Servicing heavy vehicles, such as buses, trucks and mining equipment usually requires the wheels to be removed for tyre replacement or brake maintenance. This involves manual handling a heavy load and working in awkward postures. For example, the wheels can weigh around 90 kilograms each, the calliper - 35 kilograms, the rotor and hub - 80 kilograms, drum - 70 kilograms and the stub axle - 70 kilograms.
The WheelawayTM range, designed by Workplace Maintenance Solutions, includes three separate components to reduce these risks:
- WheelawayTM Lite removes and replaces single, dual and super single wheels in one operation.
- WheelawayTM Caliper Lifter removes the caliper from any position around the rotor and lowers the caliper onto the ground or workbench.
- WheelawayTM Heavy collects the hub or drum from the axle assembly then rotates up for ergonomic inspection or rotates down to place on the ground. For a disc brake assembly, the rotor and hub can be separated through an automated action with no need for operator intervention or involvement.
The WheelawayTM range innovated design:
- uses linear actuator power that enables multi-directional load handling in excess of 500 kilograms. This means that no force is required for any of the operations
- covers the entire range of tasks for heavy vehicle wheel end maintenance process
- provides high level accuracy of the linear motions with a built-in laser sighting system. This means that all operations can be achieved with finger sensitive joystick control.
Workplace Maintenance Solutions continue to build on the WheelawayTM range and plan to include an adaptor for the WheelawayTM Lite that can remove and replace drums.
