SHOP TALK
Page 95
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• Brakes are the biggest single cause of trucks failing the annual test and the situation may get worse. lithe Vehicle Inspectorate starts testing park brakes in reverse there is no doubt that more vehicles will fall — but is that unreasonable?
The VI points out that a vehicle is as likely to park facing uphill as it is down. Either way you would expect the park brake to hold the vehicle on a road with not too steep a slope. If not the vehicle shouldn't be oil the road.
More failures may also occur through the introduction of smoke meters which remove variations caused by human interpretation. However, the limit of 3.2m-4, while harder on turbo-charged engines due to the pause between accelerations, is not exactly tough.
The results of these actual and possible changes should not be viewed with apprehension by workshops or operators. All vehicles should pass both tests if they are properly maintained. If the park brake is working properly it will hold. up and down hill as it must during type approval. And if an engine is pushing out enough smoke to fail the test then it is wasting a lot of fuel.
No special equipment is required get vehicles through the test but they will have to he properly maintained: a fact that professional workshops should welcome. As will the public.