Question About Tandem Locking Pin Locator Tool

Save Time

More Money

YEAH RIGHT,LOL.

Just another money making product for companies not for customers.

But gotta say that was pretty cool.

 

You can accomplish the same thing easier with tandem stoppers. I used them sometimes when I didn't feel like guessing. Tandem stoppers are about the same price but it's just two flared, pipe-like pieces, you put in front of or behind the hole you want the pins in, depending on which way you're sliding. No electrical components that will fail eventually and it won't make other drivers pick on you on the cb. These things will last well past retirement.

 

WHY?? Why do you need any of these "tools" to locate holes on the trailer? If you can figure out how many inches or feet you need to slide then on the ground below your steps make one mark then guestmate the distance you need to slide then make another mark and get in the seat, release brakes, put truck in needed gear, look at the ground and align the first mark up on step then release foot brake and slide tandems until second mark reaches where you had aligned up the first mark on the step, hit brake and push in clutch and set brakes and then go back and see where you are from the hole you need. If set up correctly, release the pin puller and go back to truck and finish sliding tandems and set the pins.

No fuss and no having to pry that pin locator out of the hole because you slide into it to hard and jammed it in the freaking hole! I watched a driver spend 30 minutes trying to get his out of the hole before I took him my ball pean hammer to beat it out of the hole! The time he spent was about the amount that he paid for those POS money makers! Truckers will buy any thing! All you need is a ruler and go back and measure between the center of two holes next to each other and you now know on that trailer how far it is between 2 holes so you can measure or step off what you need on the ground!

Now for those stupid handle pullers that only have 1 use and take up stupid space in the truck and could be left behind if you get fired and have to take a bus home. Use a multi use tool like I have for 25 years!

Get what is called a set of vice grips. The REAL ones and not some cheap arsed pair made in china and 6' of rubber rope found at almost all tarp makers or trailer shops or dealers. This is the black rubber rope that is used to hold down the roll up covers on hoppers and some flatbedders use them. They come with ends that make a loop on the end of the rope. you'll need 2 of them. This stuff works better than the tarp straps. Trust me on this!

If you can't pull the handle out as they are stuck then do the following. If it pulls put then forget it!

The way this little setup works is you clamp the vice grips on the side of the trailer above the pin puller handle. reach in and pull the handle out as far as you can without pulling your back out and you take one end of the rope and put the loop on the pin handle then keeping the rope taught wrap it around the vice grip then back around the handle and do this til you run out of rope and put the loop on the closest. The handle or the vice grip and if you have to adjust the piece that makes the loop to shorten the rope so it stays snug.

Now the fun part! Get back in the truck close the door, release the TRUCK brakes but leave the trailer set. Put the truck in a gear, forward or reverse and roll the window down, look in the mirror. You can see the vice grip and the rope, release the clutch and BOUNCE the truck so the trailer will slide enough to get the pins to release. You will hear them pop out and see the rope fall to the ground. HIT THE BRAKES! STOP! set the brakes, go back and pull the handle back out and lock it in place pick up your rope and vice grips and get back to the truck and do what I described on the ground and slide the tandems to where they need to be.

One thing. If the handle won't lock in place as about half of them don't pull the handle out and clamp the vice grips on the rod and there you have it, unlocked tandems and a SECOND use of 1 of the 2 tools you have instead of a waste of money long handled pin puller that has 1 stupid use! Now the rubber rope can be used to strap a spare tire to the cat walk on the tractor if you have to or a tarp or several other jobs. The vice grips have so many uses I'll leave that up to you to figure out and the nice thing is they will fit into a small hand carrier that you will have to put the rest of your hand tools in even your hammer! Flat bedders have a few that wont fit but they usually stay in the truck when he leaves it. Now flat bedders don't need to buy the rope as they can use tarp straps and hook them to the side rails and bounce the truck.

Now, if you have the type of release handle that you have to pull up then clamp the vice grips on the flange of a cross member and wrap the rope around the handle and up and back. Yep it works it just looks like it won't! I wouldn't be wasting my tome passing this on if it didn't!

Just do NOT slide the tandems with the rope still on the handle as you will bend the handle and if you go to far you'll break the stupid thing! Yep I know! I did it! That's how I know! That was a major embarrassment to say the least!

Have fun with your new knowledge and keep your money in you pocket and not on useless space eating crapola that has one use!

 

That seems like an awful lot of work hand. The stoppers will come out of the hole once you lock it in. It only gets stuck before you release the pins and lock it in. I always had vice grips and I also had the pin puller tool. I just pulled the handle out as far as I could get and lock the grips on the bar like you said. It doesn't take up that much room.

I can see your trick working too but it's just about as much work. I especially liked the stoppers when it was raining or freezing. To each their own but no way I'd get the product the OP is talking about lol.

 

Imagine that a tool designed to take away the only excersise that 90%I of truckers get...crawling in and out of the cab..

 

i just use my vise grip and wacth the mirror like your suppse too do, course i had so many differnt trls , and no two trls are the same ether, although they look and act the same, just pull the rod out, clamp vise grip on it, drop a bright hankerch with a ball in it tyed up , place this on the ground , were you want it too stop it at and bam there it is, this worked well for me. and no money too boot.