How to perform a Class A CDL Pre-Trip inspection. Demonstrated by a state licensed CDL examiner.

Well, today we are going to talk about how to

perform

a pre-

trip

inspection

on a Class A rated vehicle. Free ride is one of the most important things a driver should do on a daily basis to ensure that the vehicle is safe to hit the road. , not only do you need to do the preacher, but you also need to document that you did it and you also need to know the results, which means that if you go out on the road with a vehicle that is unsafe and you shouldn't be doing it, you can get fined for it , so you must be careful, you must know what you are doing, here we will show you not only how to do the pre-ride, but we are also going to demonstrate the details of passing the CDL test in order to obtain a license for your class, the first thing you must do is demonstrate an adequate and complete before the

trip

, the difference between demonstrating it for testing.

You actually do one in real life during the test remember the

examiner

is not testing the truck you are testing you know what you are doing to be convenient and make things happen faster they don't necessarily require you to do the whole truck , they want to see if you understand the parts, so on most trucks there will be redundant parts on one side of the vehicle, you have tires, on the other side of the vehicle you have tires and brake chambers. and ramps and they're all the same, so most of what you're going to check is the driver's side of the truck for testing, but for a real free ride, obviously, you want to check both sides so you can make sure that vehicles are safe during your pre-trip examination at the test, the only time you will be on the passenger side of the vehicle is when you are checking for something you need on that side of the vehicle that you won't find on the driver's side, if something redundant that you will find on both sides of the vehicle and there is exactly the same thing, you check it from the driver's side, so let's go ahead and start one of the things that What you need to understand is that this is our previous trip here so it is as we teach it in classes these are the forms we use for exam purposes they divide the vehicle into three sections remember I said they don't want it, they don't want to go through the entire truck necessarily, they want to make sure you know what you're doing, so they'll break it down into three sections and for the

examiner

it's called a form a form B or a form C you won't know which one they're going to give you when you get there so you have to know the whole truck, but if you get a form eight like this, it's our form a will be from the front of the truck will be both sides of the engine compartment on the coupling a form B which would be on the next page would be from the driver's side of the truck the rear of the truck and the coupling and a form C would be the coupling and the trailer, so you always end up doing the coupling and the other part that everyone ends up doing will be an end cap.

You're in the city, where you check all your gauges and check your brakes. Now it's the only thing you have to maintain. in mind for the rest of the exam for your skills in the yard and on the road, you don't want to accumulate points, accumulating points is a bad thing, accumulating points means that you have done something wrong and have been assigned a point for it and that too many points fail in your pre-trip and accumulation of points is what you want the more things you name, the more things you do correctly, the more points you accumulate and then you will end up passing that one thing that will immediately fail you in your pre-trip trip and what you can't go wrong with is brake check, we're going to go through it thoroughly so you understand that when you do your brake check, your brake check has to be one hundred percent good, so what we're going to do is we're going to go ahead and start, we're going to start with a form, a flow that goes through it, like you get the whole truck, because you could get that.

Also, sometimes randomly on the computer you might end up pulling the entire truck and you have to know how to do it all, so now we start at the front of the truck with each new section we're going to do what's called an overhaul. every time you go to a new section you do an overview now the overview is just an opportunity to do a cursory look at the vehicle and the area you are inspecting to notice if you see anything damaged, just like my overview or the front end of my vehicle. I don't see any damage.

I don't see anything hanging. I don't see any of my mirror brackets cracked or broken. You're going to get into some of the more specific things so you're going to look at the top of the ball my lights my marker lights crack damage you're loose they're clean and the appropriate color all my lenses on the front for my headlights are They are not cracked They are not damaged in any way They are not tarnished They are clean and the correct color. I would take a look at it, as I said during my overview. I would look at the front of the vehicle and see if it is leaning to one side or another if it is leaning to one side or another that could indicate some type of suspension damage something is wrong with the suspension and it is allowing the vehicle to lean to one side or the other or whatever.

Another thing I would do is look under the vehicle and I would like to make sure that in the dripping puddles under the engine I don't notice any type of oil leak or radiator leak, that would indicate some type of fluid, a line or a hose or a radiator that has been damaged and is leaking fluid on the floor, so with that being said, I don't see any fluid underneath. I'm ready to proceed to the engine compartment. Let's start with the passenger side. the engine compartment because there are fewer things to check on the passenger side.

I like to make one side to get it out of the way and then move on to the next so we don't bounce back and forth and forget things, so I'm going to start by opening the hood, when you open the hood, be careful when opening it, make sure to use the footrest if you have one to relax and put the control forward so as not to break the hood and then we go. to move to the passenger side of our engine compartment, so we're on the passenger side of our engine compartment. Now keep in mind that each engine is a little different each engine, each engine compartment, this is a Freightliner Columbia 120, it has a Mercedes engine.

In it, you could be driving a Peterbilt with a Cummings engine, you could be driving a Kenworth with a Cummings engine, it's all going to be a little bit different, so what I want you to be able to do is learn how to identify the parts that you need to check, so don't No matter what vehicle you're in, you know how to find it, there are certain ways to track certain things, so if I look at this engine bay, I remember what I said in each new section that I'm going to start with an overview, so an overview of the passenger side of my engine compartment.

I don't see anything damaged or loose. I don't see any hoses hanging loose. None of my hoses have abrasion marks. or cuts in them, they don't leak fluid so I don't see anything damaged, so let's start with some of the more specific things. Now, on this side of the engine bay, there are really only two things I need to check. on this engine on this side what we have here is the first thing I'm going to check is my water pump my water pump is here now how do I know it's a water pump? Well, you have to look for things that would give you that clue.

I know what a water pump does. A water pump pumps water through the engine and that water comes from the radiator, so with the radiator here, what I do is look for the hoses that they come out of the radiator So I have a hose here that comes out of the radiator and it goes to the top of the water pump right there and then I have a hose here that comes out of the bottom of the radiator and you can see it right there. it attaches to the water pump right there, so I know that's my water pump, so what I would do is identify that this is my water pump.

