Car/Van/SUV etc. drivers

mike_l

boogieman said:

I remember being told when I was a young'un doing my own car maintenance that you shouldn't use grease on wheel studs. I can't remember why though!

I was told that by my Dad, yet every tech I've worked with has used copper grease on them. I use a little copper grease on mine if they need it.

Sambostar

The two rear wheels on one of the hubs of the Transit tipper down the road came off one day and they were fitted by a garage. 

Mine have never budged and I do drive to the limit, (Usually 55mph) and partake in some awesome Transit tipper drifts and annoying non LSD wheel spin when the leaves/rain/ice/snow allows.  I would rather use copper grease than not as the other Transit managed to keep travelling for a whole 3/4 mile before he finally noticed when he took a right hand turn, so they drive OK on three hubs anyway.

I am a bit paranoid about my trailer though.  Think I will fit yellow plastic thingies to the studs on that.  But it's probably purely psychosomatic as I can't see it when I drive along.  Had to get a trailer, no choice, so after finally checking I was able to and getting the GW and GTW right and what I could carry without needing a Operators license I got one. 

I did watch many off road caravan videos on YouTube to prove to myself that a ball hitch was safe, rather than a NATO hitch, which I'd prefer but In think is illegal.  The Caravans in the videos never become unhitched no matter what, even when there is absolutely nothing left of them and they have been destroyed to oblivion.

I could understand the paranoia if it's a car that you regularly travel at 120mph on the motorway though.

Sambostar

If you were a stud, would you grease your nuts regularly?

Alnico

Axle grease on Studs / Bolts is a bad idea but Copper grease is different and designed for it.

Sambostar said:

The two rear wheels on one of the hubs of the Transit tipper down the road came off one day and they were fitted by a garage. 

I am a bit paranoid about my trailer though.  Think I will fit yellow plastic thingies to the studs on that.  But it's probably purely psychosomatic as I can't see it when I drive along. 

Fluorescent Wheel Nut Indicators are a useful piece of kit but they are designed to be used in a certain way.

Obviously as you say, from the driving seat they are impossible to see or check, however they are completely useless if you never look at them at all when you're out of the vehicle.

The idea is that first thing in the morning, you do a walk-around check (With a torch if it's dark) and make sure they are all pointing at each other the way they should be. The throughout the day, whenever you are out of the vehicle and the wheels are within you sightline, you need to train yourself to look at them - after a while this becomes automatic and you find yourself checking them every single time you walk anywhere outside the vehicle. maybe not actually bending down and scrutinising them but certainly giving them regular scans to see if anything jumps out at you.

@Sambostar with your transit there is probably no need to check them that regularly, i'm sure they don't come under the same stress as an HGV however if you've already had wheels come off on the road, it might be a good idea to get them and check them quickly halfway through the day as well as first thing in the morning - as far as i remember they are about 20p per wheel nut but that might be wrong as it's been years since i bought them myself. Rather unfortunately VOSA can seriously hammer you for a wheel coming off and in this case they will draw almost no distinction between my Artic and your Transit, they will just see a commercial vehicle and if it gets as far as the Traffic Commissioner, you can be heavily fined and lose your Operators licence. The amount of times i cruise past a stop site and see it full of your type of Transit and almost no HGV's is silly so beware of them.

BTW you are 100% correct about ball hitch towing, they are way stronger than your mind seems to think AND of you've ever pulled the other type with a pin and a large metal hitch with a big hole in it, you will know that it's no fun being hit in the back every 3 seconds as the bugger takes up the slack in the receiver and jolts the towing vehicle. What is VERY worth having though is a proper safety chain, not the tiny little thing that's normally supplied with trailers. A piece of proper heavy duty chain can actually stop a trailer from 'Going it's own way' if it became detached while moving, at least long enough to allow you to come to a halt.

Another thing that should be an absolute legal requirement and seems to have been overlooked.

Sambostar

Thanks Alnico. Do you drive then? Was not my Transit, but a similar the one down the road.  Mine is more prone to snapping in half. 

Well aware of VOSA impounding you at the side of the road for a cracked wing mirror or being overloaded and the hineous fines they hand out.  They hang out at two roundabouts near me, hence why I didn't want a trailer unless absolutely necessary as it draws further attention, but since it is lawfully only a 'Small Trailer' of 1.5T GW (About 350kg unladen, probably less) and within the vehicles technical GTW and I am not carrying goods for hire or reward, the trailer is lawfully excluded from the Train weight max of 3500kg so I don't need an operators license or CPC or a Tacho thank fook.

