Inter-axle lock ..."Eh, you don't need it"

Just be off the throttle and no wheels spinning when you lock it in. It won't hurt it at higher speeds, but to be safe, I wouldn't have it in over 45 mph.

 

If none of the wheels are spinning, all of them are receiving equal power.

If you are on a low traction surface, you can run for days with the power divider locked in, at speed. If you read the warning label in the truck, most of them say "Engage at any speed as long as no wheels are spinning." It just a sliding sleeve that locks two concentric shafts together. Power divider damage normally happens when someone tries to engage it when a wheel is spinning, or from excessive spinning with the lock disengaged. The first is like trying to force a transmission into gear without matching rpm and speed for that gear. The second can cause the divider to spin too rapidly and throw the oil off the gears, which results in rapid overheating of those gears and failure follows shortly as the excess heat permanently weakens the gears.

Running locked on dry roads can cause problems, as it's rare for the front and rear axles to have tires of the exact same diameter, and the locking them together puts the entire interaxle driveline into a bind. This leads to excess tire wear and rapidly increasing diff lube temperatures, but normally doesn't harm the power divider as the differential portion of the divider is unloaded when the shafts are locked together.

 

That's too bad. That would be good for a laugh.

 

And these people work at a trucking company? Don't use the tool because it breaks and we don't want to fix it? and call a tow truck instead, we'd rather pay for that. Wouldn't it be cheaper in the long run to systematically bring the drivers in in groups and properly teach them how the interaxle locks work so they **don't break**? Just imagine all the tow and shop time savings....

 

after all that trouble you should go out to the yard and see if there are any m/t trucks sitting there. if there are m/t trucks you should be safe,if not i would be thinking about my next job. i cant understand why you did not just flip the switch to get going and unflip it after you got going. now you got half the office staff mad at you,over a stupid switch on the dash. did you ever wonder why that switch was put there? b safe

 

That wouldn't make me happy. The interlock can get you out of a jam and keep you moving in low traction sitautions.

 

I would love to call a wrecker at their expense to move their truck 1 ft to get my one spinning wheel out of a pot hole.

 

I hear ya. I agree with you. I dont normally reccommend this action, but with boneheads like that running the company, I would have them call a service truck every time I had a tailight out too.

But it's a time thing. If he has to call a wrecker every time he spins a tire, he will lose his shirt. Personally I'd jump ship well before I'd disrobe.