It is not correct, it is not damaged or loose, it does not leak fluid and it is correctly bolted to the engine. you have to identify that it is a belt driven water pump right there is the belt you would have to identify that the belt is not damaged it is not frayed it is not cut it has no abrasions bumps or cuts and it has no more than 3/4 inch of play when you press it to make sure it's spelled correctly, which one is this now. If you take a look here, the only other thing we checked from this side would be my radiator.

My radiator is not properly damaged. or loose, no, it is properly screwed and secured on the frame, it does not leak. I can see that it has no leaks, the core is not leaking to the ground and the radiator is in good condition, so everything else on this side of the engine. compartment my frame my brake chambers my tires there's the exact same thing on the other side of the engine compartment we'll check it out there so here we are on the driver's side of the engine compartment again like with each new section I'm going to start with a overview, overview of the driver's side of my engine compartment.

I don't see anything cracked or loose and I will see some of my hoses that have abrasions or cuts. I'm not dripping fluids on the floor everything else seems to be in good condition in my overview now I like to use a system that helps me remember things so I work in an order that keeps things in my night. I allow what I see in the truck. to remind me what I need to have what I need to check, so I like to try to keep it simple, I work from the back of the engine to the front and from the inside of the engine to the outside, so if I start at the back firewall here and start looking at the things I need to check.

I know I need to check this. This is my overflow tank for my radiator system. It is not cracked or broken. It does not leak fluid in any way and I want to mention that all the hoses. that lead to and from there have no abrasions, bumps or cuts and that they are not smooth, they are not leaking any liquid. Also, you want to mention that the lid is properly secured. This is my windshield washer fluid reservoir, it is not cracked or damaged in any way. No liquid is leaking. The lids are securely secured, so I'm going to work from the back again.

Ooh, when I start with the engine here, I'll look at some key components here, the first part I'll identify here. This is my air compressor pump for my air brake system, it is not cracked, damaged, broken or loose, it is properly bolted to the engine, the hoses going to and from it either installed and it is not leaking in any way . I'm going to see what my power steering pump is, which is correct. It is not uncommon to find that the power steering puffs come out of the exact same gear that drives the air pump. You should mention that your air pump does not work with a belt. in this case, if it were belt driven, it would be mounted near the front of the motor with a belt around it, and it is gear driven.

The way I know this is my power steering pump is because I have this is my Power Steering Gearbox here and this is my power steering fluid reservoir. Well look at the hoses coming out of it and I follow the hoses all the way to the end and I see the hydraulic lines and hydraulic fittings go to the power steering pump on the right. there, so I know that's my power steering pump. You identify that your power steering pump is not cracked, damaged, broken in any way, is not leaking fluid and is properly bolted to the engine and all hoses going to and from it have no abrasions. bumps or cuts and they don't leak any fluid, okay, the next thing I would identify would be this is my oil filler cap, here my oil filler cap is properly secured and this is my oil dipstick, the dipstick You don't have to take it out and check it for the pre-travel exam.

Obviously you have to take it out and check it when you do an actual pre-trip. All you would identify is that this is my dipstick. I would check the oil level by pulling. take it out by cleaning it, reinserting it, taking it out again checking and making sure the oil is above line AB, you would have to tell the examiner that the next thing you are going to check is your alternator, this is my alternator, my alternator. is not cracked, damaged, is properly bolted and secured and you identify that the alternator is belt driven, has a belt, the belt is not frayed or damaged in any way and has no more than 3/4 inch of play when pulling of it and make sure it's in good condition so when it starts coming out the first thing I'm going to hit is my frame ok this is my frame rail you can see it running there my frame is not cracked damaged or broken.

You also want to mention that it's free of illegal welding, so while I'm leaving, remember that I'll do that while I'm leaving the system. The next thing I'm going to touch on is what's screwed in. to that, my shock tower here is my shock, my upper shock mount and my lower down mount are not cracked, damaged, loosened or broken, the shock itself is notis correct, damaged or loose and because the shock has hydraulic fluid in it, you should mention it. that the shock absorber does not leak any fluid so I am going to go to the front here of my leaf spring hangers these are my leaf spring hangers, they are not correct, damaged or loose, properly bolted to the leaf spring, both my front and rear hangers, you can see the rear hanger all the way down, it is not damaged or loose, they are in good condition, my crossbow itself is not cracked, damaged or loose, it is not bent or broken, and what you are going to do is take a good look at what is screwed to the leaf spring, secures it and allows the suspension components. to travel with the front axle the front steering axle this is the front steering axle my front steering axle is not cracked or damaged it is not bent or broken and it has no illegal welds and the way it is bolted to the leaf spring is a through these bolts through this bottom airbag plate and these bolts here and these mounting plates on the bottom are not cracked or damaged, the broken part and the bolts are not loose.

Looseness in these areas here would be indicated by shiny metal around them or metal shavings. This is a pneumatic front suspension if it had a stop, only a piece of rubber comes off at the top so that if it hits the frame it doesn't hit the metal, the metal, it would be the bolts that would hold it, but in this case it is about of an air bag, so you should mention that the top and bottom plates are not cracked, damaged or loose, are properly secured to the frame and that the bag itself has no abrasions, bumps or cuts and is not leaking air.

They're fine, so I'm going to cross as I go out again. I'm going to hit my power steering gearbox. This is the gearbox that gives me the ability, as I turn the steering wheel, to turn the wheels so that I'm going to look at all of my steering components, so the first thing I'm going to do is hit my drum, my powers, my axle. direction, it is not cracked, damaged, bent or broken, and remember to mention that it has no more than ten degrees of play when you move it like this, it cannot have more than ten degrees of lean, which would indicate that your U-joints They are starting to wear out and would need to be replaced, so the next thing I'm going to look at These are my U-joints.

My U-joints are not cracked or damaged in any way. They show no unusual wear and are adequately lubricated. My power steering gearbox is not properly damaged or broken. It has no fluid leaks and is in good condition. Bolted to the frame, I would mention the power steering reservoir, the fluid reservoir is not damaged or broken because it contains fluids, it does not leak any fluids and all the hoses going to and from it have no abrasions, nicks or cuts. and they don't leak fluid, this is your three piece steering link, that's all you have to call, you don't have to know that they are independent the individual names, your drag link and all you have to do is say .

