Off the wall Question, Bottoming Out The Trailer?

If their cranked up all the way...sometimes on really old docks that were around longer than these trucks have been, they will gently scrape the ground were the level grounds meets the down slope. But other than that in 99.9% of the situations we encounter, never...in my experience.

Sometimes drivers don't crank them up all the way for whatever reason and yes it will tear the landing gear right off.

As for the car haulers and low boy trailers....much respect to them from me. They really have to look ahead and read the terrain as there are truckstops with uneven pavement that they will bottom out on and get hung up. Not to mention the hazards and uneven pavement they encounter in a world not designed for trailers that are 6 inches off the ground.

 

Some are low, and can do lots of damage to the trailer!
And some drivers do not fully retract them, which makes it
Even lower! I have had them make contact
Backing into one in ground dock, even
Fully retacted (up) .

 

I pull drop deck trailers... and yes you have to be very aware of high-centering a trailer at certain intersection and railroad crossings. I'm especially careful at RR tracks. I'll creep up to it and if there is any doubt at all... I'll turn around and find different route. I will not take a chance.

If by chance I high-center at a job-site, I'll mess with the leveling valves on the truck and trailer and effectively raise the truck an inch or two. This usually does the trick. At an intersection, I might adjust my turn and change the angle of approach (if possible) in hopes of not scraping quite as bad. You learn to look for these things and try to adjust the best you can.

At slow speeds, the landing gear probably wont break. It will more than likely stop you dead in your tracks. It's stronger than most think. It's designed to hold up a lot of weight and take some abuse. If you do a search on you-tube you'll see the end result.

 

Found one for you... Drop deck trailer with slightly elevated RR tracks. A perfect example of being high-centered.

[ame="http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=fspFrmUbZck&feature=bf_prev&list=PLDDDBF06AA60DEEDF&lf=results_video"]http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fspFrmUbZck&feature=bf_prev&list=PLDDDBF06AA60DEEDF&lf=results_video[/ame]

 

Yes pure laziness. Sometimes gears don't go up very easily due to age or whatever but that's no excuse.

That moving van was high centered due to the storage boxes underneath the trailer. It was empty though. At least someones possessions weren't scattered. Just a bunch of wrap blankets and empty pallets.

 

We had docks here that you would have to back the trailer half way down the incline of the docks, stop, then put ramps under the tractor tandem to clear the landing gear from being ripped off, same way comming out.

 

This is a standard deck height trailer. Even when the landing gear is completely raised, it can still happen.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQrAElRPrj4[/ame]

And finally, A tile trailer (very similar to what I pull on a regular basis) that got stuck on the tracks.

 

I've had my landing gear drag like most have. If raised all the way,driving slow is the best option. You'll be able to react to the situation if matters get worse.