Get it bypassed. Pain in the hole trying to climb short steep hills in the wet or frost. Put a switch on it and if the Gestapo pull you in, drop the axle.
if i remember rightly on the DAF XF it is possible to manually control the lift axle as well as have it on auto.
the lift axle will drop once more than 9tonne has been placed on the drive axle - this can be controlled manually as mentioned earlier with the use of the air dump switch to place weight and traction back on the drive or it can be manually lifted which i think will drop the axle again once a speed of i think it was 12mph was exceeded so would be perfectly ok to run with the axle up when loaded over a short distance when terrain & conditions permitted - obviously once you get back on tarmac and do more than 12mph it will drop the axle again.
hope that helps
cissa:
Hello! A guy from Norway here!We have all of our lorries with lift axle “sorted out” so we can lift them with load on. But it is illegal. We just don’t care about the rule. But last year some random guy in the Norwegian VOSA found out that hey let’s stop everybody and complain about it. So it was completely madness here for a month or two, with trucks being stopped, and new trucks not being able to become registered. But after much pressure from the drivers and owners of trucks they went away from checking it. But it is still illegal, but nobody cares. The Norwegian Minister of Transport and Communications said: Let’s just oversee that rule as we always have.
It’s the jerks in Brussels that have conclude that it is illegal. It is in some weird EU-directive.
But the question you have to ask yourself is: Does anybody care and check this? If they don’t, then f*** the police!
The ability to lift the axle brings higher traffic safety in winter time, if one use it with caution.
Same as here in Finland. It’s illegal but none cares. Nor the police, the inspection… Just the idiots down in Brussels that does.
They don’t have ■■■■ modern devices over here
Lying actually, they do have lift axles on some trailers, what they don’t have is lifting suspension on trucks that enable us to raise a trailer if the legs are down too much and let us wind the landing gear up more easily … in fact when I tell people here that trucks in Europe have such devices they don’t believe me … This country (USA) once lead the world in vehicle technolgical inovations, now it is about 40 years behind the rest of the world.
Providing you don’t overload any axle, you can run at 38,000kg gross with one axle lifted on a 6 axle outfit, 32,000kg with two lifted, say unit mid-lift and one trailer axle.
SteveR:
Providing you don’t overload any axle, you can run at 38,000kg gross with one axle lifted on a 6 axle outfit, 32,000kg with two lifted, say unit mid-lift and one trailer axle.
Yes you can but it’s exactly how you shouldn’t load. Fill the truck up to 26t or what is the limit in the country and leave the leftover for the triple.
The rear axle bags have a pressure sensor fitted that cannot be over ridden.This automaticaly drops the 3rd axle,
In the cab you have a traction button that reduces pressure in the lift axle bags for ten seconds to get more traction on the drive axle,but it does not lift the axle by operating the lift bag.
It is not illegal to operate the traction button.
the maoster:
Every vehicle that I’ve driven with an automatic lift axle has had a button/switch on the dash to enable the driver to lift the axle for low speed maneuvering Phil. Iirc the axle stays up until a speed of say 10mph is reached before dropping again.I’d be very surprised if anything you’re driving doesn’t have this facility although I do as ever stand to be corrected!
i’ve always had lorries that can overide the lift axle, but some go up and back down so fast it’s pointless. i just think the driver should have total control.
I drive an Actros mid lift. That seems to drop the middle axle if there’s more than about 2 tonne over the pin. It’s got the air dump for traction switch right next to the axle lift switch. If I hit both switches at the same time, it’ll lift my middle axle, however heavy it is over the pin, but with the same ‘rules’ as the air dump. ie It’ll drop at 30kph or after a certain period of time.
My Volvo will let me lift the axle upto almost top weight, but only with the Moffet on! i suppose having 2.7 tonnes hanging off the back of the trailer takes a lot of weight off the drive axle!
Pat Hasler:
They don’t have ■■■■ modern devices over hereLying actually, they do have lift axles on some trailers, what they don’t have is lifting suspension on trucks that enable us to raise a trailer if the legs are down too much and let us wind the landing gear up more easily … in fact when I tell people here that trucks in Europe have such devices they don’t believe me … This country (USA) once lead the world in vehicle technolgical inovations, now it is about 40 years behind the rest of the world.
You might be the man to ask, Pat. A few months back on I81 in Virginia I saw an International Prostar that on the rear drive axle only had one wheel on either side instead of the usual double wheels. The single wheel was on the outside and level with the others and where the inner wheel would have been was just what looked like a wheel with no tire or some kind of spacer. With it being the rear axle it wouldn’t have been some kind of prototype rear lift as the 5th wheel was too far back for that and would cause the truck to ‘wheelie’. Never seen anything like that before or since. I’m presuming its just a cost cutting measure for a truck thats plated to run at lower weight?