My three piece steering linkage is not cracked, damaged or broken and is properly secured with castellated nuts. You can see these castellated nuts. There will be one right here and one there. Those are castellated nuts. They call them castellated nuts because they look like the top of a castle, either properly secured with castellated nuts and cotter pins that hold them in place, so as you drive and turn the power steering gearbox, you move these pieces, which makes this tire go down nicely in the rear here, right in The rear here, but behind the front steering axle is a tie rod.

You have to check that as well and you have to make sure that your tie rod is not cracked, damaged or broken, that it is free of illegal welds and what that does. What it does is when you drive right and you turn the gearbox, it turns the driver's side front tire right, that tie rod connects to the passenger side tire and it makes the passenger side tire turn exactly the same. quantity than the driver's side front tire. what connects them is why it's called a tie rod, and now we're going to move on to the brake components.

If you look here, you'll see that we have our brake lines leading to our brake chamber. This is our front. brake chamber our brake lines have no abrasions, dings or cuts, no leaks this small power line is my front wheel speed sensor for my ABS for my anti lock brake system it has no abrasions, dings or cuts and is in good condition. my front brake chamber now if you look at this you'll notice it's a single chamber this is what you would call a service brake chamber because it doesn't have a spring on the back for emergency brakes you would say my service is my la brake chamber is not damaged or loose from cracks is properly mounted and secured plate is not damaged from cracks or loose let's say my push rod, my brake chamber, my push rod on my slack adjuster is not damaged or loose and my brake chamber is not leaking and you would have to check it by pulling on it and making sure it is no more than an inch.

There is some slack when the brakes are released so you grab it like this and pull on it. Okay, now what you're checking there when you pull that when you apply the brakes, the air pressure builds up behind this chamber here and pushes that thrust. rod that turns this cam, this slack adjuster that turns, the camshaft that's down in here, that goes into the brake system and separates the brakes with a cam device S that's inside the brakes, so When you apply the brakes, this pushes. out and that turns that camshaft which turns the S cam that applies the brakes.

What I'm going to do is put the truck in really fast and apply the brake and you go. to see how it works, so what happens when you check it to make sure it doesn't have more than an inch of slack. What you're doing, what this device does is the brake pads start to wear down when they start working. They are so thick and as they start to wear they get thinner and thinner, if this didn't accommodate that the gap between the pad and the drum would become too big so what this does is every time you apply the brake if you feel like you have to travel too far because the brake pads are worn, it allows you to adjust properly so that when you apply the brakes again you have more travel, so you need to check that travel and what you're really checking when you pull on that is to make sure Make sure there is enough space between the pads and the drum.

More than an inch is too much if you have to travel that far. Okay, what we're going to do now is reposition it. the camera and we're going to get a better look at the end of the brakes and how they're working well so we're inside the drum here we're looking because as we get closer from the slack adjuster the next thing to check is your brake pads here these are your brake pads, your brake pads may not be properly damaged or loose, they must have at least a quarter of an inch of pad material, which they have enough and you want to make sure they are free of contaminants or grease between the drum and the pad , that there is no oil leaking from the axle or anything like that getting between the pad and the drum, and you want to make sure that the drum is dry, the next thing I would check would be the drum itself, it is not cracked or damaged in any way and then the inside of the wheel the inside of the wheel is not cracked or damaged it is free of illegal welding, you should be aware that some people will try to fix a tire by welding it instead of replacing it, that is wrong so you should make sure that it does not have illegal welds.

The next thing to check as we work our way out is the bead here to make sure the tire is sitting properly on the inside of the rim, which it is, then I would check the inside sidewall of the tire to make sure it doesn't have any abrasions. , bumps or cuts, that it's free of defects and then it would come out and we'll check the front of the tire the same way, so let's go ahead and do that. Now that we're on the outside of the tire again, you'll do the same thing as if you had just checked the inside of the tire wall.

We are going to check the outside of the tire wall, make sure it has no abrasions, bumps or cuts, that it has no defects, that it is seated correctly on the rim. Okay, you'll also want to check the top of the tire if you come. here you can take a look and what's important to remember about this is that you want to make sure that it doesn't have any abrasions or dings or cuts, that it's free of any defects or issues, but you also want to remember that because this is a front steer tire. . it has to be at least four thirty seconds of an inch of tread depth the tread depth has to be at least four thirty seconds of an inch of depth, you would verify that with a tire gauge it's just a little meter that you can place on top of the tire and press the plunger down and it will tell you how deep the tread depth is.

You should check it on several different areas of the tires to make sure you don't have an area that is wearing excessively or If you have any problems, make sure the top of the tire is smooth and showing signs of uneven wear for at least 30 seconds of one inch tread depth. Have no abrasions, bumps or cuts. Don't have screws, nails or anything stuck. I should also mention that these tires, because they are front steer tires, the front steer tires have to be virgin radials, they cannot be recaps, they cannot be regrouped or retreaded tires, they have to match virgin radials that match in size of both. front steering tires each vehicle now consider a tractor and a trailer or two separate vehicles each vehicle must have the same size tires so they must be the same on each vehicle the trailer can have different size tires than the tractor and vice versa , but on every vehicle they have to be the same, but like I said, these have to be virgin radials, so let's move on to the outside of the tire as we go down the tire.

I would check the face of the tire, it doesn't. shows signs of damage it is not cracked or damaged it does not have illegal welds remember I said you have to make sure it does not have illegal welds would you check your nut the nuts themselves are not broken or damaged they are not loose The clearance that I could check with lusus would be indicated many times by rust streaks running down the face of the tire where the water rusted the bolt behind it and because it is loose the rust waters allowed to run down the face of the tire and would leave rust streaks.

