Freightliner Broke my Wheel Stud

[chessie4905]

Maybe Gary put them on backwards, and the kid put them back on the way he found them???😬

[luvrbus]

Gary had it repaired in El Paso it was probably a " no hablo ingles" translation in the communications    

[Geoff]

All the new trucks use hub-centered wheels.  So if you have a newbie, he is going to put the flat side against the rim, just like he's used to.  Hello, Budd wheels?

[chessie4905]

That's what I said earlier. A current Freightliner dealer mechanic, if young probably never saw a stud piloted wheel setup or split rims. Or a bus built before he was born.

[oltrunt]

"Maybe Gary put them on backwards, and the kid put them back on the way he found them?Huh??😬"

With all the money Gary makes --bales of Benjamines, there is now way he personally would even have had time to do that so that clearly didn't happen.

[eagle19952]

A current Freightliner dealer mechanic, if young probably never saw a stud piloted wheel setup

uhmm...

did if he took them off.

[eagle19952]

Gary had it repaired in El Paso it was probably a " no hablo ingles" translation in the communications    

some of the best wrenches that worked for/with me were not Americans.
just saying.

[Iceni John]

That's what I said earlier. A current Freightliner dealer mechanic, if young probably never saw a stud piloted wheel setup or split rims. Or a bus built before he was born.

When I had a 1970 Mercedes my rule was to never have anyone younger than the car working on it.   I had a succession of cranky old farts work on it over the years with no problems, and the one time I had to use some youngster he screwed up royally.   I'll follow the same rule for my bus.

John

[luvrbus]

some of the best wrenches that worked for/with me were not Americans.
just saying.

There are some good bus mechanics here that don't speak English either the communication is needed on both sides, I know enough Spanish to barely get by, Arabic I never did get the hang of it   
 

[Jim Eh.]

A mistake like this is unlikely just a case of a lack of concentration. Inexperience - possibly. So does that leave intent?

It seems unlikely that if the person who took the hub apart was the one who installed the nuts on backwards otherwise I think we would be discussing a wheel-off.

If you imagine the installer looking at the first nut and wondering "which way ...". A simple glance over at the other axle would tell him.

Disgruntled employee? "How to quit with (zero)class"?

[luvrbus]

There is a person setting on his @$# in a small office that didn't do his friggin job either

[Boomer]

This case reminds me of the old adage "if you can't work on your own bus, you shouldn't have one".  OK, for a lot of guys, not feasible.  But everyone should at least check the work of the incompetents in these shops before paying the bill.

[richard5933]

Kind of reminds me of my trip home with our current bus. First morning I went to check tire pressure and realized that one of the out wheels on the rear was mis-clocked and there was no access to the inner tire's valve stem. I pulled into the nearest place that was open to have them re-clock the tire, and I hovered just outside the bay door the entire time. Good thing too, as the young kid doing the work had no idea how to lift the bus and would have ended up putting a hole in the bottom of the bus if I wasn't there. I finally showed him the manual where it recommended just running the inner tire up on a block to remove the outer. Simple, but it worked.

Coincidentally to this thread, he did discover that there was a broken stud on the wheel that someone previously had just installed as a dummy. I would have had them fix this on the spot if a) they had been qualified, and b) they had access to the correct studs. This was on my list for the first trip to the shop when I got home. I know carry a few extra studs for all four corners since one never knows when and where they'll need to be replaced.

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

"Maybe Gary put them on backwards, and the kid put them back on the way he found them?Huh??😬"

With all the money Gary makes --bales of Benjamines, there is now way he personally would even have had time to do that so that clearly didn't happen.

Sorry, I was out flying in the BCM jet when you sent this.  What did you say?  

[bronson]

I teach diesel mechanics at a vocational school. We have 2 trucks with budds  and every year I get a few with the left handed nuts. I do cover it in class but until they see it and do it generally they don't pay attention. There are 22-25 in each class. One student couldn't get wheels off and came to me for help. They were the left hand nuts, I pick up the 1 inch impact he is using and flip the direction switch without him seeing. I take a lug nut off and hand gun back to him flipping switch back each time. Each time he can't do it and hands it to me and I can. He's getting more mad and frustrated as we go. At one point a guidance counselor walks by and I say even Mr. Anderson can probably do it. I hand him the impact flipping the switch and he gets one loose . This kid is pissed now and I finally had to let him know what he was going on. I may have pushed him a little to far but I guarantee he'll never forget. We torque everything possible and I do my best to make them follow proper procedures but with 20+ students per class I can't be everywhere. Nuts do end up backwards valve stems not accessible and I'll tell them something's not right and make them allsit and figure it out. Another time a student was torquing u bolts and couldn't get the 3/4 wrench to click. I told him to man up and he'd get it. Finally I walked over to check t.and he has torque wrench assembled wrong and it will never click.