Safeway gets a grip on wheel nuts
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• Disc-Lock, the hi-tech wheel nut, is gaining converts. Safeway is specifying it on all new trailers and, following favourable trials. Cleanaway is to run extended road trials.
During their daily checks Safeway's drivers have found occurrences of loose wheel nuts most of which were on trailers. Disc-Lock has been specified on its new trailers, but no retrofits are planned (Rick Clips are being retrofitted on its trucks).
Cleanaway's trial involved a series of runs on a land fill site, loosening and re-tightening the wheel nuts between runs. When the standard nuts were only torqued to 500Nm they started to work loose: when the Disc-Lock nut was tightened to just 100Nm it did not work loose, says Cleanaway's Mike Goss.
Working on land-fill sites, especially during bad weather, Cleanaway's vehicles can need up to four wheel changes per day. Goss is now fitting 24 vehicles (Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and Leyland Daf) for a six-month trial.
L The Vehicle Inspectorate says that fitting Disc-Lock or other types of wheel fastenings is not a notifiable alteration.