Load Lock Troubles

When i did food service we always had em floor to ceiling. Usually had 12-16 of the ratchet style ones in a 48 great dane but they were heavy spec spring ride and weighed in at 20.5k

 

Must have been the #### heavy spec.
I just got a new great Dane 53 with the 7500 carrier unit. Made for hauling ice cream in the desert and does a great job. With 75 gallons full of fuel it weighs 15,200. 8 Alcoa rims disc brakes 11r22.5

Edit to add
E track front to back also, 1 row

 

We had 3 side doors and 20 ft ramp that went up under the tandems plus the e-trac. Im not sure why they were that heavy. They did take one hell of a beating tho. Drug em all around nyc and north jersey pot hole laced roads and i was impressed. Everest cl was the model

 

I think mine is Everest super seal

 

Two things about load locks that I was taught:

First, precool them to the shipping temperature if you can.

Second, when placing horizontally, place locks farthest from the middle of the wall height first. Normally that means the bottom of the wall, but I've had a couple loads that I put locks very high on walls too.

Why? For the first, thermal contraction. Load locks at 100F will shrink enough to make a difference if they are locked in place, then cooled to -10. If placed perfectly and in good condition, thermal contraction won't matter, but most of us aren't perfect, and most load locks have varying degrees of wear as well.

For the second, you have to realize that there is more horizontal slack in the center of a trailer wall than the top or bottom. If you crank down a middle-wall load lock, then put a bottom-wall or top-wall load lock in place and crank it down, you create a LOT more flex space in the middle-wall than you would have if you had started low/high and put the middle in after. This is because close to the bottom and top of the wall, there is more support from the floor and ceiling. Putting low/high locks in after middle locks dramatically reduces the horizontal support for the already placed middle lock because there is much less support there to start with.

Combine hot load locks in a very cold load with placing middle locks first, and that middle wall lock has a very good chance of falling.

If you do have the ability to put straps AND load locks in place, that's the way to go for any questionable load. Load locks work via expansion of the walls, and straps work by contraction. Used together, they complement one another very well.

I hope I wasn't too wordy, but I was having a problem explaining the 'why' of things with short descriptions.

 

heck no; even I understood that!
Good job.

 

Cam locks (cheapo ones) are good to use in a zig zag formation from the bottom. If they get loose they just fall until they are caught by the lower lock and end up just getting tighter.

My awful attempt at a picture...

https://goo.gl/photos/g71SYCYreUWDR4yR6