On the face of the tire, sometimes you'll also notice that around the nut you'll see shiny metal where it is because it's loose, vibrating, and wearing away the aluminum to a shiny spot. You would check your wheel seal. My wheel seal is missing. it's damaged or loose, it's not leaking any fluid from the front wheel axle and then the last thing I would check would be my valve stem right here, my valve stem is not damaged, it's not leaking air and this is where Obviously, Check your tire pressure. You have to mention that I would check my tire pressure now, it has to be at least 100 psi and you would check it with a pressure gauge, so what we're going to do now is Continue down the driver's side of the vehicle, so here we're on the driver's side, the truck again. overview the overview of the side of my truck.

I don't see anything cracked, damaged or loose, my marker lights are clean, they're the right color, so let's start with some of the more specific things from a check of mine. I'm here. The supports here are not cracked or damaged. Yours are not cracked or damaged. They are clean. Go. to check my door my windows are not cracked or damaged the door opens correctly I am going to check the hinges on the inside of the door to verify that my weather stripping does not appear to have abrasions, dings or cuts, is in good condition or closes properly I will Go down the side, I check my fuel tank.

The fuel tank straps that secure the fuel tank are not cracked or damaged. The fuel tank itself is not cracked or damaged. There are no diesel fuel leaks. You will have to check the lid by removing it because you have to look inside. Here is a security seal inside. Here you want to make sure it is not cracked or damaged. It shows no abrasions, bumps or cuts. That's a safety chain in itself, so you don't miss the cut. Check my steps. They are not cracked or damaged. Screwed correctly in place. They are in good condition. Move along the side of the vehicle.

I will come. around the back here of the vehicle and I'm going to check the back of my truck. The back of my truck has no intrusions on thecabin. Nothing is cracked or damaged. I don't see anything that would loosen the supports. my pharynx here is not cracked or damaged I'm going to check my lenses lights and reflectors there cleaning the right color now remember I said we only go to the passenger side to do something that is not located here if it is something unique on the passenger side and this it is different for each vehicle on this vehicle this vehicle does not have exhaust pipes like you see on most semi trucks this truck has what they call a brush burner because it is an exhaust that points towards the ground and is lit on the passenger side , so let's go over there and I'll show you how to check it, so this is the exhaust, this exhaust muffler here and the exhaust goes up along the frame rail there.

I'm going to check my exhaust, my muffler is not cracked or damaged, it is bolted correctly, all straps are in good condition, the exhaust system itself is not blocked, damaged, no leaks, a leak in the system is indicated exhaust, is indicated around the clamps, but in this case you can see black soot coming out around the clamps. We don't have any problems, everything is properly secured on this exhaust system and it's in good condition, so we're going to go back to the driver's side of the vehicle and we're back here on the driver's side of our vehicle.

Let's continue with our review. We finish in this part. We made the back of the truck. Let's finish. Let's continue with the hoses. All my hoses have no abrasions, bumps or cuts, they are not cracked. or damaged in some way, they had enough clearance to get off the walkway, so I know they won't brush against the walkway. It's a good opportunity to check my block of guesses. There is no crack damage. None of them are loose. They are in good condition. I can check these air bags right here because they are part of the air system.

This is a pneumatic cabin. The airbags have no abrasions, dings or cuts and no air leaks. They are in good condition. i am going to check my frame rails my frame rails are not cracked or damaged in any way they do not show signs of illegal welding it is not damaged my driveshaft my driveshaft is not cracked or damaged it is in good condition the u-joints that they are on the driveshaft they go to the differential they are not cracked or damaged they show no signs of uneven wear and they are properly greased i am going to check my slip hands where they attach to the trailer this is how air is supplied to the trailer would you remove them and You would check the seals on the inside, make sure they have no abrasions, dings or cuts and that they are connected correctly.

I would also check my power line, make sure it's properly secured, pull it out and look inside. and make sure there is no debris trapped inside and none of the tips are bent as well. I would check the front of my trailer to make sure there are no intrusions on the trailer and that it is not damaged in any way. I don't see anything cracked or damaged my marker lights on the top are clean not damaged by cracks there the right color so if you want to go the other way we'll start checking we'll start moving down the trailer and We'll also check the coupling, so we're going to move around the side of our trailer.

Here we are going to verify that this is called a side skirt. Our skirt is not cracked or damaged. It is not broken. Let's go down. we're going to get under and we're going to get up down here we're going to start with our coupling here now this is our fifth wheel assembly ok and this top part here is this is the skirt for the trailer ok this is the part that mounts to the assembly of the fifth wheel, then you will say that my skirt is not cracked or damaged in any way. It is in good condition.

This is my fifth wheel. The fifth wheel skid plate is not cracked or damaged. It is not bent or broken. it is properly secured to the bed here with this bed pin the bed pin is not cracked or damaged properly secured with a cotter pin this is the release handle for the fifth wheel that releases it so you can remove the trailer the handle release is not cracked or damaged and is in the locked position meaning it is pulled all the way back if it were to stick out here it would be in the released position but this is in the locked position the deck itself is not cracked or damaged , it is not better that it is broken and then you would identify that this particular fifth wheel is a non-sliding fifth wheel, it is bolted directly to the frame, it does not slide and both my upper and lower bolts are properly secured, they are not cracked or damaged and is correctly bolted to the frame, if it were a sliding fifth wheel, the sliding adjustment, would indicate that it is a sliding fifth wheel, that the pins are in the locked position on the carriage it rides on and you would also need to check the Hydra , I mean the air piston that moves the slider, the fifth wheel release fore and aft, that the air piston itself is not cracked or damaged and that the hose leading to it has no abrasions, dents or cuts and it doesn't leak in any way, but because it's not a sliding fifth wheel, it's not necessary, come on, let's move up under the truck and continue the coupling from there, so if you look inside the fifth wheel, you will be able to see the fifth wheel, this shackle is locked around the kingpin stem and is in the locked position.

I can see all the grease that is on my kingpin, so I know that my kingpin is not properly greased and that tells me that I am properly attached to the fifth wheel now, as you can see. from the side and from the back, the other thing you want to make sure is that it's very important that there is no gap between the bed and the fifth wheel, you want to make sure that that lets you know that the trailer is properly supported on the fifth wheel and then you have a high hook, but if I can look back and see that it is locked in the lock position with the shackle around that shank, then I know that it is actually engaged correctly and there is no daylight between my fifth wheel and trailer bed, so what we're going to do now is uncouple this tractor and trailer and move it away so we can give you a better view of some of the things we're doing.

