Wheel nut indicators

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
21

if a nut was loose and turned 360 degrees wouldnt it still appear to be lined up

22

villa:
if a nut was loose and turned 360 degrees wouldnt it still appear to be lined up

Yep.

23

or an even number of nuts all turned 180 degrees… :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

24

villa:
if a nut was loose and turned 360 degrees wouldnt it still appear to be lined up

he’d still be a nut though :grimacing:

Taxi

25

In a vosa checkpoint recently i was commended for my wheelnut indicators, but still picked up a £100 fine for not strapping every pallet, i explained that the pallets contained bags of powder, and they weighed 3/4 of a ton each, and had not moved a quarter of an inch since leaving the south of france, but no brains decided they were insecure…i pull a euroliner, so the load was partly protected by boards as well…so be careful out there lads.

26

cliffstephens:
seen a cats eye go through a car windscreen one time that made a hell of mess the woman was in a hell of a state could have done with half a dozen vosa blokes that day …

drum and bass dj kemistry died in April 1999 whilst being driven to another venue on the m3! She was a passenger in the car but it was a van in front which dislodged the cats eye and killed her instantly! RIP TO HER! :imp: :frowning: :cry:

27

truckyboy:
In a vosa checkpoint recently i was commended for my wheelnut indicators, but still picked up a £100 fine for not strapping every pallet, i explained that the pallets contained bags of powder, and they weighed 3/4 of a ton each, and had not moved a quarter of an inch since leaving the south of france, but no brains decided they were insecure…i pull a euroliner, so the load was partly protected by boards as well…so be careful out there lads.

■■■■ if you had stopped under harsh conditions etc etc etc the load may have moved …

28

GasGas:
Wheel nut indicators are not a ‘fit & forget’ device. They can alert you if a nut is coming loose, but VOSA/DVSA will still expect you to include a proper inspection of them as part of your daily check.

You can

  1. Put a socket and short bar on them and feel if they are loose

2) Tap them with a hammer and listen if they sound dull
3) Look for visual clues: ie rust around the nut, signs of fretting etc.

So I suspect that what the trainer was getting at was that VOSA don’t see fitting these devices as the ideal solution to wheel nut problems.Having them fitted won’t abrogate you of responsibility if they find a loose nut at the roadside by using one of the three methods outlined above.Regarding wheel nuts, there’s nothing they do at a roadside check that you can’t do yourself as part of a routine check when you take a vehicle over or start a shift. And you should be paid to do this and record it as ‘other work’.

I once asked a VOSA bloke why they got so cross about even one nut. He said he’s seen one thrown off a truck wheel, go through the windscreen of a following car and out through the roof!

whilst I 100% agree with what I have highlighted does anyone still carry a toffee hammer? just wondering as it was in my early days quite a useful little tool.

29

nick2008:

truckyboy:
In a vosa checkpoint recently i was commended for my wheelnut indicators, but still picked up a £100 fine for not strapping every pallet, i explained that the pallets contained bags of powder, and they weighed 3/4 of a ton each, and had not moved a quarter of an inch since leaving the south of france, but no brains decided they were insecure…i pull a euroliner, so the load was partly protected by boards as well…so be careful out there lads.

■■■■ if you had stopped under harsh conditions etc etc etc the load may have moved …

the load would probably move even if it was strapped… most of the vosa matrix is a load of tosh dreamt up by some dimwit with a computer generating little lines and graphs on a screen…
what they should have done is watch that episone of top gear when they had the truck race… and then send them away to work out how to secure a grand piano, a great big cake, and a car inside a trailer…

30

Been changing wheels for 40 years and aint had one come loose yet.
Mind you there is a lot of morons out there.
if you need some cheap plastic piece of crap to tell you if your wheels are still on then you shouldnt be driving a truck should you.

31

They do more good than harm so I really don’t know why they have a problem and the ones that cover the entire nut are usually only ever on the steering axle. Your company must be posh if you have them on all your wheels.

Maybe they are just lazy ■■■■■■■■ who don’t like taking them off to tap your nuts :laughing:

32

they need to be taken off when they go for test in our area. (Carlisle/Dumfries)

33

They are taken off for test so they can be tapped with a toffee hammer and checked for tightness (like what we used to do before wheel nut indicators was thought of)

34

Thank you for your replies. Can I just throw this in. I was passing a truck and snapped this picture. If you discovered this mid shift and did tint have a torque wrench would you still drive?
It always bugged me as I was never shown what was not acceptable and as a driver I would like to know what isn’t.
Thanks

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35

Also I am getting a toffee hammer. But wouldn’t those indicators ruin the ding?
After reading what can happen to driver and others I just want to ask those who might know.

36

LFO:
Thank you for your replies. Can I just throw this in. I was passing a truck and snapped this picture. If you discovered this mid shift and did tint have a torque wrench would you still drive?
It always bugged me as I was never shown what was not acceptable and as a driver I would like to know what isn’t.
Thanks

That nut has tightened though by the looks of it which isn’t uncommon if it’s on the o/s.