12/8

I ended up changing out a 5th wheel on a Semi. I had to use a heel bar to get the pins out of the bushings. It's heavier than it looks so I used the forklift to remove and replace it via a lifting pin. After assembling it I learned how to grease a 5th wheel properly.

I was asked to find an air leak on a 30 year old Kenworth owned by Tiger Construction. A co worker had spent all day on it and still couldn't find all of the leaks. He found some of them but the truck would still leak air overnight to the point of being empty. I ended up pulling up a schematic with Jeff and going over how the air system works and ways you can separate which system are actually leaking.

What I actually learned was using a schematic to systematically work my way across an air system until I found the big leak on this truck. I started from the Wet Tank and worked my way back until I found bubbles on the air lines after spraying with soapy water. It ended up being a section of air line near the rear axle. I couldn't tell if it was leaking due to chafing but there were many hose clamps on it in an attempt to repair it. Just that 8 feet of hose had over half a dozen leaks in it that were substantial. I replaced the air line with DOT approved 1/4" OD tubing which the truck didn't have on it to begin with. That's a violation and it wouldn't have passed a truck inspection at the scales.

Using a pin to lift off the 5th wheel.

Reused the bushings on the 5th wheel.