We're going to check the back of the tractor right now, so like I said, we're going to uncouple here again. I wanted to show you guys real quick before I do it again. I don't have space between that fifth wheel and that one. apron there so I know I'm properly engaged, but what we're going to do now is grab this release handle here, I'm going to pull it out and close it to open it now. I unlocked that shackle around the kingpin so I could walk away. I've lowered my landing gear right now so you can see it's not going to drop the trailer.

I'm going to disconnect my airlines and my power line. I'm going to go ahead and put them away real quick and then I'm going to pull the truck forward and we're going to go to the back of the truck and I'm going to show you the things in the back of the truck that you need to know, okay? They're on the back of the truck, like I said, I've uncoupled myself from the trailer so we can get a better view of some of the pieces we'll look at here, let's take another look at a stake. You would normally check this here from under the tractor, but as I said so you can see it better in the movie, this is what we did.

This is what we are going to verify. This is the torque arm for the rear differential. Check that it is not damaged or loose and that it is properly secured with all bolts in place. You are going to check your rear axle. Your rear drive axle. This is your differential. It is not cracked, damaged or loose. It does not leak liquid. It is in good condition, the rear driveshaft that goes from the front differential to the insulin is sufficiently damaged by the tractor, the universal joints are in good condition, they show no signs of uneven wear, they are adequately greased, so as I go along I'm going to hit my brake lines, the brake lines that go to my rear brake chamber here have no nicks or abrasion cuts, they are not leaking in any way, there is the line from my wheel speed sensor to the rear axle , does not show any abrasion marks. or cuts my rear brake chamber is not cracked damaged or loose the push rod the slack adjuster is not cracked or loose the mounting bracket for the brake chamber is not cracked damaged loosen the brake chamber is properly secured to the bracket while work back here this is an air suspension so this is not this does not have leaf springs this is an air suspension my air bag, both the top and bottom plates that mount the air bag are not cracked, damaged or leaking air The lines leading to the airbag have no abrasions, bumps or cuts, no airbag leaks have no abrasions, bumps or cuts and no leaks, come this way, we'll take a look, we'll work on it. the inside of the wheels so we start as we come out of the frame the frame itself is not cracked or damaged it is not broken it is free of illegal welds the upper and lower shock mount are not properly damaged or broken and the shock is not damaged cracked, broken or leaking fluid, it is properly bolted to the frame via the brackets, it is pretty much the same way it was done on the front with the same system, now what is important to note here They're not leaf springs okay this is a control arm because it's an air bag suspension not a leaf spring suspension so you need to check it comes here on the side and I'll show you where to start again keeping everything straight so you can understand, this is the frame mount for the control arm, the frame mount is not cracked, damaged or broken, it is properly secured to the frame and is in good condition, the eyebolt, this is what It is called an eyebolt that secures it to the frame support. is not correct, damaged or broken, is properly secured, the control arm is not cracked, damaged or frayed, and is in good condition.

If you take a look here you'll see that the control arm is bolted to the rear differential, hold it in place via these U-joints here. I mean these U bolts are not cracked, damaged, broken or loose, shiny metal or metal shavings would indicate that, so again let's do this like we did with the front tires, okay? We have worked our way inside the wheel. We have our brake pads here. Our brake pads are not cracked or damaged. They have at least a quarter inch of pill. The brake drums themselves are not cracked or damaged. broken the inside of my tire is not cracked damaged broken free of illegal welds the tire is properly secured and mounted on the rim the inside of the sidewall of my tire has no abrasions bumps or cuts does not show any type of damage Work my A lo along the top of the tire, the tire has no uneven wear and no abrasions, dings or cuts now because this is a rear tire, whether it is a trailer tire or a drive tire, it only needs thirty seconds of tread depth one inch tread depth, not like the front has more than two thirty seconds one inch tread depth.

I work my way to the outside of my inner tire. The side wall has no abrasions, dings or cuts. It's properly mounted on the rim on the inside here, the rim itself, the inside of the duals are not cracked or damaged, they have no illegal welds. I work my way to this tire bead because my outside tire is not cracked. The bead itself is not cracked, damaged or torn and this tire is properly mounted to the inner sidewall bead. The sidewall of my outside tire has no abrasions, dings or cuts, it is free of any damage.

I worked my way through the top of the tire again just as I did with over two thirty seconds of one inch tread depth, with no abrasions, dings or cuts. There is nothing stuck in the tire, I walk towards the sidewall here, no abrasions, dings or cuts, in good condition, mounted correctly on the rim, not cracked or damaged, no illegal welds, these are my lug nuts, my nuts are properly secured, remember that they are loose. It would be indicated by shiny metal shavings. My wheel seal does not leak oil inside the tire. Here is my valve stem.

Now remember that on a drive tire like this, you have tools that you have to check. Both valve stems can't be cracked, damaged or loose and you don't want to leak and since again these are duals, you have dual tires, there's another thing you need to check here, you want to make sure you have adequate clearance between the duals and that there are nodebris caught between the tires, something that you may have run over on the road that got caught between the tires and is going to rub and cause friction, now something about these tires because they are because they are rear.

Tires, whether traction tires or trailer tires, can be retreaded or retreaded. These are three covers. There are a couple of ways you can tell. You'll see a seam around the outside here. Also, if you look here, you'll see a seam right here if you look to the right. there you can see that seam going through the tire that's where the belt was glued in place, it stretched back through the tire after they shaved it off and re-glued the tread, but because this is a rear wheel drive tire, that's it's perfectly fine to do that now that I'm back here, we would check that our flat mud liner isn't damaged or torn or loose, my mud flaps are in good condition, I have enough ground clearance and also I would check the back area here my glasses and my lights are clean and the right color we're going to go ahead and we're going to back up under the trailer again so we can show you the other things that you would be checking as you go through the trailer so let's We have hitched it back to this trailer so we can take a look at the other things we would be looking at, one of the other things you would be checking is to make sure you have the proper clearance between the back of the frame of your tractor and the undercarriage. landing gear so that when it turns the tractor frame does not collide with the landing gear, which would take us to our landing gear.

