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 Post subject: Broken down lorries
PostPosted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 09:25 
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As I was sat in a holdup caused by a broken down lorry the other day I wondered what type of things go wrong with lorries.

Cars hardly ever just stop. You nearly always get strange noises, misfires etc. so you can either get home or at least to somewhere safe to stop. Do lorries give the same warning signs, and if so why do so many seem to break down and block the roads?


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PostPosted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 11:08 
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Trucks are very similar to cars, except when they break down you can't push them out of the way.

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PostPosted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 11:33 
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Allegedly, this is one of the reasons the Police and HATOs use big 4x4s, it is believed they are capable of towing even a fully laden HGV out of the way by using low range 1st gear.
Never seen it done, or heard of it being done. Be interesting to see how much smoke would come from the clutch though.
Another problem would be, if the power steering were to fail, a HGV would be very difficult to steer, unless you had arms like Garth, not impossible though.
All HGV drivers will at least attempt to get the vehicle into as safe a position as possible to avoid causing problems to others.
I had a trailer tyre blowout some time back, just before the on slip on hte M62, I switched on the 4 ways and slowly moved onto the hard shoulder on the onslip itself.
1. it put me into a slightly safer position.
2. it put me into a much easier place for the tyr repair man to get to me.

Believe me, we don't like breaking down any more than a car driver does, it can in the worst case cause a failed delivery and perhaps a fine by the customer for not making the delivery.

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PostPosted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 11:37 
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SafeSpeed wrote:
Trucks are very similar to cars, except when they break down you can't push them out of the way.

But it helps if you have one of these....
Image
Having see them being made at the Leyland DAF plant in Leyland, I suspect there is a lot to break down under the sort of loads they carry, and the miles they do too, despite the engineering which goes into them. It's not completely unknown for them to eat a gearbox before they even leave the factory!

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:02 
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Dratsabasti I'd LOVE to see them try to pull a 44tonner with a blown air line with one of those silly little 4x4s!

Semitone. Bear in mind that LGV drivers will not always be in the same truck every day, so unusual noises won't always be noticed. Also, most cars aren't equipt with pnumatic everything. I once came across a broken down Merc that had split its main airline (straight out of the compressor) half way through a reverse and was blocking an entire street in an industrial estate. Lose main air pressure and you lose everything - all the brakes come on, you lose gears and probably clutch depending on the truck. As far as I undestand it, its fairly rare to lose a main airline like that, but losing a suzie (airline from unit to trailer) is not uncommon, locking all the trailer brakes. It is possible to move a trailer with locked brakes, but not too good for the tyres :roll: and unless the driver carries spare suzies then he's stuck.

Also, I seem to recall something about trucks having seperate head gaskets for every cylinder...

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 11:24 
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Sixy, I like that explaination. It might explain the problem with a truck I saw broken down on the slip road out of Corley services a few weeks back. It seemed odd at the time that he would have got to the services OK and then stopped while trying to leave, but an air fault might not have shown up until the engine (and therefore the compressor) was stopped. I have certainly seen pneumatics on industiral equipment that was perfectly well sealed until the pressure was removed and then failed when the pressure was restored.


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 23:31 
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In 10 years of driving artics, I have had only 3 failures of the red airline, one was the UK style bayonet fitting, and it slowly brought me to a halt, right on the roundabout.
The other 2 were with the EU palm connectors, spit spit spit, useless, dangerous pieces of crap.
Fortunately with these 2 failures, I was only travelling slowly, but the brakes just locked on, and I ended up kissing the windscreen, and one of them caused me to block the main road and the junction I was turning into, ended up with another driver lying on the catwalk holding the thing together with his hands while I slowly moved the wagon off the main road.

Most trailers these days however, have a shunt button that releases the brakes so you can manouvre safely out of harms way, and everybody elses as well.

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 23:50 
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Strange though it seems - yonks ago i was employed in an african station and a coal wagon had been put in the wrong place. All i had was a Nissan apology for a 4x4 . Got a chain , selected 1st in LR and wagon moved .No strange smells from clutch, no wheel spin .Not surprising that some months later the propshaft made funny noises :lol:


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 12:32 
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Dratsabasti wrote:

Most trailers these days however, have a shunt button that releases the brakes so you can manouvre safely out of harms way, and everybody elses as well.


that only works when you can figure it out. i have always had to connect the red line for shunting :lol:

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 17:04 
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Dratsabasti wrote:

Most trailers these days however, have a shunt button that releases the brakes so you can manouvre safely out of harms way, and everybody elses as well.