Anyway everything is all road worthy, new brake mechanisms, shoes and cables all round and new lights that all comply.  Have the letter from VOSA to prove it.  Although most 4x4's and car transporters for hire and reward without a OL are risking it.  Not many in VOSA can interpret these relatively new EU laws.  I suppose they could still have me if they were feeling pissed off, if I was carrying a tipper load of grass cuttings to the green waste recycler whilst towing the trailer, as technically I charge in my time and the dump fee to get shot of it in the overall charge, hence why I carry the letter around.

The ball hitch still smacks a bit though as the slack in the receiver moves back and forth.

What I particularly hate about VOSA, besides the fines is the impounding you until you fix it there and then.  It is all too easy to rip a handbrake cable off or puncture a rear tyre at the landfill tip and I used to do that quite a lot.  Another thing is many quarries don't have scales on their dumpers, so they can easily load you with 4 tonne if they are having a bad day and not looking at your directions, so then it's up to you to shovel it off by hand, before you hit the weighbridge.

Be safer to have a Canter or an Iveco, but of course, then you need a tacho and the operators licence, the CPC and all the shyte that comes with it.  It's just not viable for a sole trader when you are dealing with economically viable one or two or maybe three, depending on the distance 1.5T Transit loads of waste or materials max, before you call in the cavalry.

Alnico

Sambostar said:

Thanks Alnico. Do you drive then? 

Yes i've been HGV Positive since 1993,

One thing that may surprise you is that you can approach VOSA for advice and without them recording your details, they can help you avoid penalties and possible infringements. That is to say they applaud any commercial driver who seeks to stay on the right side of the law.

In my world if i think that someone has overloaded me and i have no way of checking, i can go to a PUBLIC weighbridge and have a check-weigh. If i'm found to be overloaded i am legally allowed to drive back to where i came from or to my depot, (Whichever is closer) and be offloaded and often the Traffic Officers will escort me and make sure the loading point knows what's happened. AT no point will i be fined or prosecuted for it because i checked my weight at my earliest opportunity and took appropriate action to remedy it - the Law says you must not KNOWINGLY travel overweight, however if you are overweight when they pull you in, you can't prove that you didn't know at that point so it's down to the driver to make sure he does know - if unsure, have it checked.

Another very important thing to remember..........only a PUBLIC weighbridge is calibrated by 'Weights and Measures' and therefore accurate. a PRIVATE weighbridge, the likes of which you will find in scrapyards etc do not have to be calibrated and could be off. That's fine if you have lots of leeway but if a PRIVATE weighbridge says you are 43,800kg GTW and your Gross Max Weight is 44,000kg then you need to be careful because they can easily be out by more than 200kg if they have not been calibrated in a long time and it's down to the penny pinching owner as to how often he has that done. Once you leave his yard, it's not his responsibility at all.

It's a minefield but i can tell you from experience that if you approach VOSA when unsure of ANY legal issue to do with commercial's, they will see you as conscientious and they will not only help you but help you to avoid any future problems with solid and current advice.

Put simply they are there to enforce the law but the less drivers breaking those laws, the better so when a driver goes to them and genuinely wants to stay legal and safe, they applaud it and help as much as possible. 

Emp_Fab

mike_l said:

Danny1969 said:

Poxy garage put new tyres on my wifes car and used the impact gun on the security bolts which effectively shagged em and rendered the adapter useless. Took me a couple of hours with a chisel to beat them off before I replaced them with normal bolts

On my van I use a 1 metre sleeve which fits over the wheel brace and allows me to stand on it. 

Sadly that's common. It's usually the Kwikshit type places that do this.

On the contrary, Kwikfit always use a torque wrench - and they always have another fitter check them afterwards - again with a torque wrench.  My company has a fleet account with them and I've been going to different branches for ten years plus.

mike_l

Maybe yours Emp, but I see cars most* days where a "KwikFit"-type place has fucked the locking nut key by using airguns.

 

*Most defined as at least 5 a week.......

mike_l

And also, I see the tyre pressure monitoring valves which tyre places break regularly too. Less regularly than the locking nut keys though.

ICBM

If I only need a single tyre replaced or repaired I always put the spare on and take them the rim *off* the car and re-fit it myself afterwards. If I need two or more done, I replace the special locking studs with the plain studs before the car goes in and never leave them the key itself.

