WT BLAME E LORRY
Page 50
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EHICLES often get blamed w problems towards which ley contribute absolutely )thing.
I met up, a few months ago, ith an old friend, who, for the Jration of this article, we'll call ed and who is operating a rry identical to my own.
We swopped experiences id compared performance and )erating costs. While we Iked, the conversation moved, adually, from the good things the not-so-good: how rates e still ridiculously depressed id costs are escalating all the ne and the seemingly exorbint cost of repairs.
The tale he unfolded bore a miliar ring and most of our aders will surely remember riilar experiences.
Fred was unlucky enough to
II sick and, for five weeks, he nployed a driver to keep his rry operating. One of the units, 3 all find, needs more than its ir share of attention; on our irticular model it is the centre opshaft bearing, but, by sting it a shot of grease a .uple of times each week, it rves without trouble.
Despite being told, Fred's nployed driver ignored the rice-weekly lubrication and, re enough, when Fred got ick in the driving seat, he imediately sensed the warning ughness in the drive-line. ireful attention over the next N days, pumping in fresh ease, smoothed things out mewhat; but still, deep down, e growling bearing track was ere.
Just like me, Fred reckons a tch in time saves lots of Dn ey and so, at the end of the cond week after his return to )rk, he booked the lorry into 3 repairer to have the centre aring changed.
During the weekend, he ffered a medical setback and is compelled to re-employ the iver who, just as you would pect, got the Riot Act read to ri about the centre bearing.
the Monday morning, the Ty was collected early and iven to Worcester to collect a Id of plums. Arriving back at ?cl's depot the same evening, ?, driver pointed out that the arbox was very noisy.
Almost despairing, Fred am, from his sick bed this le, booked the vehicle in for ention. Later, the next day, a problem was diagnosed as aring failure in the front end the box which was duly )laced with a service unit to de time.
Off went the driver back to Worcester for more plums, only to report on his return that the vehicle was still extremely rough.
Fred, unable to leave his bed, grilled the driver to get a really thorough picture of how and when the roughness appeared.
He eventually pinned it down to whenever the machine was running at more than 12 to 1 4mph and his workshop training told him, quite rightly, that the problem could not possibly be in the gearbox.
A chat on the phone with his repair shop foreman confirmed his suspicions. His propshaft had been dismantled by two apprentices working under rather distant supervision, so he made arrangements for the vehicle to go back, yet again; this time, for the attention of the service manager himself.
Just as Fred suspected after grilling the driver, the service manager confirmed that the joint alignment in the propshaft
was incorrect. The two lads did not know, when tackled about it, that U /Js had to be aligned and pressure of work had caused a simple centre-bearing change to be passed through the system without a road test being carried out.
Subsequent stripping of Fred's own gearbox revealed that its condition was almost perfect, so he elected to have it refitted. Once this was done and the propshaft joints properly aligned, the vehicle was sweet as a nut.
By now though, the bills for centre bearing, gearbox and clutch were nudging the £2,500 mark and the inevitable haggling about who would pay what began.
Fred refused to pay for anything other than replacing the centre bearing and, being a very sensible chap, the replacement of a clutch plate while the gearbox was out. This was about the only sensible thing his workshop had done. But as we often find whei dealing with repair shops, i finished up in a face-to-face witl the general manager befon honour was satisfied on botl sides with Fred swallowing th( cost of having his machine idli for a week and the workshoj swallowing the labour costs o all the unnecessary work, am the replacement box, which, b■ now, they had back, slightl■ soiled.
Obviously, the whole deback was a dead loss to both sides However, the most disastrow part of it all was the friction anc ill-feeling that inevitably creep.1 in between the user and repairel in these instances.
But, it's an ill-wind they say that blows good for no one and, of course, our two apprentices suitably admonished, are now expert at aligning shafts, while Fred's repair agent now employs a full-time tester/trouble. shooter, and he, they will tel you, is worth his weight in gold.