Don't forget the engineers' contribution
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I READ THE ARTICLE "Wheel loss awareness"(CM3 February) with interest. The problem of wheel security has been a major concern of fleet engineers and managers running heavy commercial vehicles for at least 20 years.
The Institute of Road Transport Engineers (IRTE) professional sector of the Society of Operations Engineers (SOE) has been instrumental in organising research into the causes and in recommending good maintenance practices. 'Ihe primary function of any wheel fixing is to clamp the wheel to the hub.The clamping force created must be sufficient to maintain enough friction between adjacent faces to support the wheel load and braking or acceleration torque under all conditions.
If it is not.then movement or fretting will occur, and once movement starts then wheel nuts may back off, leading to further damage and eventually wheel loss.
There are many reasons for the loss of clamping force but generally it can be anything that allows the stud to shorten like a released spring — which effectively it is. However, nuts backing off are almost always the result of loss of clamping and not the cause of it.
lam astounded that Mary Williams neglected to acknowledge the considerable help and assistance provided by the Technical Services Department of E./ SOE in the development of the Brake information pack.
Ian Chisolm Head of Technical Services
The Society of Operations Engineers