute,you can post one,to maybe help others?
I’m not at work tomorrow else I would do it.
Perhaps some kind sole who has to couple up tomorrow could do it for us please
That is part of it aswell lol , I’ll be having a look tomorrow
Granted this fifth wheel is not for this market but the piece of metal which you need to be looking at (assuming you are one who wants to check the fifth wheel this way) is the black piece of metal which sits behind the silver coloured horshoe in the fifth wheel throat.
This picture shows a fifth wheel kit and when a fifth wheel gets too sloppy, these parts are changed. When you reverse upto a trailer, the king pin makes contact with the horshoe which then in turn releases the fifth wheel handle and the springs pull the fifth wheel handle back into the closed position. Then as this is happening, the other piece of metal (pictured above) fires across and it is this piece of metal which locks the king pin into the fifth wheel.
Is it just me or does anybody else think its scarry all that weight sits on that little kit!!!
That is nothing, these are the engine mounts of a 737 jet engine, there are 2 in the back of the engine and one in front, 3 little bolts holding back 25,000 lbs of trust.
Compared to that a fifth weel is a heck of a lot sturdier.
This was the best vid I could find which explains how it works. Worth a watch.
youtube.com/watch?v=uvjTXcF … ata_player
The plastic wearing rings are the main cause of failure and slap.
How many drivers do you see on a Saturday morning with a greasy stick?
Thank you Lusk and m1cks for the pics and video.
Could a MOD please make this a separate thread or else somehow draw attention to it.
Wheel Nut.
I agree. I can’t remember the last time I saw someone who wasn’t me greasing a fifth wheel.
Trainers,
Can you tell is how much time in training is given over to explaining how a fifth wheel works and how much is given over to am showing new drivers how to check properly.
Personally I remember very little time being given to how the fifth wheel works and I was shown how to check couplings properly by someone a year and more after I passed my test.
Smoggie89:
Tipper Tom:
Smoggie89:
Surely if you have done that there is no come backs to my fault? Although checking would cause problemsWould it matter who’s fault it was if the trailer came off?
What I’m saying is , if I couple up to a trailer and didn’t check the bar was across just the usual tug and clip, and the trailer did come off obviously I would get the blame from my boss, but if I have only done what I have been taught then I “should” be in the clear of any blame ? Like I have said when I replied I wasn’t trying to look big and hard , I was genuinely replying as I have never known anyone or been taught to check the bar is across …
You will only be in the clear of any blame if the fifth wheel is found to be faulty. It s not really about been blamed is it?? How about been a professional and doing your job in the safest manner possible!!
^^^thia is what I was trying to say
Good video m1cks.
I always knew that after you pull the handle, it moved the ‘Thingamajig’ which allowed the ‘Wodyamacallit’ to turn as you pulled away !
Now I understand what’s happening a bit more under that big sheet of metal & it’s not all Magic & Ancient Spells. Lol.
Tipper Tom:
Trainers,
Can you tell is how much time in training is given over to explaining how a fifth wheel works and how much is given over to am showing new drivers how to check properly.Personally I remember very little time being given to how the fifth wheel works and I was shown how to check couplings properly by someone a year and more after I passed my test.
I remember being taught to make a visual check of the fifth wheel. I am pretty amazed to read that some people aren’t being trained to do this. It’s one thing for people not to bother, but to not even be aware is pretty bad 
Just for reference, if you click on the you tube link which was posted by micks, there are some more videos by Jost which show how to rebuild a fifth wheel…it’s not a complex task to do by any means but it too is worth a view as it will easily give drivers an insight into how these crucial pieces of kit work. It ai also worth remembering that just because there is “slop” in the fifth wheel, it need not be the fault of the fifth wheel - wear in the trailer king pin should always be taken into consideration as this, in my opinion, is overlooked.
I always do a visual check of the fifth wheel when hooking up, it’s part of my routine. Was never taught it but if you have decker and single units dropping trailers its not unknown for a decker to drop a trailer off high and then the next driver in a single to under-run the kingpin. Most of my shifts begin and/or in the dark so I have a wind-up torch permanently in my pocket.
Lot of stuff you only ever learn on the job and from other drivers.