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TECH TALK - Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce Technical Services

It may be some months before the coroner has released his findings on the exact circumstances surrounding the recent tragic death of a motorist on a Melbourne freeway. What is known is that a wheel of a 'B-double' came off the vehicle at high speed, crossed the medium strip and struck an on-coming vehicle.

The force of the impact was enough to severely damage the large passenger car; sadly the driver of the vehicle was killed instantly. Quick action by the vehicle's passenger, in steering the vehicle safely to the side of the road surely prevented what must have already been a very traumatic experience from becoming an even greater tragedy.

Although the incidence of injuries or fatalities occurring as a direct result of a wheel parting company with the vehicle are rare, loose wheel nuts are not and nor is the damage associated with them. Tyres, rims, hubs and studs can all be damaged as a result of loosening wheel nuts and to make matters worse, the incidence wheel nut loosening is all too often associated with recent tyre or wheel replacement. In recognition of this, many operators will re-tension wheel nuts after a wheel replacement, as well as carrying out retentions as part of a regular maintenance schedule.

Although time consuming and absolutely necessary, this additional service is a further maintenance burden on an already extremely competitive industry. No repairer in the heavy transport sector needs to be reminded of the potential cost in repairs and down time that will occur if a wheel should work loose, especially immediately after a repair. As a consequence, a product that enables vehicle operators to see when a wheel nut has worked loose during a quick walk-around visual inspection of the vehicle is sure to be met with something more than passing interest.

The product is called "Check point" and is a simple and cost effective product ensuring, by visual inspection, with total certainty that a wheel nut has not loosened off.