7 Tips for Safer and Better Maintenance Of Trailers

Maintaining your trailer can be difficult if you don’t know what you should be closely looking at. We've jotted down a list of 7 simple maintenance tips for trailers which help your trailer to be safe and last longer.

1. Close attention to a new trailer 

The most critical time in a new trailer’s life is its initial in-service check and first month’s “shakedown.” An owner/driver should be alert for underinflated tires and threaded fasteners that may have loosened from factory-torque settings.

2. Check payload is secure and evenly distributed

Putting the payload in an uneven distribution in your trailer can lead to a lot of mechanical defects in future. This can lead to excess wear and tear of tires and also hamper your axles and suspensions.

3. Wheel Bearing Health

Wheel bearings sustain more abuse than we can imagine. Check wheel bearings as required once per year or every 100,000 miles as recommended by your trailer component manufacturer. Not only must the bearings be kept greased, they should be taken apart to be serviced at least once per year.  HOV dummy axles come with a pre-lubricated greasing with a warranty of 1.5 lakh kilometers on the greasing. So you need not worry about the greasing for a year or so.

4. Check brakes 

For a trailer, it is important to slow or stop whenever needed. Ask your trailer service and repair mechanic may take a special look at your trailer’s brakes. In order to make sure that your trailer operates safely, you need to check for signs of corrosion or other forms of damage. Depending on the braking mechanism that is connected to your trailer, you may also need to change out your brake pads at regular intervals. 

5. Check the tires

Trailers that carry tonnes of weight have to have tires that are kept in good shape. Check for wear and tear and inflation of tires at regular intervals.

6. Get the Suspensions Checked

After months of continuous suspension, fasteners may sometimes loosen, possibly causing alignment settings to change, and that can translate into a possible erratic ride or accelerated tire wear. Therefore, all suspension-system fasteners should be rechecked for correct torque value.

7. Conduct regular checks

Conduct basic checks before you start the truck. Walk around the truck and ask yourself the following questions:

•    Are there signs of external damage?

•    Are the axles in good condition?

•    Is the windshield clean?

Once you have started the truck, examine the following:

•    Are the head and tail lights working OK?

•    Are the brakes still working?

Conclusion

Trailer maintenance is definitely not child’s play. It carries great risk to business and human lives. Therefore a trailer should be minutely checked by an expert mechanic for defects before it runs on a dangerous Indian highway.