Unfortunately if your red line is split the shunt button won't work-the tractor brakes lock on too.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 07:54 
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A bit late to add a post to this thread but ive seen a police range rover towing a broken down 44 ton artic on the A38M in Birmingham. I was gobsmacked!

Another cause for breakdown is an empty fuel tank thanks to a defective fuel gauge :(


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 10:42 
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On a similar topic, whats with all the shed tyre carcasses that litter the motorways? Are these from the 'extra' wheels, having been shed without noticing, or are they just not collected by the rescue vehicle?


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 17:29 
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Dratsabasti wrote:
Allegedly, this is one of the reasons the Police and HATOs use big 4x4s, it is believed they are capable of towing even a fully laden HGV out of the way by using low range 1st gear.
Never seen it done, or heard of it being done. Be interesting to see how much smoke would come from the clutch though.


To echo Lankytim, I've seen it done too - at J7 of the M62. There were 4, possibly 5 large coppers in the range rover to weigh it down, a chain on the towing point and it moved very slowly to the side of the road.

It may not have been a fully laden truck, though.

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 17:54 
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I have towed a small coach a short distance with a fiesta!! once it is moving it is easy just take it to 5k revs before you go to second gear. I didnt make 3rd...

Another reason for breakdowns is clutches and steep hills in particular the A31 at cadnam. all the lorries stop at the same point... now if some one built a layby they could stop and let it cool down :idea:

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 23:53 
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Lankytim wrote:
A bit late to add a post to this thread but ive seen a police range rover towing a broken down 44 ton artic on the A38M in Birmingham. I was gobsmacked!


Been there. Done That! Albeit in the days when the MAM (MGW) was 32 tons. Uphill in the wet the front wheels start to lose traction.

Lankytim wrote:
Another cause for breakdown is an empty fuel tank thanks to a defective fuel gauge :(


Inexcusable. Removing the filler cap and visually checking level is part of the ‘daily check’

Nos4r2 wrote:
Unfortunately if your red line is split the shunt button won't work-the tractor brakes lock on too.


Which is why I always carry cable ties. Kink the red line unit side of the split and then secure it with a cable tie. Charge the tanks, push the ‘shunt’ valve, and you’re moving. :wink:

I’ve never had a red line go but I have had the flexible between the compressor and the tanks let go. I realised what it was and drove about another three miles to where I could turn into a wide country lane and stop. It had the added advantage of having a pub nearby.
:)


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 14:49 
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Grumps wrote:
Lankytim wrote:
Lankytim wrote:
Another cause for breakdown is an empty fuel tank thanks to a defective fuel gauge :(


Inexcusable. Removing the filler cap and visually checking level is part of the ‘daily check’

.
:)


Agreed, but many tanks now have anti syphon coils fitted so you cant dip them to check the level.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:21 
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You can tell by touching the side of the tank. There's a difference in temperature where the diesel comes to.

Buit then,I've never seen an anti-siphon device on a truck.

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PostPosted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:23 
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Ernest Marsh wrote:
It's not completely unknown for them to eat a gearbox before they even leave the factory!



That's just bad workmanship somewhere down the line. Those gearboxes should last over a million miles.

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PostPosted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 21:00 
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its also illegal to run out of fuel last truck i towed cos it ran out of fuel the local boys in blue give him a ticket for obstruction!!!!!

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 21:10 
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Bit late, but I had the red airline pulled from the back of the unit in the middle of Toddington services N/B when the line got ripped out by the curtain tightening handle on the trailer as I was leaving the services. Lost the air in about 5 seconds flat. My transport manager couldn't get his head around the fact that the shunt valve is useless in this situation.

Had a colleague driving a tiny Renault Midliner who lost all his air on the M1 very suddenly when a drive axle blow out took out the air suspension controls for the demountable flat bed. He was lucky to stop safely never mind find the hard shoulder.


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