A list of the items we check every service on company tractors and trailers. Please list the items you do also. I know this may be redundant but I want to check what everyone else does. Check all tires with a gauge, any below 80 psi is considered a flat. Remove rubber plug from air chambers and check for broken park brake springs. Remove plugs from steer, tag and trailer hubs {if there is one} check level and do a finger check to bottom of hub well to check for metal. Check all wheel seals while checking brakes/hardwear plus suspension parts and pieces while greasing Check clutch free-play if manual non hydraulic clutch. Check trailer ABS light at rear of trailer for operation. Look at color of fluid in drive train while checking level. Clear plastic surge tank has no discoloration on inside Engine exhaust leaks Fluid color in steering reservoir Check landing gear Look for any brake hoses or coolant hoses rubbing while greasing Check fuel screen on refer, plus belts and hoses {trailer and tractor} Check engine fan operation with key and for air leak plus check hub for bearing play. Before greasing u-joints check for play at joint and input and output shafts Every 30 to 40K check kingpins. Make sure power windows operate< and check all glass. Check fifthwheel adjustment. Check shocks for blown seals. Check steering components and that if equipped with fabricated steer tag axles check for cracks. Check CAC system boots and air charger. Your additions to the list please. Truck Shop
With a few of our trucks seeing sporadic use I always take a quick look at the batteries to see if we have leaks, funky stuff growing, swollen sides etc. Beyond that it’s the usual stuff, lights, lugnuts, chain trays, tires, brake adjustment on the older stuff, hubs yada yada. My routine is similar to yours although I’ve never put it on paper.
We try to keep it simple KICK THE TIRES AND LIGHT THE FIRES!!!!!!
Six turning and four burning? Haha
About what I do. Plus cab air bags and hood mounting hardware.
Only thing I would add is checking king pins every service. You already jack the front to grease anyway, right? Steer axle shackle pins bushings etc. Make sure nobody's out of place, slapping etc.
On the Hendrickson fabricated axles the manufacture wants them greased setting on the ground not jacked. Now crane operator is that your service or your walk around inspection? lol Truck Shop
You have a B-36 in that collection of yours?
I wondered who’d catch that....I wish lol. Dad and uncles were Air Force, gramps was Army Air Corp so I’ve been around that stuff in some form a long time. It was certainly an interesting concept!
On straight trucks I would drain the rear air tanks and then step on the brakes to see that the inversion spring brake modulating valve is working.
I don't recall the name of the movie, but there's a good one featuring B-36's with Jimmy Stewart as an aircraft commander. Which I guess he was as a reserve Air Force officer.
Strategic Air Command. Dad and his twin were part of SAC 65-69.
As I recall that was General James Steward by the time he finished.
That was it. Our local airport was an SAC base in the 50's and early 60's, they had B-50's, B36's, and later B52's. The Christmas tree still exists where the ready bombers sat and waited for the call. 7 pads and a road to a well guarded building with a jeep trail and lights every 50 feet on the perimeter. Wonder what may have been in the building...
The stories he tells about them scrambling the 52’s. Massive bird, shook their beds around the barracks like one of those old hockey games where the players more or less rattled around. I wonder how many flight hours they had during the Cold War as we always had a bird or two in the air. Even better with over 50 years service I wonder what the total is for the 52.
In '82 or '83 we hosted the B-52s from Fairchild AFB while the runways were being redone. They had one taking off every 20 minutes around the clock. Yep, they shook everything for miles around.
That's a good list and reflects what I was taught. A few I look for: Trailer frame cracks, most commonly in front of the front axle. Spread axle trailers are the worst, especially aluminum. Anything with Dayton wheels check for wobbles due to sloppy install. I don't know who puts the wheels on those container chassis I see on the road all the time, but they need to be fired. Don't forget to check the windshield washer fluid, especially in winter months. Don't forget to grease the 5th wheel plate. Check coolant freeze point and nitrate levels and whatever interval your coolant supplier recommends. When you service a trailer, pull the Johny bar and listen for leaks in the service brakes. Same for the tractor, but I would assume you would hear those... Always open the trailer and look inside if possible (van or reefer). Check condition of the floor and for any light shining through the roof. Take a walk to the front, don't just look from the ground. Don't forget to grease inside the cab. Many trucks have a grease point in the steering column under the dash. Some older trucks had grease points in the seats. Don't bother checking if the AC works. If it's not working right, you'll be informed... This is not a service item, but one of the toughest things for me to learn as a kid was not to get my greasy paw prints all over everything. Your average truck driver never looks at things that matter like tires or belts or those gauges and bright lights on the dash, but they can spot a finger print on their aluminum step from across the parking lot...
