Trailer Pull

Ok, I have a question for the veteran truckers. My wife and I are finally on the road. We picked up a load from Conway, in Sacramento, headed for Illinois. The trailer is one of CRST's older trailers, which tend to pull to the right. My wife tends to hug the right side, and she is worried about it. Is there anything that we can do to stop the trailer from pulling. Any advice would be appreciated.

Unfortunately, no. A repair shop would have to realign the trailer. The tandems can twist which is what causes the misalignment.

It's very common to find a trailer is "dog-tracking" to one side or the other. It's something you just have to account for while you're driving. If it's severe you should let your company know. But many times you'll pull a trailer where you can read the lettering on one side of the trailer but can't see the other side of the trailer at all. Your trailer can be dog-tracking to the side by a foot or more. Just be aware of it.

It's also going to affect your backing just a bit but you probably won't even notice that. You'll just be backing as you normally would and steering it where it needs to go, not even realizing it's steering a bit differently than it might normally.

There's not much you can do. You've picked up what we call a dog leg trailer. The tandems are not in proper alignment with the trailer. This can be caused by a driver whipping that trailer around too fast in an extremely tight turning radius. Only thing I know that you might check is to make sure all the pins are in the proper holes on the rails that the tandems slide on. Most likely it will need to be repaired at a trailer shop for it to pull properly.

These type of trailers drive me CRAZY. I swear I'm slightly OCD and I HATE it when my truck and trailer aren't aligned straight....

Ok, I have a question for the veteran truckers. My wife and I are finally on the road. We picked up a load from Conway, in Sacramento, headed for Illinois. The trailer is one of CRST's older trailers, which tend to pull to the right. My wife tends to hug the right side, and she is worried about it. Is there anything that we can do to stop the trailer from pulling. Any advice would be appreciated.

Congrats on getting out as a team ... about the trailer, someone has probably hit something with the trailer tandems that has put the alignment out enough for you to notice it's not "pulling" centered down the road ... I've seen this myself in the past ... nothing you can do short of having maintenance done on the trailer to correct this - it's like getting an alignment adjustment on a car as it needs tools and expertise to accomplish ... all you can do is compensate for the off-track wheels by being extra conscious of the where the trailer is at all times ... one technique a friend showed me was to keep the left "fender" mirror (we both drive Freightliners) lined up on the stripe to the driver's side ... this will keep you away from the right side shoulder or other lane if you are not in the far right lane ... also, be REAL careful of the extra "cheat" to the passenger side as you make curves or right turns ... if it is real bad, let your dispatch know it needs repair and get it to a company shop after you unload ... if it is just annoying and your company declines to pull it out of service (no pun intended), hope you get a D&H load soon where you can drop off the crooked trailer for a different one ... good luck ...

Jopa

Thanks for all the advice, I will let someone know it needs checked.

I'd presume they would want to have it checked out and repaired if bad enough. Considering the worse the problem, the more it will adversely affect your fuel economy and chew through tires a lot faster.

There's not much you can do. You've picked up what we call a dog leg trailer. The tandems are not in proper alignment with the trailer. This can be caused by a driver whipping that trailer around too fast in an extremely tight turning radius. Only thing I know that you might check is to make sure all the pins are in the proper holes on the rails that the tandems slide on. Most likely it will need to be repaired at a trailer shop for it to pull properly.

"Dog tracking" and "dog leg trailer"....... any other terms worth knowing?

"Dog tracking" and "dog leg trailer"....... any other terms worth knowing?

Dog tired? It's a dog's life? ... and other doggie stuff ...

Jopa

Jopa, be serious.....lolololol. l might come across those and other terms and it would be "nice" if l didn't look stupid coz l didn't know what they meant.

So, help me out guys!