I also check the tightness when they come back - I've once or twice found them too loose, as well as too tight to undo on the road with the standard wheel brace.

A friend of my wife's was driving not long after getting her car back from the garage and one of the rear wheels fell off, causing a lot of damage. The RAC man could only find evidence of one wheel stud being in place at the time it finally came off. He thought they had probably done them up finger tight and forgotten about it, so the other three then vibrated out.

Sambostar

Yeah, I've approached VOSA twice, I get the impression they seriously cannot be arsed with 3.5T drivers and find the 4th December 2011 EU law a bit of a grey area.  The first time I was a PITA admittedly as I was after advice for certification for a custom conversion/ up/down rating so they directed me to a chassis convertor. 

The second time they were quite helpful and reiterated what I though already, ie, that if your trailer is under 1020kg unladen weight, provided you do not use the trailer for Hire and Reward, then you don't need an operator's license/taco, even though you are technically exceeding the 3500kg Train or Gross Weight limit, which is the limit, over which you would require one, because under 1020kg comes under the small trailer's exemption. 

Obviously the plated train weight of a Transit is 5500kg and in general you need a tacho/operators licence if you exceed 3500kg gross weight for Hire or Reward or use in running a business or trade, but the small trailer exemption (Under 1020kg unladen) still applies, provided are not using it for Hire and Reward.

Problem is, it's not just the expense of fitting a tacho and getting a Restricted Operators License, but you also have to prove that you have a yard where your vehicle is stored and that cannot be in a residential zone and you have to have access to £8k odd to spend on the documents and have another 2k for a taco to be fitted. 

So on the lighter side of GTW's the EU laws are quite ridiculous.

But carrying someone else horse in a horsebox with your 4x4 or another person's car would require a Operators licence.  I wonder how many Farriers or 4x4 bodgers or builders with van and Ifor Williams trailer have tachographs fitted and have an operators licence eh?

Alnico

Sambostar said:

Yeah, I've approached VOSA twice, I get the impression they seriously cannot be arsed with 3.5T drivers and find the 4th December 2011 EU law a bit of a grey area.  The first time I was a PITA admittedly as I was after advice for certification for a custom conversion/ up/down rating so they directed me to a chassis convertor. 

The second time they were quite helpful and reiterated what I though already, ie, that if your trailer is under 1020kg unladen weight, provided you do not use the trailer for Hire and Reward, then you don't need an operator's license/taco, even though you are technically exceeding the 3500kg Train or Gross Weight limit, which is the limit, over which you would require one, because under 1020kg comes under the small trailer's exemption. 

Obviously the plated train weight of a Transit is 5500kg and in general you need a tacho/operators licence if you exceed 3500kg gross weight for Hire or Reward or use in running a business or trade, but the small trailer exemption (Under 1020kg unladen) still applies, provided are not using it for Hire and Reward.

Problem is, it's not just the expense of fitting a tacho and getting a Restricted Operators License, but you also have to prove that you have a yard where your vehicle is stored and that cannot be in a residential zone and you have to have access to £8k odd to spend on the documents and have another 2k for a taco to be fitted. 

So on the lighter side of GTW's the EU laws are quite ridiculous.

But carrying someone else horse in a horsebox with your 4x4 or another person's car would require a Operators licence.  I wonder how many Farriers or 4x4 bodgers or builders with van and Ifor Williams trailer have tachographs fitted and have an operators licence eh?

I agree it can be a minefield.

Unfortunately there have been so many dodgy operators in the past, they clamped down.

There are lots of reasons why you really don't want a Tacho so avoid it at all costs.

It sounds like you've got your operation at the right point that suits you - well done. That's something that not everyone can achieve !

chillidoggy

Emp_Fab said:

mike_l said:

Danny1969 said:

Poxy garage put new tyres on my wifes car and used the impact gun on the security bolts which effectively shagged em and rendered the adapter useless. Took me a couple of hours with a chisel to beat them off before I replaced them with normal bolts

On my van I use a 1 metre sleeve which fits over the wheel brace and allows me to stand on it. 

Sadly that's common. It's usually the Kwikshit type places that do this.

On the contrary, Kwikfit always use a torque wrench - and they always have another fitter check them afterwards - again with a torque wrench.  My company has a fleet account with them and I've been going to different branches for ten years plus.

That's my experience with KwikFit, too.