Do any of you guys torque spring U-bolts at a certain schedule?
We let the rust between the leaves tighten them up...
Frame cross members.
As far as u-bolt torque and cross-members those are easy to find problems with-rust trails start immediately. Pretty rare we have u-bolt issues with factory stuff, but Freightliner cross-members are another thing. And the drive axle air bags on Airliner suspension start to tilt as the spring/mount moves inward if u-bolts loosen, but usually rust appears before that at the axle saddles. Truck Shop
How much are you guys charging for a standard service?
Truck Shop service or Mannie service?
No just tap them with a hammer. Loose u-bolts will move and or sound different.
Buzz Bam an hour. A real service 2 1/2 hours which includes no repairs.
Buzz Bam an hour for trucks, motorhomes or rolling ****-houses $1000,00 an hour. Actually I don't do any out side work any more with a fleet of 60 tractors and 96 trailers to take care of. 2 hours full service, 1 1/2 hours short service. we don't do A's & B's around our shop.lol Truck Shop
Well my service charge comes with a 1/2 hour of creeper nap time and a cookie with a Starbucks coffee. Truck Shop
Is the Starbucks included in the charge? lol what size? Grande? Venti?
And all of y'all never checked the oil level or anything pertaining to it...
No worry, the driver checks that every day, right?
Good question, seems everyone missed it if they do. I always check cause habit I guess.
Well there spud monkey-checking fluid levels is a given in our shop so not much need in listing it. Redundant Truck Shop
I assumed a service included an oil change, fuel filters, inspect air filter, grease, etc. The basic stuff.
I used to work with a guy who would always hide the keys for the crane on the oil dipstick. Good way to find out who's checking what, but no one leaves keys with anything anymore.
I worked in a shop years ago where an oil change was a fresh filter and top the oil off. Of course everything was Detroit so maybe he figured enough passed through that it was always fresh enough?!?!
I've got the opposite, customers who have been changing their own oil for years but can't seem to understand that the filter is easy to remove for a reason....
Check all frame bolts, truck & trailer bolsters & bunks for cracks, nylon bunk pads, scale pad bolts, safety chain wear, trailer lift strap & pins for wear, wrappers & binders & emergency kit.
After today’s repair work....don’t forget the vents on the drive axles
Good one Junkyard!
We have a Mack flatbed, Gold Dog. Not assigned to anybody so it gets passed around and somewhat neglected. I never seem to be the one around when it needs serviced. So today I got the pleasure of resealing everything short of the drop in to the housing. Vents were covered in crap. If you didn’t know where to look you’d have never found them short of an hour or two with the steam cleaner. Gotta love it!
That is one of my pet peeves... If it's questionable... it gets a new one.
Also a handy dandy way to fill one after an oil drop.
Been doing a lot of brake work lately, pulling hubs to do cams and wheel seals, that's my favorite fill point. Add 8 pumps after the fill level to fill the hubs.
Back in my shop days a basic inspect and lube was 1.2 hour single drive, hour and half tandem, Full service oil change went to 2.5 either type included fuel/coolant filter(s), cleaning strainers or screens or adding coolant additives, pulling air filter unless customer said no. Lots to inspect for the basic trucks, Trash trucks were 3.5 hours but also lubed the bed, inspected for cracks/damage, Honey Wagons were time/materials including tetanus booster as needed and puke cleanup kits(not really but sounds funny!). Heavy equipment we had hours calculated but I no longer have that score card, seems a D8H or K was around 5.5 hours full service NO repairs, base filters, TD20 B/C or D6B/C were around 4-4.5.
The brake kits we used in the past had a piece of hard candy in them. Anyone else remember those?
