How to Prevent Spontaneous Combustion of the Trailer  

The hot weather will cause various failures of our vehicles, ranging from high temperature of the engine and puncture of the tire, to the self-combustion damage of the truck resulting in the scrapping of the truck.
 
The highest proportion of truck spontaneous combustion accidents is not the fire of the dump truck or tractor truck, but the fire of the trailer. The spontaneous combustion of the trailer often brings heavy losses to drivers, ranging from the burning the tires, to the burning of the whole truck and cargo, which may lead to bankruptcy. So how to avoid the occurrence of spontaneous combustion accidents of the trailer? In fact, to avoid accidents, we must find out what causes spontaneous combustion. Here are some of the most common faults that cause spontaneous combustion and ways to prevent them.
 


● Causes of the fire of the tire—Brake drum heating
 
Speaking of the brake shoes not returning, most truck drivers must be familiar with it. The hot  brake drum and the decreasing power performance of the truck are manifestations of this fault, and the most serious consequence is that the tires catch fire.
 
Why does the brake shoe fail to return? There are mainly several reasons:
 
1. When the brake shoe returns, spring breaks and falls off and the brake clearance is too small, resulting in long-term contact friction between the brake shoe and the brake drum.
 
2. Insufficient lubrication of brake camshaft.
 
3. The brake pads are too thin, so that the brake camshaft travels too long and the dead brake shoes cannot return. These faults will cause the brake drum to quickly heat up and ignite the tire.

● The grease of the wheel hub catch fire—Wheel hub bearing damage
 
Wheel hub bearing damage is also one of the more common causes of spontaneous combustion accidents. Once the bearing is damaged, the temperature of the wheel hub will rise rapidly and ignite the grease, resulting in a fire.
 
There are some other reasons that result in high tempreture, you can read Truck Knowledge: How to Lower the Temperature of the Truck?

● Eliminate hidden dangers—Inspection and maintenance of wheel hub bearings and brake components
 
If we find the causes of the failure, we can find the right ways to prevent it from happening, so we should carry out a brake and drum maintenance.
 

1. Check whether the thickness of the brake pads of the braking system is too thin. If the wear reaches the limit, it must be replaced.

 
2. Check whether the grease passage of the brake camshaft is blocked. If it is blocked, it must be cleared to ensure the normal lubrication of the brake camshaft.
 
3. What should be paid attention to in drum maintenance is to clean the old grease when applying grease, and apply new grease after checking the bearing. Do not directly smearing oil and installing without cleaning the parts, and the grease must be selected from products with good quality. The performance of products with poor quality is very unstable and may accelerate the wear of bearings.
 
4. In normal use, the temperature of the wheel hub and the brake drum should also be checked frequently. If there is any abnormality, repair it immediately to prevent accidents.
 
● Afterwords
 
The maintenance of trucks in hot weather is essential, because it is related to our driving safety and economic benefits. Timely and correct maintenance can improve our transportation efficiency and bring higher benefits at the same time.