GORDON 50:
I was in a similar situation a few years ago but in a 4 x 2, dif lock sorted it, so if this was me it would be lift axle up and dif lock on.
The example given by Crusty was a loaded wagon so you wouldn’t be able to lift the mid.
thats what the mid lifts dump for lasts abought 90 seconds
In my first post on this topic Rod, I had already said that I usually dump the air. But assuming we are generalising regarding different marques of wagon, I didn’t realise the mid lift actually raised fully!
Learnt a couple of things though, traction control seems to be more trouble than it’s worth
Unfortunately, as in cars, TC/ASR and A/EBS are the things keeping some of the vehicles under some sort of control.
Gone a stage further now with trailer independent braking when it senses the G forces building up.
Dare say the next stage will be yaw control of the whole vehicle.
Sadly it appears to be needed, cos whilst a lorry might be well chuckable in the dry, its a whole different ball game in the damp, though some drivers seem unable to differentiate
GORDON 50:
I was in a similar situation a few years ago but in a 4 x 2, dif lock sorted it, so if this was me it would be lift axle up and dif lock on.
The example given by Crusty was a loaded wagon so you wouldn’t be able to lift the mid.
thats what the mid lifts dump for lasts abought 90 seconds
On our MANs (and the Dafs we had before) there are two switches to lift the middle axle. One is used to lift it fully when running empty or lightly loaded, the other to lift it a bit in order to gain traction on the drive axle. The former does indeed not work at all when heavy, while the latter can be used regardless of weight (but the axle only stays lifted until the speed increases above a certain threshold).
As mentioned earlier in the thread, it’s a good idea to learn how these features work in the lorry (or lorries) you drive so that when you actually need them it’s second nature.
Vid:
I’m guessing only us suckers that drive on landfill will have a diff lock?
You got any idea how a diff lock works? or is it just another “button” on the dash board.
Tbf,as a driver why does he even NEED to know how anything works, unless he is maintaining or repairing it, or is this just you again massaging your ego by pointing out how inferior the average driver is to yourself…once again.
Vid:
I’m guessing only us suckers that drive on landfill will have a diff lock?
You got any idea how a diff lock works? or is it just another “button” on the dash board.
It’s the ‘magic’ button that stops the drive wheels turning independently isn’t it? Very useful on some surfaces, sometimes. An even more magical button appears on vehicles with 2 drive axles, pressing it in situations where singles drives are just spinning their wheels somehow enables you to just drive away whilst they’re waiting for a push or tow. No idea how it works, as Daddy Pig says ‘it’s magic’
Being a noob I treat every day as a learning day but being on easy fridge work doing the same handfull of runs your experience gaining can be limited .
Great advice for us newbies and one day hope full it will help a few of us .
I have to totally agreee that lgv training nowadays only teaches you to pass a test and not to drive.
Even the reversing exercise is taught parrot fashion and not by using techniques !
Keep up the good work pal
Hasn’t it always been like that. My first job was skip work you learn about getting in right places and growing a thick skin quick then
KR I cant comment on past training standards , only on my recent experiences but most of my learning has cone from finding quiet corners of Honeybourne air field and practicing , messing up at rdcs in front of guys and thinking"well I wont do that again" and listening to the old hands on here .
I did mine 30 years ago and it was just the same then. Most of what I know now has been learned after passing the test.