That is Yam That is buzz bam. Place I worked at called that a basic service. 1 hour. The bottom of the sheet had a few extra items with an extra charge: Check and adjust brakes, coolant freeze point and SCA, lights and belts type thing. At the other end of the scale what is a full service? Trucks have a low air sensor on the primary and secondary systems. If the engine is turned off and the key back on drain a tank and test the alarm. Build the air and repeat the test on the other tank. Air up and engine off. With the trailer emergency ( red ) glad hand disconnected push in the truck and trailer park valves. The trailer valve must pop out before the minimum allowable pressure. All of those can put a truck out of service and are often overlooked.
No: it's good it came with oil. I see you are from southern Washington.
Nope I'm from Northwestern corner on the Olympic Peninsula, where the log truckers run people over and speed all the time 20 over the limit.
My dad did a big welding project for a municipal sewer treatment plant. He had to have a course of Hepatitis vaccines before he was allowed in the plant.
I only meant to poke at you for the use of y'all. I spent some time up that way about two years ago. It was very nice in the summer. NTSB rated drivers in the area I live as the third worst in the country. You are probably safer with your loggers than mine.
Spud_Monkey, I've generally only seen them at 15 over going by Lake Crescent with a load on. Running empty the tourists won't see much in the mirror but bumper bars. That's after hearing on the CB that the state constable is on the far side of PA.
Lmao I wish that were true, maybe so but I myself do 15 over and still have them catch up through Crescent. Thirty-five through Crescent haha more like 50 for me in my Geo trying to not get crushed by them or hit with landslide. I watch those loads lean like they do and I think oh ****. One of many last year alone. http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/u-s-highway-101-closed-near-lake-crescent-for-wreck/
I really think that Dilley, Dahlgren, Swanson and the rest of the guys up there must send judge Porter a healthy sum for Christmas every year to avoid those things being impounded and drivers arrested. LOL
It's okay I am actually from Texas which is where it originates from. If you see a true Washingtonian using the word y'all they spent too much time in southern states.
You werent doing 15 over by cresant lake this summer, you where doing 15 minutes waiting for the road repairs.
I hauled a 965 Liebherr out of LaPush one day. The trip around Lake Crescent was memorable even today. The loggers do a he!! of a job around the lake. I was listening on the radio as they got each other by me at speed in blind corners. It was art work to say the least. Little spooky until I found them on the radio.
Channel 14 was always the logger CB channel. No place prettier than at the west end of the lake looking east just as the sun clears the ridges and hits the lake on an early summer morning.
I took this one west to East a couple years back
That is a super photo! I don't know of another lake that turns into a mirror like that when there is no wind.
It is beautiful out there!
Now that judge Porter has retired I'm not afraid to head back up to that country. LOL
Growing up in Port Angeles in late 70's early 80's, my ambition was to drive Log Trucks, at that time you still had trucks with only 3 logs on, I am guessing the economy tanked in 85/86, and the spotted owl was a big deal at that time.
1989 is when the Owl crunch started to happen and was in full swing by 91. Big yarders were scrapped, parked and worthless by then.
Remember it well. In 1989 or 90 I went to work for the Komatsu dealer and started on the circuit of Weyerhaeuser Cosmopolis and South East Alaska. The owl made private timber that could be exported a lot more valuable. Do you remember the year that they shut down the Tongass?
Oh do I ever! 1997 is when they closed it down, that is when Ketchican pulp folded up and tore down everything in Ketchikan.
1989-93 was a huge export Boom for the northwest. I remember 12 inch plus Japanese logs selling for 1300 per thousand.
All the "drive fast" comments remind me of "real" log trucks like I drove; "engineering trucks" we called them, you had to drive a stake to measure their progress up a hill. It wasn't mph, it was sth (stations per hour.) It took 30+ minutes to climb up SR 18 the "Echo Lake Cutoff Road" from I 90 on our way to Tacoma with a load of export, 74,000 pounds. Of course, in those days almost all logging roads had no adverse. Top end on my 66 KW with a 5x4 double over was 58 mph. Unless you were headed home down grade empty. Then in Georgia overdrive, you could hit 70 and keep up with the cars.