Check the landing gear and make sure it is not cracked or damaged all side braces are secured bolted in place not cracked or damaged check the landing gear handle make sure your landing gear is probably up and down, which in this case it restores it, now I'm going to move it on the bottom end of my trailer here, all my cross braces are not cracked or damaged, they are not loose, they are in good condition. I'm going to work my way. Down here, to my airlines, my airlines are practically undamaged and loose. There is nothing hanging from them.

All accessories are not damaged or loose. The lines themselves have no abrasions, dings or cuts and we want to make sure they have enough ground clearance. to make sure they're in good condition and what we're going to do now is take a look at the rear trailer tandem and show you what you need to check there so we get back under this tandem. now here are the things we are going to look for: the rear axle is not cracked or damaged, it is not leaking fluid, these are our brake chambers, here you can see the brake chambers, these are the number one spring brake chambers because it's on. a trailer made after 1975 has to have spring brakes, but you can also tell because it has double lines leading to it, one is for the service brake side, when it is for the emergency brake side, the hoses leading The brake chambers do not have abrasion marks. or cuts do not leak properly secured to the brake chamber this is my ABS line is not cracked or damaged leading to the wheel speed sensor the brake chambers themselves are not damaged or loose push rod and adjuster of slack either is not cracked damaged or loose you would check this as an adjuster pulling it now you have to mention you would have to say with the brakes released look if I pull it right now it is solid as a rock well that's because the brakes are on, the brake pads are pushing against the inside of the drum and aren't going to move anywhere, you have to check it with the brake release to make sure the fit is in good order as I make my way to the outside, you're going to look You can see your shock towers here.

They are the same on both sides. The shock tower is not damaged or loose. The upper and lower shock plates. Our brackets are not cracked. Amager is loose. The shock absorbers do not leak any fluid. I would check it out. my control arms here these are the control arms that hold the airbags and that's what they move up and down on the control arms are not cracked or damaged or loose the upper and lower mounting plates for my airbags are not damaged or loose the airbags are free from any abrasions, bumps or cuts and are not leaking in any way, move on to the inside of my brakes again.

This is the same thing he checked on all the brakes. If you look inside the brake, you can see the brake pads. are not damaged or loose have at least a quarter inch of pad material the brake drum is not cracked, damaged or loose is free of contaminants oil or grease the inside of my wheel is not cracked, damaged or loose is free of welds illegals the inside of the sidewall of my tire has no abrasions, dings or cuts, it is seated correctly in the tire and will move to the outside and I will show you the rest, so we left it on the inside sidewall of the tire exactly the same.

As you have checked the tractor track rear drive tires, check that the top of the tires do not show abrasions, dings or cuts, there are no objects impaled on them, they have at least 2 30 seconds tread depth of one inch, these are the rear tires of the trailer, the same. like the units, that's fine, check the sidewall of the inner tire, there are no abrasions, dings or cuts, it is properly seated on the rim, the rim has no cracks, it is not damaged in any way, it is free of illegal welds, The inner sidewall of the outer tire is the same, there are no abrasions, bumps. or cuts correctly seated on the rim this sidewall no abrasions bumps or cuts correctly seated on the rim again this is a retread you can see the seamer it is fine it is a real trailer tire no problem correctly seated on the rim the rim has no cracks look free of illegal welding all my nuts are in place they are not cracked or loose the looseness would be indicated by streaks of rust or shiny metal my valve stem is in good condition it is not cracked or loose there are air leaks remember at least 100 psi air pressure, you would check it with a pressure gauge and my wheel seal is not cracked or leaking fluid, okay, move to the back of the trailer here, hit my fender, my fender hangers, my rear ABS light. the lights are clean or the right color to not crack, damaged or loose on my fender skirts, they are adequately clear of the ground, I walk to the back of the trailer here, in the overview of my trailer, nothing appears to be cracked or damaged there are no intrusions or holes in the door of my trailer it is in good condition it is blocked my lenses and my lights and my reflectors on the back of the trailer are clean in the appropriate color my D-O-T bumper is not cracked or damaged and I have the reflective tape D-O-T in place and that it is clean and another suitable color that concludes the exterior of the pre-trip

inspection

.

This is what you need to remember, like I said now, you will be able to tell the examiner I already checked this side of the truck I would check the other side of the truck the same way I just checked this side again. They are not examining the truck. They are examining you. They're making sure that you know how to do a pre-trip inspection, obviously in a real pre-trip inspection, you need to check the entire truck, you need to walk around, all you need is to check all the Tigers on all the brakes, but to pass the test only needs to demonstrate it on one set of axles because every other axle is exactly the same and you will see that recurring way of doing it over and over again it is the same way to check it you just need to know exactly what you are checking for its specific points now let's get started the end cap part of our, so now we're going to start the in-cab part of the pre-trip inspection where you check all the gauges, the dash and the brakes and everything that starts the end cap, usually depending of the truck and where everything is placed many times they will start outside the truck because you have it, the first three things that you are going to check are the three emergency devices that you must have, which will be your fuses. your spare electrical fuses, if your truck uses fuses, your 10 B C or better fire extinguisher and your three reflective triangles, in this case there is a light handle, a small handle down here, I release it, open the side door, all of those things are back here when you are doing the pre-travel exam for the examiner, you have to open the door and show it to him.

He'll be outside the truck with you and you'll show him where those devices are and then he'll get in. around the inside and the actual end cap part will begin, so remember that your spare electrical fuses, your three reflective triangles, and your 10 BC or better fire extinguisher, and that you have on the extinguisher, must be properly mounted on their place, assured. current and loaded correctly, so we're going to move inward here and we're going to start with our final cap now. I like, like all my pre-trip inspection, I like to work on a system, okay, so I like to let things flow so I don't forget anything and I keep things where I can memorize everything, so the first thing I do is What we are going to do, and it is essential to remember this, is put on your seat belt if you don't.