generallee:
It’s not just new starters either, lads who have been at it for years are still blissfully abusing tackle because they don’t or won’t understand what all the little buttons on the dash do. If you can’t be bothered pushing a switch before turning a tight corner there really is no hope…
As usual the clown is right on the money. Top post
This is very true, it is not just the young drivers with no experience. I don’t see many trucks over here with a lifting middle axle, both rear axles are drive axles, mine for instance has 4 super single drive tyres and neither axle will lift. I see older, supposedly experienced drivers make mistakes, for example all trucks here have locking drive axles to prevent wheel spin over objects or for instance negotiating slowly over pot holed yards etc, I my work we often have to drive onto raised areas to provide slopes for unloading liquids and when getting trailers washed out, the later involves driving into a wash area and place the drive axles on raised areas, as with all of these trucks the most rear axle is the main drive axle and the leading drives will not grip the raised area without the inter axle lock on, the times I have had to climb up and tell the so called ‘experienced drivers’ to engage the axle lock is countless and some of them have no idea where the switch is or what it does. As for younger drivers… When I first passed my class 1 many moons ago I was sent to load a trailer in Fords at the Daventry distribution building, anyone who used to go there in the 70’s or 80’s will tell you those bays were dam tight, with about an inch each side of the trailer to enable fork trucks to drive on from any spot without the use of ramps, I backed my flat bed straight in without a single shunt, a driver was sitting in his cab watching and then walked over to me and said “Did you just pass your test ?”
“Yeah, I did it last week, why ?”
"Because it’s only new guys who can usually do that in one hit, as we get older we get careless.
There is so much to learn about driving lorries, that most experienced drivers I chat to will invariably say that you never stop learning new things in this job.
I think that Downton had a sensible, real world way when I started out.
When I started, they sent me out with an old hand for a week to be shown / supervised 2 collection points and 2 delivery points. At the end of that first week, he told the office he thought I was capable of going out alone. Then, they kept me on that “nursery run” for about 2 months, maybe a little less.
I was essentially tramping a trunk run, but it meant that I could get familiar with loading/tipping and get in practice at reversing from different angles etc in a fairly controlled environment, finding somewhere to park up and managing my hours on a route I was familiar with and there would almost always be other company drivers around at either end in case I needed help (and for them to ask how I was getting on). After about 2months they started giving me the odd different run here and there, and I’d say at about 3ish months after I started, I was out doing the variety of runs that you expect as a tramper.
I definitely felt a sting to my pride that they allocated me a knackered unit, but I also can understand that from their point of view it makes sense to give a brand new driver a lorry that’s already had a hard life. After a while I got myself swapped into a well kept one and now I’m in a new one (albeit with a dented nearside step that pings my OCD radar on a daily basis! )
I’m not to be claiming that they’re perfect - the wages are low, your lorry isn’t “yours” and they are all very basic fleet spec… but the company takes on new passes, give you time to adjust, don’t push you with unreasonable schedules and treat you like a person. Just looking at the sheer number of newbies starting posts on here about nightmare agencies and getting thrown in at the deep end - my experience of starting out in the industry has been like night and day to theirs. Not to mention that I already know a couple of drivers who have left chasing money and come back after finding out that the grass isn’t always greener - so it’s not just a case of me not knowing any different- they’ve got to be doing something right!
A few posts ago Stevieboy308 mentioned about dumping the trailer air to increase the weight on the tractor unit for slippery conditions, and raising the unit to full height to add a bit more.
Truthfully i hadn’t given that a thought…my excuse i was brought up on springs…anyone buying that excuse, No?, thought not, it’s ■■■■■■■■ anyway .
Well today boys and girls i spent an enlightening few minutes experimenting on one of the weighbridges, and i have the results.
I’m going to start a new thread so it doesn’t get lost, dedicated to Stevieboy cos this is important stuff and could make the difference between getting the vehicle going…and we are heading into winter as we do every year…or not.
Stevieboy i am right impressed with you, wouldn’t give you one, but still right impressed.
The training firms are there to get their customers passing an exam and that is it.People on this forum are a help as are the /some of the folks that you meet out in the big bad world.
Tbh ive never found a need for a 6x2, they just add weight and reduce tank size , a lwb 4x2 at 44t+ is all ive ever used over here but ref the question, dumping the air on the lift is the only real option, using the diff lock on a turn will just wreck the diff ie rip the teeth off the crown wheel and pinion, the lock should only be used straight ahead…
Not typing the last line in micro print when I’m trying to read your otherwise good posts on an I phone would make you a whole lot more desirable in my eyes. Sweet cheeks.