So how are you going to do this on a tank like Maniac pulls? Will the driver put on his scuba gear and enter the loaded tank? How will he open the door to inspect the welds?

 

I don't see how a loaded tank would be any more difficult to check than a loaded flatbed. I guess all the liquid must have drained out of that tank when the king pin came loose huh?

LOL

 

Remember this was someone else's idea not mine!
On a van or a deck you would have a door or removeable floor sections to check the welds on the top of the pin I am guessing. Not sure how you would do that with a tank>that was my point.

 

I think Maniac is pulling end dump now...If his avatar is any indication.

With tanks the king pin is part of a "pan" which is bolted to the tank itself, in the same manner that the fifth-wheel is bolted to the truck.....only with 5x's the bolts. Shops can slip a camera into the pan to quick check the top of the pin. Most of the major tanking companies have a replacement program for the kingpins. Some are based on weighted miles, some on the number of loads and others by "years" ( 2, 3, or 4,).

 

Yep been pulling a dump almost 3 years now, funny thing is it broke all around the weld, the guy who welded it back in for me said it was metal fatigue, there were lots of smal strees cracks in the 5th wheel plate, once he started welding they all opened up from the heat, pretty scary

I have since replaced the entire plate with a new one, trailer is good as new now.

On the tankers the plate just unbolts, just like a flatbed, at Dana they had them in stock and could change it out in 2 or 3 hours.

 

That's messed up, glad you or no one else got hurt.