Tandem Sliding and Pin pulling tool

Yeah it is funny as hello to see a trailer sitting on the ground and the tandem set half a mile up the street maybe sitting on a cop car! Yep in Manhattan just off the Manhattan Bridge before 9/11. Cab over pulling POS 48 footer trailer on the ground and cop car under the tandems several blocks down Canal St! Cameras were out in force!

Now for that WD 49 statement. If there is a hose around use water! Oil draws dirt and sand and can play hard to play with when you need to slide! I do as another said and when I hook to an MT I'll slide it a few times to break it loose and clear the crap out from between the rails, then set it ABOUT 6-7 holes back unless I know what I'm loading and set it there. Never heard of that miracle cleaner but if it doesn't attract the sand then that's a good thing but as I said a working water hose does as good or better than a can of WD 40 as you're NOT under the trailer crawling all over the axles and through the hoses! Just squat down at the 4 corners outside of the trailer and put finger over the hose and squirt water at the rails on the out side and under the trailer! Yeah you MIGHT get a little water on you but unless you're allergic to water it won't hurt you but that grease from climbing all over tires and axles and whatever is a PITA!
I'll use the hose any day and most truck stops have one and if it's a 5 footer then open your side box and get your 25 footer you have for those in case some dumb arsed broke driver stole the one off the fuel island! And it's cheaper than wasting WD40 or other products on a trailer you might not have tomorrow because you had to repower!
Thats my 2 cents worth! I use my WD40 on squeeky seats, doors and things i use or that drive me crazy!

 

6 to 7 holes back? If its empty, why not all the way forward?

That POS trailer in NYC, he probably does like me and slides his tandems right before entering the city limits...haha. I pull over at the last chance in jersey and slide em all the way up if its a heavy load (otherwise its already forward in anticipation of the city)....

 

I carry vice grips and a hammer which I used for that exact purpose. It sucks. It's a PITA and a waste of time. I can make one trip back, and in less than 10 seconds have my handle pulled, then rock the trailer a little bit and watch the sta-rat do all the work. Slide my tandems and be back on the road. I bet you I could have my sta-rat in place, slide my tandems, and be back on the road before you could even finish pounding all your pins in.

 

While this is funny, it has almost nothing to do with the topic. The Sta-rat solves the problem of pulling the release handle. Actually getting the tandems to slide because the brakes can't hold the trailer is a completely different issue. And I've never found the "pulling the red valve" trick to work. If you can't slide, because the brakes can't hold, you need a brake adjustment. Quick fix (other than a brake adjustment) is to chock the wheels or back the trailer to a curb or something of the sort.

 

Jolson,the post might be old but it can provide good info on a aggravating subject for any new or experienced driver that reads it.Stuff like this is never old until the equipment talked about go out of circulation.

kwray,I guess from your post that you have always had pull bars that will come out every time.Well I have come across trailers that you could have be in the best shape and strong as an ox but never budge that bar.This could be because the pins are rusted in the sleeves,the bar is incorrectly installed(RE:incompetent mechanic at shop),or the best one dumb ignorant jack### drivers that bend the bar so it won't move.
I have seen all the above and my coil spring tool and lever bar have always worked.It just takes some intelligence(I know that's asking a lot from today's drivers but I can dream Can't I?)to use them properly.

 

only thing I hated about shotguns was sitting on the scales waiting for the load to stop moving.

 

I have never had help sliding my tandems. If I ever do? I will not let anyone behind the wheel of my rig!

Common sense, and company policy.

 

I'll slide them all the way forward only if it's legal on weight.NYC does use those fun portables! I've got the experience to drive NYC with them all the way up but I've watched kids/pros forget that tail swing and tear the crapola out of whatever was on their side! Yeah it's funny to watch but for them the paper work and learning curve bites big time! LOL!

Me I actually like the 6-7 hole position works just as easy as #1 but a whole lot better than all the way back! Now that's so much fun to watch! These drivers that "think" the truck rides better being all stretched out like than and get into the city and can't make a turn with it set up like that!

I had a youngun blocking traffic in Brooklyn come back and ask me why he couldn't make the turn and how to get around the light pole on the right and the car parked on the curb, and I told him to slide it all the way forward and he started complaining about the "ride" and I asked him how fast he thought he was going to drive across Brooklyn! I also told him some moron told him that BUT it rides better when the weights match on tractor drives and trailer tandems.The streached out ride is with the tractor WB, not the trailer! Then he wanted to argue and I just backed up a tad and went around his silly arse up a block and came bach to Atlantic! Ask then argue! What a way to do OJT!

 

I don't know who told you about that worthless tool that werner gives us. but mine is sitting in the terminal shop. those hooks on it that you put on the tandem bar. umm yeah snapped them off. I don't know how I did it/ O wait cause some tandems are a pain. I have had my fun time with a 5lb sludge and vice grips plenty of times. Wish I knew the water trick before. note to self get hose.

 

I have never use the tools. The way i do it if you spray it with lube then hit a couple of time they brake free. Carry some Pb Blaster,WD-40 Ect... You should be fine.