Maintenance Archives - Page 8 of 19 - Fleet Equipment Magazine
Getting heavy-duty, medium-duty trucks to talk the same service language

When a truck service location is faced with both heavy- and medium-duty vehicles all sporting different name plates, there’s often a communication breakdown. Technicians interface with different trucks in different ways, they have to use various methods of pulling the needed service information off said trucks, and jumping back and forth between heavy-duty and medium-duty

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Peterbilt deploys augmented reality tool for technicians

Peterbilt Motors Co. will have deployed 200 of its patented ARTech augmented reality tools to dealer locations by March 31, 2022. A proprietary software designed to innovate dealer service and improve customer uptime, ARTech utilizes three-dimensional and augmented reality views of chassis-specific Peterbilt trucks, along with existing service systems like PACCAR Solutions Service Management to

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Tires for Vehicles with Extended Life Cycles

Due to a shortage of new commercial vehicles brought on by the pandemic, fleet managers are extending the life cycles of their existing vehicles. In a July Autosphere article Stretched Utilization on Fleet Lifecycles, Chris Hill, wrote, “Fleet managers are responding to the lack of new vehicles by extending the lives of those they currently

How proper truck battery maintenance can help avoid winter catastrophe

Among the many truck components that fall victim to the harsh winter, one of the most prominent is the battery. No-starts, freezing: it’s hardly an exaggeration to say that a dead battery is a death sentence for that truck’s uptime and productivity. Contrary to what many believe, the time to avoid winter’s effects on the

Electrical system maintenance to improve aftertreatment performance

Running a regen is an easy out to deal with aftertreatment issues, but even if it fixes the problem in the short term, you’re sure to see that same truck back in the shop with the same set of aftertreatment-related faults. You need to get to the root of the aftertreatment system’s problem, and the

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Replacing heavy-duty truck wheel bearings: Steel, aluminum hubs make a difference

When it comes to replacing heavy duty wheel bearings, it’s important to know the differences between steel and aluminum hubs. So let’s chart the differences. Starting with steel hubs, you’ll notice that it’s a more forgiving material and you don’t need to be as careful compared to working with aluminum. It’s typically also easier to

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Standard-temp vs. high-temp clutch pilot bearings: What’s the difference?

When replacing a heavy-duty clutch pilot bearing, there are a few options to consider. You should always follow the OEM recommendations as they will require either standard- or high-temperature bearing, and that difference between the two is extremely important. While clutch pilot bearings are often thought of as a relatively simple deep groove ball bearing,

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Tech tip: Proper truck wheel bearing adjustment

It’s important to know what the proper bearing adjustment is to reduce premature bearing failure. For optimal bearing life, you want to have an ideal bearing end-play setting between 0.001 inches and 0.005 inches in heavy-duty wheel-end applications. To eliminate the guesswork, the TMC RP618 was designed for heavy duty wheel bearing adjustment and allows

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How electric trucks could change service shop operations

Electric trucks are coming and reduced maintenance is potentially coming along with them, but that doesn’t mean that truck service is going to change overnight. There will be differences, but electric trucks offer an opportunity, not a threat, to truck service operations. While there are plenty of conversations to be had about service needs and

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Bendix talks safety system data at the HD Repair Forum

In addition to protecting your fleet and drivers from accidents, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) also gather quite a bit of data that can be useful to a fleet. Jim Barber, Bendix director of fleet sales and service, NA-West, addressed the topic in a recent talk at the Heavy Duty Repair Forum in September. “Our

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North American Trailer opens new facility in Wisconsin

North American Trailer has opened a new facility in Chippewa Falls in Western Wisconsin, 10 miles outside of Eau Claire and directly east of the Twin Cities. The new Chippewa Falls facility will offer truck, trailer, and tank service, including in-shop and emergency roadside service on medium- to heavy-duty vehicles. In addition, the facility will

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Tech tip: Case hardening vs. through hardening truck bearing components

Do you ever lie awake at night thinking about how to harden steel to the required level for bearing components? I know I do. And that got me thinking of how important it is for a fleet manager to know the differences between through hardening and case hardening. Iron mix needs a certain amount of