i use water. windex and the other stuff seem to leave strange smears on the windshield, passenger side, and driver side windows. water leaves nothing like that and takes care of the job just fine.

i'm not trying to trample all over him. that isn't my goal in this thread.

Advice from another newbie........Be careful in the truckstops.

I fueled in Barstow the other night and went across the street to the truck wash and as I was waiting in line to get my truck washed I was listening to the CB.

There was a new Swift driver struggling to get backed into a parking spot. A guy came on the radio and said having problems Swift? Let me help you, then another came on the radio and said I'll watch this side.

To make a long story short the Swift driver listened and followed their direction and backed into a truck. They guided him right into the truck to get a laugh. The whole truckstop was laughing and making fun of the new driver.

I never take my break in a truckstop. I try to fuel between 1pm-2pm, fuel, park real quick and run in take a shower (never a wait at that time) and grab my fuel ticket and get out of there. Of course it is a little easier for me because I run the same roads everyweek and stop at the same places everyweek.

I'm like you....... I get my truck and trailer washed once a week. When I back into a dock it's time to get the Windex and Armourall out and detail the truck. I have a cordless vacumm to do the carpet with. I also start the nights supper while backed into the dock. Crock pots are a good thing to have in the truck.

I guess you are not a real trucker though until you can waddle into the truckstop and gorge yourself at the buffet and drop a few 20's in the Cherry Machine while you skip the shower all together. Then sit around and watch the Simpsons on the big screen TV and complain about not making any money.

That Flying J in Barstow is tough to get in and out of.

i got lucky one afternoon as i pulled into there. the spots along the east row were empty. they had a zero chance of being blocked in. naturally, i cranked a u-turn and backed into one of those fine spots.

Hey ronjon

Looks like you are familier with the area.

What is the story on the motel in Fontana at the Cherry St exit across from the old truckstop?

Couple weeks ago i had new trailer brakes put on at Utility Trailer and didn't have anything to do that night so I decided to leave my trailer there and get a motel. I checked in and went to the room and flipped on the TV and porn was the channel that came on. As soon as it got dark the hookers started knocking on my door. Was a long night!

That's lot lizard central. The Fontana AA is off the exit. That's a rough part of town.

Confessions of a newbie......

The problem I have most with the tandems isn't them sliding but the pins won't retract. I am not sure how spraying lube on the slides will get the pins to behave.

.....please be merciful ! :o

Have no fear! A quick look around will usually reveal one or more pins is "forced" forward or to the rear of a hole. In the presence of a cooperating driver, he/she should be able to retract the pins while you do a little push and pull with the tractor, trailer brakes set.

If you're forced to go it alone, you'll need to try a few solo tugs or pushes until you find the sweet spot . . generally good advice in many situations.

Keep a pair of vice grips handy in the event the pins will retract but the release handle won't stay "locked out" . . pull the handle all the way out, lock it in place with the vice grips and slide to your hearts content . .

Well.... I'm sure others here know way more than ME about this but...

If you have air retracted pins, make sure you spray the silicone all around them and deep into the hole. If you have the "linkage" type (raise a bar and they are mechanically retracted,) do that AND get under the trailer and spray all the linkages you can find. If those parts aren't moving freely, they may not move completely to the necessary point for retraction. (also inspect them. I had one that was broken once and not even pulling on the pin.)

Now.... are you sure they are not in a bind? If the rail is binding against the side of the pin, it won't retract easily. May need to jump in and push back or pull forward.... sometimes even a little wiggle of both.

Make sure your trailer tandems are on level ground. If one side is higher than the other, or even if your DRIVES are, you can have the whole mechanism in a bind. You may have 2 or 3 pins that "want" to retract freely, but they are linked to one or two others that are in a bind because your trailer is "racked."

And, when all else fails.... get a bigger hammer!