Don't put your seat belt on during the pre-ride, you'll get failed, so I'm going to put your seat belt on and you also want to mention to the examiner to put your seat belt on because they won't put your seat belt on. If you don't tell them, I'm going to check my seat belt and make sure it doesn't have any abrasions, scuffs, or cuts. The seat belt is securely closed. I'm going to look around at the floorboard and make sure that the floorboard is free of any type of debris that could roll down the floorboard and get caught under my pedals so that they can't operate the pedals properly.

In this case, I'm fine. I'm going to check my shifter. It's not cracked or damaged it's not broken in any way my splitter is working properly fine and I'm going to start working. I like to work from left to right my winch my windows are cracked or damaged or properly cleaned color my mirrors are not cracked or damaged they are clean they are properly adjusted my windshield is not cracked or damaged there are no obstructions or illegal stickers that impede my vision or me prevent me from seeing properly I make my way to the passenger side windows they are the same they are clean they are not cracked or damaged my mirrors are clean they are not cracked or damaged and they are adjusted correctly correctly adjusted means I can see down both sides of my trailer equally.

I have a clear view of my trailer, but I can also see what's outside the trailer so I can see where my trailer is going while I'm backing up. I can also see where the vehicles are while I'm driving down the road fine, so we're going to have to go ahead and start the vehicle now so I can check all my gauges, the vehicle has to be running, for that we're going to do the following: called safe start a safe start simply means that you make sure the vehicle is in neutral you move the gear lever from side to side if it is in gear it will be rigid it will not move if it is in neutral it moves back and forth from side to side freely I'm going to fully engage the clutch and then start the truck.

Now at that point I can check the ABS light when you first turn the key on and start the truck. Opportunity to check my ABS late. your anti lock brake light should come on and then go off if it doesn't appear there is something wrong with the ABS, if it comes on it stays on on part of the ABS while it does its pre-diagnosis and comes on then goes off. Well, the first thing I'm going to do is check. I'm going to start over like I did with everything else. I have worked from left to right.

I'm going to start checking all my gauges. Gauges are easy to check because the gauges tell you what they are. The gauge model is working correctly. It is at appropriate operating levels. I have my water temperature gauge at proper operating levels. My voltmeter is working correctly at the proper operating levels. my rpm meter my tachometer i can rev the engine and i can see it's working properly now my speedometer i can't tell if it's working properly because i'm not moving yet you'll be able to when you brake test ok my air pressure gauge is both primary and secondary , they are loaded and M to the proper operating levels, my fuel is I have fuel at the proper operational amount, like it's too safe to go out on the road with it.

I have onegauge app here that doesn't show anything right now without applying the brake and my transmission temp gauge is fine too. That I have here? I have my windshield wipers, my windshield wipers work. The wipers themselves have no abrasions or cuts if they are in good condition and my washer works spraying fluid leaves my windshield correctly it is working properly fine at this point I want to check that you can start running the lights start checking my lights. I have my left turn signal working properly my right turn signal working properly my hazard working properly while I am crossing I would check my headlights I turn them on my indicator lights come on my lights come on my indicator light comes on my lights are working fine you want to check you have to check your defroster the defroster is not a luxury on a truck like this when you are operating in cold conditions you want to make sure your windows don't get clogged so we put it in the defrost position and you have to make sure the program is on working properly so I think the lists are working, turn off the pan now.

I know it's working right now. I can check my horn. I can check both my city horn and the air horn. working properly so they are in good condition so I checked all my gauges. I checked everything on my dad, my, my, I check my windows, my mirrors, I check my horn now I'm going to go to my break, check this, remember what I said. If you check the brakes, the brake check is the only part where you can't miss anything, you have to do it 100%. Very simply, there's not much to all these other things we mentioned if I forget one thing here or another.

It's not going to fail me, it just means I haven't accumulated that point, but I can still accumulate enough points. It's best if you don't do your break check right, not fast, so let's go ahead and start the break check so we can start the break check what you're checking is to make sure the system is not leaking to the point of doing If the vehicle is not safe to operate, you have to turn off the truck to be able to do that because if the compressor is still running it will mask any leaks because the pressure will continue to build up, so we have to turn off the engine, but before we do that, because we are going to disconnect the brakes, I have to put the vehicle in gear so it doesn't move, so I'm going to press the clutch.

I'm going to bring the vehicle in, put it back in the first year and without releasing the clutch, I'm going to go ahead and turn off the engine. Okay, now I can release the clutch, but now. I need to turn the key back on because if I don't turn the key back on, my gauges won't work, so I'm going to turn the key back on and then I like to roll down the window. I like to put the window down so I can hear if there are any air leaks outside, so I'm going to roll the window down now, I'm going to start my glowing review, but this is one of the most important things to do that people forget. do all the time.

They forget to press the brakes. They forget to press these parking brake control knobs. If you don't load the brake system, you can. I can't tell if it's working or not, you can't tell if the system is leaking or not, so I have to push these brake knobs to make sure I have to load the whole system to listen for leaks, so I'm going to start. , first push the knobs in, okay, that's why I had to put it here so the vehicle doesn't move, okay, push the knobs in and I'm going to wait while the system fills with air, that's not a leak , that is different. areas and chambers that are filled with air pressure, it will give you about 10 seconds, 15 seconds for the systems to stabilize and you will wait and I will also listen outside and make sure there are no leaks, which there is not. okay now I'm going to start my static brake check my static brake check means I'm going to look at my gauges now remember because this is a combination vehicle it's not a straight vehicle my combination vehicle maximum air pressure loss on a static brake The no brake applied check will be 3 psi, no more than 3 psi over a 60 second period, so I will begin my static brake check.

I'm going to watch my gauges. I will tell the examiner that I will make sure that I do not have more than 3 psi or air loss in my primary and secondary air gauges over a 60 second period, so I am watching to make sure the gauges are not losing air and then What will normally happen is that the examiner will not make you wait a full 60 seconds. Well, they'll tell you that they usually have a stopwatch and they'll say, "Okay, go ahead and keep going." Go ahead, then the next thing you're going to do is the applied pressure test.

