adjusting brakes yourself

You know I had a ritual I carried out once every 3-4 weeks, it involved a grease gun, ratchet, hammer and a rag. Id grease everything and check all the brakes. Never had an issue one.

They were the so called automatics. It was not uncommon to have to adjust them a bit.

 

What I would like to know is... Why did they change to the automatics when the manuels work just fine? How does one go about finding the information and training so that I can be certified to do it?

 

That's an easy one to answer!

TRUCK DRIVERS ARE LAZY!!

Manual slack adjusters worked fine when they were adjusted properly!
Therein lies the problem...

Drivers were just too ###### lazy to get under there and adjust them and the problem was getting worse as the quality of drivers began to deteriorate rapidly in the late 80's and early 90's.

Something had to be done because "Brakes out of adjustment" was playing an increasing role in truck accidents.

 

My last company had a real problem with my brakes. They were constantly out of adjustment. I'd adjust them, but when I got tired of it, I'd take it to a shop. Some shops would adjust them and say that the slack adjusters needed to be replaced, and other shops refused to adjust them, stating that they shouldn't be out of adjustment. When I got back to the company shop, the dumb-arse mechanic would adjust them again and the circle continued. The owner of the company drove my truck and actually said that he felt something was wrong with the brakes, but they couldn't figure out what it was. The shops on the road said the ratchets were all worn out from too much adjusting. The brakes worked, but I always had to push too hard. On a big hill, my knee would start to ache. Sometimes, I'd park on a hill, and when I took my foot off the brake, the truck would start to roll. I don't know who was right or wrong for sure, but it makes sense that something was wrong, and they weren't staying in proper adjustment. Needless to say, they went out of business. Can't say I miss them much either! I've driven all kinds of trucks and never had brakes as bad as these. If it were up to me, I'd go back to manual adjusters and keep them adjusted myself. I drove many years without a problem with manual adjusters.

 

Yes companies can issue a brake cert. Then give you the little green wallet card. Sorry don't know about Canada or Mexico.

 

I'm not sure how it works over ALL of Canada, but for the most part, the DMV has to issue it to you, after you show you know how to do it. For some provinces, that's standard on their CDL, while for others it's an option.

 

Not everywhere...Some states require that you be ASE certified.

 

Way to many lazy assed steering wheel holders out here for that.

I still do my own tires,brake jobs,etc !!

 

I do my own brakes, I will bolt tires on but I dont feel like mounting them, ill let the tire guys do that!

I insist on doing my own work and the reason is I like to know everything is going to be right the first time. And I will do little things mechanics wont, like using locktite on critical bolts.

 

At the "steering wheel holder" school I went to, we were shown how to adjust brakes - mostly because the fella we learned from was "old school," and cared about what he was doing.