You’ve hooked up your trailer and you’ve headed to a weighbridge and the bad news is that your front (steering) axle is overloaded. An overloaded axle is both illegal and dangerous. It can overheat your tyres, make your braking performance much worse, affect your steering and even cause a jackknife if it’s bad enough.
Whoever loaded the trailer has put too much weight at the front, but you don’t have any ability to change that, so what can you do?
Se tes un deslizamento quinta roda, you can move the load backwards so that more weight is over the tractor unit’s drive axles.
It’s common for drivers to move the fifth wheel, not only for weight distribution, but also to get the best aerodynamic performance from the vehicle. A smaller distance between the cab and the trailer makes for better fuel economy, but it’s not always possible to do this if the front of the trailer is heavy because too much weight will be over the steering axles.
Add to this the complication of full vs empty fuel tanks (diesel weighs around 8 pounds per gallon) and you’ll see it’s difficult to calculate an exact weight distribution.
Se a súa tractora ten unha quinta roda móbil, haberá un interruptor detrás da cabina para desbloqueala.
When the fifth wheel is unlocked, it can slide on this notched rail. Each notch represents a certain percentage of weight distribution forwards and backwards – you’d need to check the manufacturer’s documentation to know just how much.
Unha vez que deixes caer o remolque, volve a quinta roda á súa posición normal.
Non todas as quintas rodas se poden mover mentres están acopladas a un remolque. Esta quinta roda pódese mover, pero só desfacendo os parafusos e deslizándoa cara adiante ou cara atrás.