Simon:
I drive an Actros mid lift. That seems to drop the middle axle if there’s more than about 2 tonne over the pin. It’s got the air dump for traction switch right next to the axle lift switch. If I hit both switches at the same time, it’ll lift my middle axle, however heavy it is over the pin, but with the same ‘rules’ as the air dump. ie It’ll drop at 30kph or after a certain period of time.
This is how it should work on all lift axles, 30km/h is plenty fast enough if you’re experiencing traction difficulties 
Whoever made up the rule about not being able to lift axles at drivers discretion should be sent up and down sutton bank a few times.
robinhood_1984:
Pat Hasler:
They don’t have ■■■■ modern devices over hereLying actually, they do have lift axles on some trailers, what they don’t have is lifting suspension on trucks that enable us to raise a trailer if the legs are down too much and let us wind the landing gear up more easily … in fact when I tell people here that trucks in Europe have such devices they don’t believe me … This country (USA) once lead the world in vehicle technolgical inovations, now it is about 40 years behind the rest of the world.
You might be the man to ask, Pat. A few months back on I81 in Virginia I saw an International Prostar that on the rear drive axle only had one wheel on either side instead of the usual double wheels. The single wheel was on the outside and level with the others and where the inner wheel would have been was just what looked like a wheel with no tire or some kind of spacer. With it being the rear axle it wouldn’t have been some kind of prototype rear lift as the 5th wheel was too far back for that and would cause the truck to ‘wheelie’. Never seen anything like that before or since. I’m presuming its just a cost cutting measure for a truck thats plated to run at lower weight?
It will be to lower rolling resistance, less rubber on the road, less rolling resistance. Obviously it will have a lower weight rating, depending on the tyres it will be 12000lbs or more, so only 5000lbs under a pair of tyres the worst way and if you haul light freight it makes sense.
The new fuel consumption regs that are coming out here will see the single driven axle become more common, they won’t go midlift or lifting tag in the mainstream, but there’s a new drive bogie on the market from Meritor that uses ECAS and a diff lock to provide the same traction as a standard pair of diffs that only have the power divider. Obviously full lockers will be better in extreme conditions.
Oh and stop calling me Pat
Our 10 plate and upwards Axxors and Actros’s will all lift the mid lift at 44 tonnes on the traction button either until you exceed 20mph or turn off the ignition. Great for slippery hill starts or tight turns,manouvering etc. Coming towards a tight mini roundabout or junction etc back it down and once below 20mph hit the button and round she goes no fuss no drama!
newmercman:
Simon:
I drive an Actros mid lift. That seems to drop the middle axle if there’s more than about 2 tonne over the pin. It’s got the air dump for traction switch right next to the axle lift switch. If I hit both switches at the same time, it’ll lift my middle axle, however heavy it is over the pin, but with the same ‘rules’ as the air dump. ie It’ll drop at 30kph or after a certain period of time.This is how it should work on all lift axles, 30km/h is plenty fast enough if you’re experiencing traction difficulties
No it ain’t anywhere fast enough and this why we up here don’t want guys with close to no winter experience be the ones writing the rules. Directly the speeds starts drop under 80 I got my fingers on the switch. When it goes under 50 it will already be almost up in the air.
Same goes going downhill. Most times you need at least 13t on the drive axle before you get any real use of the retarder. To use only the brakes in the winter would burn them up after just a couple of weeks.
ashbyspannerman:
My Volvo will let me lift the axle upto almost top weight, but only with the Moffet on! i suppose having 2.7 tonnes hanging off the back of the trailer takes a lot of weight off the drive axle!
Preview: Moffet mounted trl and unit problem
Iv been driving this moffet mounted trl for a number of years now. But was given the new eveco hiways 2 weeks a go. My problem is when I am pulling the empty trailer it’s like driving on jelly. I have a steal plate on the head board. Iv tried moving my 5th to the front the back and the middle. Nothing seems to be working the trailer as fixed axles so I carnt lift 1st one up.any advice will be appreciated…
none of the euro trucks have tri axles and carry 40ton so I wouldn’t think having your lift axle up made much difference imo…
I drive a MAN TGA Occasionally for a company pulling fully loaded deckers out from a factory farm steep climb with a sharp right turn at the top trailer legs just missing the road surface I can raise the lift axle to get me up the hill and round the corner and start to climb the next bit before it comes down again. With a full load in the wet you have to have it up to get a good grip. Also the Actros pulling loaded beer kegs you can lift the mid axle for low speed maneuvering. In fact with the Actros fully loaded its near impossible to reverse into a space without lifting otherwise the vehicle will stall.
Scanner:
We had an Axor for a while, that would drop the axle with two tonnes on the trailer and refuse to lift it. A dangerous motor in the wet, never mind snow or ice.
Please explain this to the clowns that load mine!! It is lethal even at low speeds 