Notes

Free Trailer Service Ks
Grease Your Semi-Truck Trailer and Save Thousands!

Maintenance for Long Haul Trucks
There is a fundamental distinction in being a owner-operator versus being an organization driver but in each circumstances, the importance of greasing a truck is essential to protected driving as nicely as for effectivity and reasonably priced upkeep costs. Recently, I have seen the impression of autos not being greased correctly, Of owners who're totally trusting of their maintenance folks and yet the trucks are coming out the door with out being greased correctly.

Everyone appears to agree at least in principle that the motive force is the best decide of whats going day by day on with a specific truck with regard to upkeep. However, on the other side of that coin is the company "vision" that says "we now have a maintenance program and we've hired mechanics and administration workers that see to it these vehicles are maintained according to a set minimal standard." Well, that is all fine and good if its really occurring, however my experience is that except the driving force makes certain it obtained carried out, he might expertise dangerous occasions immediately associated to failure to do the very most essential thing in big truck upkeep. (i.e..) THE MOST IMPORTANT truck in the fleet, is the one that he's driving! Every self respecting truck driver by now ought to be shouting. "Grease my truck!", "Grease my truck!"

What should be greased on a protracted haul truck similar to a Peterbilt, Kenworth, International, or Freight-liner?


Here it is...

Tie-Rod Ends. - tie rod ends are connecting joints to the front steering. if they do not appear to be greased properly they may rapidly wear out and make the truck hard to steer. easy as that!

Pitman Arm Joint and Idler Arm Joint. - these join the steering gear sector field to the driver aspect wheel and tie-rod that connect throughout the front of the truck to make the entrance wheels turn left and right.

Steering Column.Joints. - two or three joints that permit the steering wheel to hook up with the steering gear sector field and permit the column to flex and steer the automobile.

King-Pins on Steer Wheels - These are what make the entrance wheels turn left and right. These big knuckles are the main element of steering this type of truck. They act like a hinge, permitting the entrance of the truck to be turned whenever you turn the steering wheel. They act at the facet of the tie-rod and can't be missed if you grease a truck.

Brake Cam Bushings - these are the pivots that allow operation of the air-brakes on a semi-truck. They require just some shots of grease on a regular service interval. Do not over grease these.

Clutch Release Bushings.- this may be a spot that gets ignored and shortly your transmission will not shift properly. only one or two photographs of grease is required.

Drive Line U-Joints. -on heavy vehicles, there is a single grease level on the drive-line itself that must be greased, Also a carrier bearing, and multiple u-joints that join the drive-lines to the transmission, and the differentials. these may be manufacturing facility sealed, or they may be grease-able. You will know just by the precise fact if they've grease Zerk on the inside facet of the "t". These U-joint assemblies are pretty massive and need 20-30 pumps of grease so as to be correctly lubricated. Be attentive, as a end result of they more than likely will have two grease Zerk on each U-joint.

There may be different grease factors on a heavy truck, but these are probably the most crucial. Not greasing a truck correctly will be the worst mistake of your life. Dry king-pins and steering shafts and drive-lines can ruin your day after they get so hot they sling themselves off of the truck, either causing an accident, or a expensive shut down. If these parts aren't greased regularly, the truck will start wobbling, shaking, wandering, jerking, or any mixture of those occasions. No driver enjoys driving a truck that is in this condition. A good truck can last 1,000,000 or extra miles with out changing shifting parts if they are greased from the beginning as new, and then regularly all through the life of the truck.

Note that the king pins ought to be greased with the front wheels off the bottom, and with wheels turned left and proper in order that the grease can freely enter the joints. They must be greased till the grease squeezes out the joints. U-joints must be greased till you hear the squish of the grease into the tip pins after which let a little grease come on out. Tie-rod ends must be greased till the rubber grease boots are full and grease comes out throughout the joint, sometimes this pushes out any water or filth, leaving contemporary clear grease for lubrication.

