WHEELS CHECKED
New indicator helps spot loose fasteners
With the threat of a $50,000 fine in Ontario, the loss of a truck wheel can be costlier than ever.

The marketers of Wheel-Check say they have the solution in $1.29 arrow-shaped pieces of yellow plastic.

"We are safety on the move," says the Vice President of Public Relations for Wheel-Check, which boldly claims the indicator is "the solution to wheel detachment; a visual commitment to safety."

Once a wheel's fasteners are torqued in placed, the Wheel-Check indicators slip over wheel nuts and point in a common direction. (On spoke wheels, they're pointed toward hubs. On disc wheels, they all point in a clockwise direction.) But if a fastener begins to loosen, its arrow twists with it, offering an easy-to-spot indication that something has gone awry.

In the event of a binding brake or seized bearing, the resulting heat is even supposed to distort the device as an additional indication of problem wheels, according to its makers.
Although it's new to the market, Wheel-Check has seen support from several of Canada's highest profile private fleets including Molson Breweries and Air Liquide Canada, and for-hire fleets such as Mackie Transport.

"I like it. It makes it easier for me to make certain the wheels are tight," says Air Liquide driver Graham Rowntree, whose B-train was the first Canadian unit equipped with the indicators. "The simplest ideas are often the best. And I have 160 (fasteners) to check.

"Without it, you're given a vague task to perform," he adds, referring to other circle-check steps including the need to watch for oil leaking from a hub, or rust streaks emanating from bolt holes.