Dropping a Trailer Properly

well i just went back reread the entire thing and i don't see where i missed anything honestly. the places i go the ground is flat. i haven't had any problems hooking or dropping to any trailer so far. i see the point the OP is saying. keep the trailer lower then is needed. i don't get it but hey if that works for you then go for it. ive never had to use the air bags in the truck yet but ill give it a try next time i get in the truck. ill have to find that secret button cause i aint pulling any hoses off anywhere on our trucks. my maintenance guy would kill me.

 

If the trailer is loaded, especially a flatbed, you should dump the air in the trailer air bags as well before lowering the landing gear. As the air bags lower they will push forward on the trailer and collapse the landing gear if they are not deflated before dropping.

 

Prime does not have air dump (suspension dump) on any of their trucks. Many, many times I had to wind the landing gear up in low speed on a loaded trailer so the kingpin would not end up in front of the fifth wheel and so I could properly connect to the trailer.

Mattbnr misses the point that the idea is when you pick a trailer up you should be actually lifting the feet off the ground with the fifth wheel by about a half inch. This ensures your kingpin is in the proper position in the fifth wheel lock and will not bounce out on a rough road. He forgets that when a trailer is loaded, it settles on the tires a bit, lifting the nose slightly. When I come to pick that trailer up, I am breaking my back winding up the landing gear on a loaded trailer.

If you do not have suspension dump on your tractor, you still should leave just a little bit of daylight between the feet and the ground, then slowly slide the trailer off your fifth wheel as you pull away from it. This will set the trailer down easy and leave it in a better position for the next guy.

 

OR...

...you can forget all that rigamarole and just pop the fifth wheel, put 'er in 1st, pull hard on little column-shifter-lookin' thingie by your right hand, rev to the red and dump the clutch.

Works ever time. Great when yer in a hurry.

 

As a student you would know best.

Listen to the the OP. He is giving sound advice on how to make your life easier, make the next guys life easier and keep the equipment working better for longer.

Your method is how guys skip the king pins. If the trailers are being dropped correctly you should never need low gear on the dollies.

One thing I would change slightly to the original post is when the trailer is heavy, lower gear to "touch" the ground and not push the ground. Your suspension will be lower due to the weight and will have the same effect when reconnecting.

I have never seen a tractor without a dump valve. Lonewolf you are saying the entire fleet where you work doesn't have them? Are they all trucks from the 80's?

 

im not saying i know best at all. i am new and willing to learn from other IF the advice sounds good to me. i have not ran into a problem yet when hooking or dropping so what he said didn't make sense to me. im sure if i run into a problem i will reflect on the advice i have read here.

so i guess if i understand correctly what your saying is this- lower the landing gear to 3" of the ground, then use the airbags to lower the trailer the REST of the way to the ground. ok i guess that makes sense.

 

Lonewolf may not be saying it, but I am saying it...about Prime.

I went rounds with them over this. They deliberately order their trucks without air suspension dump because (they say) drivers couldn't be trained to use it properly and it was damaging equipment. Now they have a lot of trailers with bent legs because guys get tired of winding up the landing gear in granny under a fully loaded trailer to lower the nose enough to hook properly, so they just lower the gear to about a half inch from the ground and jerk the truck out from under it, slamming the trailer onto the pavement.

What you have never seen does not necessarily mean it does not exist. Look inside any Prime truck. You will not find a suspension dump...or a trolley brake valve. The Petes have the switch, but no air lines. Therefore, there is no Prime truck with suspension dump unless the driver had it connected after he or she got the truck. When the shop sees it connected, they disconnect it and charge the driver for the labor.

 

A quick video of the switch--
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAL-98d5FFI

 

Video all you want. Prime does not have air dump on their trucks. Ask a Prime drivere whether he uses it. If he started with Prime, he will give you a blank look and say something like, "Huh?" :smt102

 

they do that anyways.........