You have to apply the brake so you can put your foot on the brake pedal and you will apply it and hold it well now. I have done my applied pressure test. I'm going to look at the gauges that I can't have because I'm applying the pressure. Now I'm allowed one more psi of air pressure loss over a sixty second period, so now I'm going to say that I can't have more than four psi of air pressure loss over a 60 second period in my test. applied pressure. Okay, I'm going to go ahead and release it after the examiner tells me it's okay and I'm 60 seconds in.

I'm going to do my down leak, my down leak is to simulate an air leak in the system, so I'm checking early for my low pressure warning signal that comes on at 60 psi, okay, so I'm going to start ventilate the brakes. down, remember that every time you apply the brakes and release, you use and lose a little bit of air pressure, so every time I hear a press release, press and release, my air gauge lowers the early warning chime and the light comes on on the dash at 60 psi to let me know my low pressure warning signal is working properly.

Now the next thing I'm going to do is check my emergency valves, my emergency brake valves to make sure they come out automatically like they're supposed to. on a commercial vehicle like this with air brakes as you start to lose air pressure if the air pressure is too low these valves will not stay open they will come out automatically which would apply the emergency brakes so I'm going to continue fanning down and my emergency brakes will come on between 20 and 45 psi so I start planning the brakes and look at the valves if you have to make sure they both come out there you go they both just came out that lets me know that my emergency brakes activate from both my tractor and my trailer, fine, and they activated between 20 and 45 psi.

My emergency brakes work. An easy way to remember that step is to remember the acronym Sail Si Le. Okay, the first thing I'm going to do is static, my static brake control, my right control applied applying the brake, my low pressure warning signal and E, my emergency braking sale, if you, that It's a very simple way to remember it now. I'm going to keep going and I have to start the truck again because I have to recharge the air system and I'm going to do my brake checks. Actually, I'll make sure the brakes hold tight and work. correctly, so again we are going to

perform

a secure boot.

I'm going to press a clutch to disengage the shifter because remember I had it in gear make sure it's in neutral start the truck now my hum is still on because my air pressures too low is below 60 psi so I'm going to run the air. I'm going to increase it by running the engine at fast idle so that my compressor runs faster and gets to the proper operating levels here and what The next thing we're going to do is do our pull tests on our emergency brakes and we're going to do our tests. of rolling our service run two different operating systems two different operating systems your service brakes are applied with your bow your call for service emergency brakes are applied to set the parking brake by pulling the knobs out or because you have lost too much air pressure, they automatically go down on their own, so now you'll notice my doorbell rang because I'm awake. until the air pressure is enough go up well above 60 psi now and I'm going to go ahead and start my pull test on my brakes so I'm going to check that the first thing I check is my emergency. parking support now you're going to have to check these people, you know, check them at the same time right now.

Both are configured. My tractor and trailer are set up. If I put the vehicle here and pull it, I don't do it. I know which ones hold it, the trailer could hold it or the tractor could hold it. I have to check them individually to make sure they're both working so you can operate this individually, so it doesn't matter what order you do it in. When doing this, I like to check my trailer first, so what I'm going to do is press the clutch. I'm going to take the vehicle to the first year, leave the clutch depressed and the first thing I'll do is release it. this spring brakes my tractor so as I press the yellow knob now that I have released the tractor racks my trailer brakes are still held on, now I am going to release the clutch slightly and you will feel the vehicle pull against the clutch but it was not to nowhere.

I'll do it again, it didn't go anywhere because the trailer spring brakes hold up well so I know they are working properly after they are set up they are holding the wheels. turning now I have to check the tractor, so I have to release the trailer brake, so I'm going to set the tractor brakes. I'm going to release the trailer brakes now. My trailer brakes would activate at this point, but my tractor brakes won. Not so I'm going to release the clutch again. The vehicle isn't going anywhere because the brakes are on properly, so now they both are.

I know they are both working. Now what I'm going to do is... I'm going to release the brakes on the tractor. The trailer brakes are released. The vehicle will now roll. I'm going to release the clutch. I'm going to go about five miles per hour and I'm going to lightly hold the steering wheel. and then I'm going to apply the service brake, so I'm going to check the pedal brake. My service is excellent, so let the clutch release and the vehicle move forward. I'm going to hit about five miles an hour and this. It's a chance to check that my speedometer's boost gauge is working.

I will press the clutch and apply the vehicle stopped. I probably held the steering wheel because the steering wheel shook when I applied the brake from side to side. that would mean that one brake was seizing while the other could not indicate that it is out of adjustment, in this case it worked funny, I put the vehicle back into reverse and I'm going to go back to the end from where I started, good and all. concludes the end cap part and its breakage check for the CDL test, that's all you need to do, keep them in order and remember your sales form and then remember to do the trailer pull, the tractor pull and its speed of five miles per hour. roll test for purposes so you understand one thing that is not necessary to do in the test, but I want you to understand how it works, this is our trailer brake, that's what they call it your car valve, your Johnny gar, sometimes it can be a handle which is on the steering column, sometimes it is on the dashboard, this applies only to the trailer service stroke, not the trailer parking brake, the trailer service brake is fine, so if I want to check Make it a pull test, the same thing I did in the pop-up. qualify, return the vehicle to the first year and then I would apply the trailer brake and release the clutch slightly.

The vehicle is not going anywhere because I am holding the trailer service breaks. You don't have to do that on the test. but this lets you know that it's a good idea to check it out because you might care. It may be a trailer you've never driven before. He has never thrown it away. He doesn't know anything about it. He doesn't know if. The service brakes work properly, giving you a chance to check out the trailer you just picked up. Now I'm going to put the vehicle back into neutral and set up the barking run again by taking them out. ran out of air, put on the parking brakes, turned off the engine and we have included on the disc our pre-trip inspection if you need a change in your life, something challenging and new, a professional spoiler warning, take the first step, the future today, give us a car and yes,