Felling Trailers says its Documented Real Time Torquing procedure officially was implemented Jan. 1, helping ensure the integrity of safety-critical attachments.
The company spent nearly a year developing the procedure, it said, and now 100% of Felling Trailers’ safety-critical attachments, including couplers, actuators and lug nuts, are torqued and documented in real time.
“This was a project handed down from our executive team to ensure we are standing behind the Quality in our brand,” said Chris Berg, project manager. “This was a great Felling team initiative that required efforts from almost all of our departments. At the end of the process, we have the data to back up the integrity of each fastener installed with our equipment.”
The goal of the procedure is to verify safety-critical attachments are torqued within +/- 5% of the target torque requirement, helping reassure the end user/customer their trailer is road ready upon delivery. Couplers, actuators and lug nuts are torqued to specific foot-pounds and minimum degree rotation, Felling said.
Procedure Specifications:
- Couplers and actuators are torqued with a wireless torque wrench that provides visual and audible verification of proper torque.
- Wheel nuts are torqued using a corded tool that is programmed to torque all nuts on the wheel to 50% of its required specs. It then prompts the team member to repeat the process to complete torque to required torque specifications.
Documentation of Torque process:
- Every trailer’s safety-critical torqued results are saved in real-time to multiple locations.
- Every team member using this equipment is trained to our Felling torque quality work instructions.
- Every trailer goes through a quality controlled verification to ensure the hardware meets torque requirements. Couplers and actuators have one random bolt checked per assembly. Then every wheel receives a random check of two lug nuts per wheel.
- After completion of the fastener rundown, the production member places a witness mark as a visual verification that the process is complete.
For more information, visit felling.com or call 1.800.245.2809.