There is virtually no space for them to work and they have to weld through an opening that can be less than one foot squared. Technicians who are not certified welders will try to repair a damaged kingpin, but they immediately run into a problem. Partial Plate Replacement and Structural Trailer Repairs Fifth wheel replacements on the trucks and eventual structural repairs on the trailer will cost tens of thousands of dollars in additional repairs over a 3-year period,” said Lefebvre. “The problem if ignored starts to exponentially raise the total cost of operation for the fleet. Those fifth wheels, in turn, can damaged other kingpins. This means 25-30 trailers out of every 100 trailers are out of operational specifications and can be causing excessive wear or damage to the fifth wheel they connect with. If the KINGPIN is damaged or worn excessively it will not function properly and cause damage to the new or repaired fifth wheel when connected.Ī typical fleet in the food-service sector without a kingpin maintenance plan will average a failure rate of 25% to 30%. “This solves 50% of the problem, which is like solving 0% of the problem,” explained Rich Lefebvre, President of Kingpin Specialists. Most shops don’t have welders that are certified to complete a structural repair on a trailer therefore they ignore the kingpin and focus on the fifth wheel. Wear is unavoidable but it is manageable! The more the connection between the truck and trailer is stressed, the higher the wear rate. The fifth wheel of the truck and the kingpin of the trailer are both composed of high-strength steel. Anytime you have metal in contact with metal wear and damage can occur.
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