New drivers or guys still in school. If you pull vans or some flats here is something you might want to have. A small sledge hammer and a bungee cord. I pull specialized trailers so I always have one and just today I was hooking up my trailer and watched a van driver try to get his tandems slid. He had the truck rocking pretty good and you could smell clutch. I finished up and asked if I could help. I tried to pull on the pin handle and could see that the two pins on the driver side were free. So I wrapped the bungee cord around the handle and hooked the ends to the crossmembers to keep tension on the handle. I then went over and just hit the passenger side ones two times each and they popped free. A hammer and a bungee can make things easier on you guys.

Tim

 

I use about six of the rubber tarp straps from the little lever that the handle is attached to, and go to the carriage that the axles are mounted to. That way, I don't have to worry about snapping the rubber straps when the tandems slide. Six of them, about 15 inches long will pull the handle with more strength than any human can pull. When I jog the tandems, they pull the pins out for me. No hammer needed.

And, for the ones that you have to lift the handle... Remember the old bumper jacks from the sixties? Put that under the handle and start jacking...

 

Good post Jumbo!

When I hook to a new trailer, I like to adjust the brakes manually. They say most of these trailers have self-adjusting brakes, but if you already have a load, you don't want to dump the product. I just trust manually adjusting more, and only takes 5 minutes, providing the weather is nice. Then also, if you have 40k loaded, you are less likely to drag a tire. Doesn't take much to put a flat spot on the tire with a heavy load. I learned that as a rookie... ops:
Also, on that note... :P...when you release the air on the trailer brakes...wait a minute before you take off. Those brakes are still holding, and you will drag a tire, if you are too quick to take off.
Don't ask me how I know this... :lol: ops:

Another tip, is to clean the carriage. When you have the pins free, slide the carriage all the way up, and all the way back a few times to clean up the runners. Rust, dirt, ice, etc. can get built up and you risk tweaking the carriage, which makes these pins give you grief as described above. I run the carriage up and back several times while I am at a dock, because I am already fooling with the thing. I have always made it a habit of sliding the tandems all the way back for loading and off loading.

When some docks ask you to dolly down and pull away...that is also a good time to do the same to the 5th wheel carriage. It may seem like a pain in the butt to some guys, but if you do this on a regular basis, the whole thing becomes simple.

You get familiar with weights and load balancing and placement with experience. I can pretty much figure my layout, and once loaded, I already have an idea where my tandems need to be set, before I even go scale the load.

I pick a spot on the ground next to me, to gauge my length of travel. That is how I reset the trailer tandems. I admit, positioning the 5th wheel in an exact position is a little more tricky. I remember the first few times I tried, I was all over the place. It took me a while to learn to finesse that maneuver. On the 5th wheel, I watch the drive tire in the mirror. I pick a spot on that, and inch as needed.

 

That's a great tip Jumbo. I also carry a small sledge hammer and I have to use it often. I pull 4 different sets of doubles every night and I hook and break all four myself. You never know what may come up regardless of what type trailer you pull.

 

One more thought. It's not likely to happen very often, but I have come across a trailer that only pulled out 3 of the 4 pins. The link attaching the 4th pin to the pulling mechanism was disconnected. While you could push the pin in with your thumb, DO NOT DO THAT!!!!!! Use a broom handle or hammer handle, or something like that to hold a disconnected pin in to move the tandems. In the case I saw, a mechanic was simply going to hold the pin in with his thumb. Use a screwdriver handle, hammer handle, piece of broom handle, steel bar... ANYTHING BUT A PART OF YOUR HAND :!: :!: :!: :!: :!: :!:

 

You have 9 extra fingers for when you chop that one off.

Besides, they grow back, don't they?

 

No.

But they CAN be drawn back...if you're a stick fugure :lol:

 

So you actually have some advice with substance? At least it's better than using some stupid quote by Dumbo to crash threads.

 

Way back when, when I pulled refers OMG many years ago, as soon as I was empty and got to the next load point I slid the tandems all the way forward (while empty) then soaked the pins, sliders etc. with liquid soap (Grease holds grit, soap washes of) Slid them back and forth two or three times and put the pins in and out the same. Loaded they just slid like (well I was gona say something nasty but) knew what they were supposed to do

 

What is sliding tandems?