After the vans winter sabbatical I've noticed the drivers side cab step was a bit crustier than the last time I looked. When I press hard down on it with my hand I can feel and hear it beginning to give way slightly. Underneath is a bit of a mess.
Obviously my next job is to get one from JK and get it fitted but it would be nice to get it through the MOT beforehand then I can do it at my leisure, what with all my current cash tied up in Solfest tickets, FA Cup semi finals with beer, and beer and camping, and beer and camping and more beer and more camping.
It's going for it's MOT on the 16th (isn't due until may 2nd).
Will it fail on the cab step if say the tester get's his trusty screwdriver out and shoves a hole in the middle of it like the tester did last year on the passenger side (they all love their screwdrivers)?
My 'fix er upper' came with a fail sheet stating both foot plates were excessively corroded. Fitted a scofield one on the RH side and have to LH to do saturday.
Managed to cut the wheel arch side short and had to patch with bits from the off cuts!
there are two tihngs to consider if I understand the mot. The tester evaluates not just the mechanical safety of the vehicle etc within the various specifications given in the test parameters (hence the issues of rust within 200mm of a structural bearing point). They also have a "DUTY" to assess the general safety of the vehicle as it affects those using it or effected by it.
If it's likely that your grandma, on heaving herself into the cab is going to take a tumble and rip her shins to shreds (on top of breaking her recently replaced hip) on a decrepid piece of rusty steel that has clearly seen better days, then they may well fail it.
I haven't referred to the test criteria before posting this, but I think I'm right. If I am right then it is ridiculous to say "you can't be failed for this or that or the other" because the MOT relies on the judgement of someone as to whether a particular thing is safe or not. My steps are corroded but are also quite evidently structurally sound. Another step may be beautifully clean but so inadequately fixed that it may be unreasonably dangerous. I rest my case, but remain to be corrected by those who know the MOT rules better than I
Cheers
Jim
1985 1900DG wc liesuredrive hitop with small amounts of rust
vanjam wrote:there are two tihngs to consider if I understand the mot. The tester evaluates not just the mechanical safety of the vehicle etc within the various specifications given in the test parameters (hence the issues of rust within 200mm of a structural bearing point). They also have a "DUTY" to assess the general safety of the vehicle as it affects those using it or effected by it.
If it's likely that your grandma, on heaving herself into the cab is going to take a tumble and rip her shins to shreds (on top of breaking her recently replaced hip) on a decrepid piece of rusty steel that has clearly seen better days, then they may well fail it.
I haven't referred to the test criteria before posting this, but I think I'm right. If I am right then it is ridiculous to say "you can't be failed for this or that or the other" because the MOT relies on the judgement of someone as to whether a particular thing is safe or not. My steps are corroded but are also quite evidently structurally sound. Another step may be beautifully clean but so inadequately fixed that it may be unreasonably dangerous. I rest my case, but remain to be corrected by those who know the MOT rules better than I
Cheers
Jim
I have been a tester for 13 years, you can only fail whats in the book and there is no way a cab step is a fail. There are loads of serious safety items which are not covered at all in an mot, best one being propshaft uj's if they fail at speed there is 2 outcomes, it digs in the road flips the vehicle or comes through the floor and chops peoples legs off in the back, this is not a fail.
There is no common sense in the manual its been written by a pen pusher who has not got a clue how a car works.
If you reed the small print on the mot it says something like, this does not meen the vehicle is in a satisfactory condition
i have had my t25 pass for years with holes in the cab steps but then last year it failed on them!
the problem is if the tester does fail them (rightly or wrongly) you have to either fork out for another test somewhere else with the same cahnce that they won't know it's not a fail, or you argue with who ever failed it for the steps, they will then see you as telling them their job and probably find a whole host of ther things!
in my case i knew they needed doing, it was just this that made me pull my finger out and do them!
DiscoDave wrote:i have had my t25 pass for years with holes in the cab steps but then last year it failed on them!
the problem is if the tester does fail them (rightly or wrongly) you have to either fork out for another test somewhere else with the same cahnce that they won't know it's not a fail, or you argue with who ever failed it for the steps, they will then see you as telling them their job and probably find a whole host of ther things!
in my case i knew they needed doing, it was just this that made me pull my finger out and do them!
If ever you think your vehicle has failed when it should of passed appeal, garages almost always loose the appeals. VOSA like everything to pass and be advised.
cheers for that, it's frightening stuff. If the seats are about to fall out of the bottom of the vehicle, it still passes and granny bites the dust if she hasn't alreadt severed her leg on the deacying, corradoed step on the way in!
I'm going to do some research on the regualtions that underpin the MOT. Don't ujs fail the test if the inherent protection for them i.e the greasy boot has failed? Surely that's a measure of checking against corrosion and decay
Cheers
Jim
1985 1900DG wc liesuredrive hitop with small amounts of rust
