It’s a fact that our world runs on the backs of heavy-duty trucks. Every day, these trucks work hard to complete their jobs and are pushed to their limits of what they’re able to perform – dump trucks are overloaded with dirt, debris, and rocks; garbage trucks travel over potholes and have to constantly stop and start; semi-trucks have to travel thousands of miles to haul goods around the country. With all of this stress the truck experiences, it can begin to take a toll on the alignment, frame, and suspension.
No business wants to have their trucks experience downtime, especially for an issue that could have been prevented with an appropriate maintenance schedule. Implementing frame, alignment, and suspension inspections into your regular maintenance schedule can help keep your truck on the road.
Heavy-Duty Truck Alignment Maintenance
Misalignment can be caused by regular wear and tear on your truck. When driving on city streets that are riddled with potholes or uneven dirt roads, this can increase the chances of experiencing tire misalignment. Although you can still drive and operate your truck with misaligned tires, it reduces the safety and efficiency of your truck. Truck misalignment can cause the following situations:
- Reduced handling
- Increased and inconsistent tire wear due to drag
- Poor fuel efficiency
- Additional stress on suspension
The misalignment can cause potential truck downtime during transportation, which can lead to loss of profitability for your company. By performing preventative maintenance, you can prevent these issues from happening, optimize your fleet’s fuel efficiency, and keep more money in your pocket.
Heavy-Duty Truck Frame Maintenance
Each year, a heavy-duty truck will travel thousands of miles in cities and across the country and does so in everything mother nature has to offer. Whether frigid winter conditions or hot summer days, these trucks need to operate effectively. During the wintertime however, this is when roadways can be covered in salt and sand. This wreaks havoc on your truck frame and can contribute to frame damage. As the salt begins to corrode the metal frame and the temperatures fluctuate from driving through different varying climates, this can cause frame damage such as the following:
- Corrosion
- Cracks
- Rust
Although it may be difficult to see, the underside of your heavy duty truck takes quite a beating throughout the year. If you implement preventive frame maintenance however, you can extend the longevity and usefulness of your truck or fleet while reducing overall downtime.
Heavy Duty Truck Suspension Maintenance
Heavy duty truck suspension is a complex system which includes tires, air pressure, shocks, springs, and other linkages to connect your axles to the truck frame. Making sure this system performs properly is also essential in protecting your truck and cargo from damage caused by uneven roadways, potholes, and other obstacles. If there has been damage done to your suspension it can cause the following situations:
- Vehicle pulling to one side
- Unbalanced wear on tires
- Difficulty steering
- Extremely bumpy rides
- Diving, rolling, or squatting when steering
It can be tempting to try and solve these issues yourself, but since these systems are very complex, it is important to leave repairs and regular maintenance to the professionals. By including suspension maintenance into your preventive maintenance schedule, you can be confident that your suspension will perform as it should. This can help reduce overall truck downtime and the occurrence of unexpected problems.
Trust the Experts
It takes a trained eye to catch these potential issues before they become a full-fledged problem. If you’re needing to service your truck fleet and their suspension systems, you can trust the experts at Blaine Brothers Truckaline to provide quality service. Truck maintenance is our specialty. We can help keep your truck on the road, so all you need to focus on is driving. If you’reneeding complete maintenance for your truck’s hydraulic system and trailer, check out Hydraulic Specialties Inc. and North American Trailer for more information.