yellow straps on trailer wheels

NO NO NO They are spinners that some poor driver could not effort to buy real chrom ones!

 

I talked the company into buying these and they worked great on our truck and trailer super tankers. That was back in 97 and they cost a dollar apiece and it was a sure way the driver could check the lug nuts without bending over and handling each one that I'm sure all you drivers do.

 

The straps show if the tires are turning in snow and ice conditions and are for those who can't look in the mirrors and tell if a tire isn't turning or not!

Keep the drums from freezing before you park in cold weather. Just apply brake pressure as you are pulling around the parking lot to heat the drum up to dry any excess moisture from off the pads and drum then and when you park don't set the trailer brakes.

You don't need to set the trailer brakes on level ground! Now to stop this next thing that I know someone is about to bring up.. no you will not wear out your brakes by applying a little pressure! You're going below 10 mph so it doesn't take but a few seconds to warm the brakes up. They should already be "warm" from slowing down on the highway but a little extra before backing into the slot won't hurt. This is the same advice you got in the drivers manual for the car (and truck) for driving through heavy rain to dry off your cars brakes for better stopping power when wet.

I've never had to crawl under a truck to break loose a brake! It also helps to release your brakes every couple of minutes till they cool completely down to break any ice that just might be freezing on the drums.

And another tip! If there is heavy snow on the parking lot when you park, your tires will melt into the snow from the heat. I will pull back and forth to make sure that I haven't melted a rut under the tires that might be hard to pull out of later!

Want to know about bleach? I laugh my arse off every time I hear someone give out that dumb arsed advice to a rookie! Bleach is SOAP! Put it on water (snow is water) and all you are doing is making the road surface slipperier than it already was! Yes they USED to use it at the drag strip but a truck isn't a dragster and yes it will heat up the tire but you can do the same thing sitting there spinning your tires! The same thing with kitty litter! It's CLAY! It will get slippery also! Yes it will help but if you don't get out of the snow or ice fast enough then now you've made a slippery mud puddle!

SAND! I always at the first sign of snow put my tube of sand from Walmart, Ace Hardware or the grocery store on the deck plate behind the sleeper and when needed take a gallon jug and cut a hole in it and fill it up with sand from the tube and spread it out around the drive tires and up the road a little bit and away I go! It doesn't take up room in the side box as you can't put the litter back there and it's cheaper than kitty litter or bleach and wayyy cheaper than a tow truck!

 

The bleach would "bite" into the compound of the drag tires, making them "stick" to the pavement. Also the liquid would allow the tires to spin more easily in the staging area. You are correct, absolutely useless traction aid when dealing with snow. In fact, water is used at the strip now due to environmental concerns and advances in tire compounds.

Sand is definitely the way to go.