Many instances the grease job is ignored or half carried out, and the owner has to pay for it in shopping for components which are pricey to install. However, anybody can train themselves to examine the complete truck in 5 minutes or less, so that there is not any query once they return out on the massive road of their truck having been greased correctly. Remember: An un-greased or wore out steering part can make you wander off the highway, Or it can contribute to a giant rig wreck and I say this quite sternly that any grease rack operator who overlooks this important step in lubrication both is trying to place the company out of enterprise or (intentionally or not), is sabotaging the trucks he's being paid to deal with. If I can go one step further, the service manager and company owner should check and be certain that this department is doing their job. If it's checked off as accomplished, and then its found out the truck in query isn't properly greased, then possibly a new grease man should be acquired to do this job. Wiping grease on a Zerk fitting so it looks like it was greased, puts it over into a criminal offense in my mind.

Also, when a company has extensively at nice price tried to alleviate the wobbles and shaking of the truck via repeated alternative of steer tires, that is in my thoughts both negligence and protecting of a negligent worker. At some point an proprietor would ask why the service department is changing so many tires. Isn't grease a lot cheaper? I'm not even speaking about worn and uneven tire treads. I'm speaking expensive tire replacement to try to get the truck to steer and drive smooth as a result of the truck was not greased as it ought to have been. Nope, Drive-lines should not have slung off of latest Kenworth's at one hundred,000 miles. Internationals not capable of be driven over 45-50 miles an hour at 240,000 miles. U-joints dry as a bone (after) service appointments.

When going round a curve, either proper or left, and also you turn the wheel again to middle, only to have a delay the place the truck needs to maintain drifting outwards, then Clyde, you've an issue with loose steering arms. If you run over a bumpy road and the front end retains shaking with aftershocks, (no pun here) then you've got attainable worn tie rod end(s): If you discover the wheels shaking, shimmying, and wobbling, then greater than probably the kingpins are worn. If the whole engine and entrance end is shaking go back and search for drive-line (u-joint) failure. Remember there's a service bearing and a middle spleen the place the two drive-line ends meet.

NOTE: even though somebody will inform you quickly to anticipate these type of shakes, shimmy's and wobbles and then attempt to "smooth it out" with new steer tires, I'm suggesting very strongly they're simply treating the symptoms and ignoring the actual drawback. I ask them level blank, How did this occur to a truck that solely has a a hundred,000. miles? 200,000 miles? At solely a half 1,000,000 miles even? And Trailer service ks If It Had Been Greased Properly And Regularly Then It Wouldn't Be In This Shape At 1,000,000 Miles!"

So, all I am speaking about is saving hundreds of dollars by tightening up an important part of the upkeep cycle. Make your truck safer and more pleasant to drive.

If you get your truck again and upon inspection find it wasn't greased properly, then you should assume that the grease man is not concerned about your safety on the highway or of the hundreds of dollars the company is paying for drive-lines and tires. In addition, if he checks that he did grease it and did not, however goes and spends his paycheck, he is in placing himself, the company and the truck in violation of D.O.T. Rules. I really do not know what to let you know at this level; If everyone believed it WAS done, as a end result of the (not so) superior grease man stated it was, and no one questioned, then how are you going to pin the tail on the donkey when its costing you lots of and 1000's as a result of he actually didn't?

THE ANSWER IS and ALWAYS WILL BE, You should witness the grease in the joints at the time of service and the driving force is one of the best one to do that, especially when the grease man is paid by the hour. I ALSO state that you simply or I can easily learn to look at a truck roughly at any random time and spot what has been greased and what has not. For instance the grease cups will still present round/full, and evidence of grease within the joints, and you will notice the zerks are being worn by the grease gun.. A shiny new-looking zerks sans-grease is evidence its not being hit. If doubtful, say with the u-joints, get a grease gun and see just how many pumps it takes to fill them up and hear to the tell-tale squish of the needles within the suggestions of the joints. If its 10, 20, 30 pumps? SAD! -Never should happen if the store is correctly greasing its vans and tools on schedule!

In hindsight, all of the mechanics, and different servicemen where I labored had been nice, apart from whoever didn't grease my truck. But because it was seen by different drivers round me, their trucks have been missed as nicely. The finish of the story is that the work of the greatest mechanics can go down the drain if the grease man didn't do his work faithfully, simple as that. Its not something that ought to be ignored for it is the figuring out issue of whether you save or whether you lose 1000's over the lengthy run in trucking maintenance:



Read More: https://www.horschtrailers.com/