Maintaining your Vehicle Is of the Utmost Importance
Through all those highway miles, semi trucks place great demands on the wheels. It takes more than brute force to make sure those wheels are bolted on securely. Use motorized trailer dollies to efficiently shunt trailers around the yard, so you can take a moment for proper semi wheel maintenance.
If you could use a good refresher course, Heavy Duty Trucking provides a thorough walkthrough of what to look for when replacing semi truck wheels. Important maintenance tips include:
– Always check for damage to wheels, studs, and threads
– Clean out the threads if there’s any paint or gunk
– Make sure matching sizes and correct materials are used for threads and nuts
– Replace damaged studs as well as the adjacent ones
– Avoid over-torquing the nuts
– Use a few drops of motor oil when re-installing nuts
The guide also recommends re-torquing the nuts after the truck has driven 50 to 100 miles, to adjust for settling.
Painting and refinishing the wheels are another maintenance point of contention. Experts do not recommend painting steel wheels due to corrosion problems. However, if you must refinish a wheel, then use a spray rather than a brush.
Also, remember that “tighter is not better.” Use 500 ft.-lb. of torque, not more, to avoid weakening the studs.
Make Quick Work of Maintenance with Motorized Trailer Dollies
Spending a little more time on wheel maintenance is worth it. You can make up for it by saving time with motorized trailer dollies. Our TrailerCaddy terminal tractor can be operated by any employee. Move and park trailers up to 100,000 pounds whenever and wherever you need them, all with a safe and user-friendly control system.
Check out our TrailerCaddy terminal tractor and other motorized trailer dollies from DJ Products!