all good until interference disrupts the wifi, which is not uncommon as every thing uses the same band.
philltauranga,
Oct 1, 12:52pm
Ive never seen one that can be adjusted by the driver? The adjustable ones are done automatically using airbag pressure readings.
philltauranga,
Oct 1, 1:09pm
How can you be following too close to a car in the lane BESIDE you? who then decides to cut accross into your lane, right infront of you? A picture says 1000 words but the article is better: "A car cut [the truck driver] off and the truck was about to go over the top of it so he jack-knifed and ended up on his side. His evasive action basically stopped a fatality I guess." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11911114
mechnificent,
Oct 1, 1:23pm
Ha. far out. another sign of how things have changed.
In the "old days" trucks had a hand lever on the column that proportioned the braking to the trailer. I didn't know they had done away with them !. haha.
mechnificent,
Oct 1, 1:25pm
I don't think it would be a problem because I think the wifi would only be doing anything when you were making an adjustment. I'm assuming. sort of a fail safe feature. Unless the car next to you had a matching unit in their cab of course. haha.
mechnificent,
Oct 1, 1:27pm
Lol Phil. you have my sympathy. I can see right in the thread here what you poor buggers are up against. Buggered if I'd want to take a truck and trailer anywhere near Orkland !
philltauranga,
Oct 1, 1:29pm
Ahhh the notorious corner at "the wall" on the Desert Rd. a well known corner to most truckies because it is an ice black spot, being in the shade all day. When I first started driving I was warned about this very corner: "if there is snow on the shoulder. slow the fuk down there will be ice on the road" One of NZ many, many black spots for trucks on our goat tracks.
philltauranga,
Oct 1, 1:47pm
That hand lever may be the independent trailer brake you are thinking of? Its a hand control to operate the trailer brakes only, you use it on semi trucks to pull youself straight if you start to jackknife, hitting the service brake (foot pedal) will make a jackknife worse, however if you pull the trailer brake hand control only, you will have a much better chance of getting it straightned out again. Ive found it very handy when taking machines into steep forestry blocks, if you are going down hill on gravel, as you turn the trailer can cause the back end of the tractor unit to step out and jackknife, if you use the trailer brake only, its much less likely to step out on the loose gravel.
hamishcookie,
Oct 1, 2:34pm
I use my trailer brake like the back brake on a motorcycle for stability and I've got a telescopic drawbar so need to hold the trailer while I push up to it.
hamishcookie,
Oct 1, 2:41pm
Yeah my normal trailer I tow is a 76 dirty old leaf springs and no tech but then its also limits the weight I can carry on it to 19t even though its a four axle
mechnificent,
Oct 1, 3:56pm
Yeah Phil. that's the thing I was thinking of. So they still have that. I thought those worked to proportion the pressure of the foot brake. didn't know you could use them as you are describing. I'm just a mech that used to drive trucks occasionally though.
philltauranga,
Oct 1, 4:23pm
Here is a picture of one I found thats the same as the trucks I drive, its the thicker lever at the bottom, you can see the valve inside the plastic cover, the air hoses are in the sleeve. The smaller wand above it is cruise control, there is another wand on the otherside above the indicator stalk, that is for the engine brake.
Yeah that looks the same. years ago, (forty five years ago), those were an add on and the latest thing in modernity.
Thanks for the explanation. and photos follow up etc.
philltauranga,
Oct 1, 5:40pm
Interesting to note on these Kenworth trucks, if you look at the first picture you will see, on the right hand side of the dash, below the vent there is a white switch which says, "ABS off road" The WABCO brake manual says this about it: "On some vehicles, an off-road ABS function may be selected. This optional feature improves vehicle control and helps reduce stopping distances in off-road conditions or on poor traction surfaces such as loose gravel, sand and dirt."
mber2,
Oct 1, 5:47pm
Then you have your trailer brakes set too high
rover79,
Oct 1, 5:49pm
Whats the cable tie on the steering wheel for?
philltauranga,
Oct 1, 6:05pm
I wondered the exact same thing! I assume it was a "tag out". do not operate? we do the same thing when the trucks are being serviced, and the mechanic has the keys.
mechnificent,
Oct 1, 6:27pm
That off road feature is probably to allow the abs to operate at slow speeds. Most abs don't work below about twenty km or so. on cars anyway.
henderson_guy,
Jan 4, 10:47pm
Trailer brakes are set and tested for a laden trailer. As Phil mentioned upthread, an empty trailer doesn't take much to lock up, especially in the wet
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