Thing-a-ma-bobs And Doojy-floppers?: Trailer Tire Air Pressure System

See the silver and red lines on this trailer wheel?  

If your trailer is equipped with these lines, it probably has one of these on the nose of the trailer also.

Everybody knows I ain’t too smart.

I thought those lines on the wheel hub might be some kinda fancy oil lines to keep the bearings lubricated.  I had no idea what they were, and I never investigated them because I’m a lazy stoopid truck driver.

Then…a while back…a road service tire repair guru showed me that those lines are actually air lines which are used to maintain trailer tire air pressure during normal operation. He showed me how he could mount a flat tire on the wheel (without removing the wheel from the hub), and then inflate the tire using the truck’s air system.

Pretty cool.

A few weeks ago, one of my work pals hipped me to what was going on here with the item in the second photo.  I knew that item was a warning light, but I thought it was a warning light used to indicate reefer malfunction.

Then, I got told by my buddy.

I am such a moron.

That light is part of the trailer tire air pressure maintenance system.  If trailer tire air pressure gets too low, that light will come on, and the attentive and prudent driver will see it in his rear view mirror and react accordingly.

Now you and I BOTH know.

Never stop learning.

Ain’t life grand?