Checking the bright green rings is a required step when bus drivers inspect their buses before they go on the road in Houston, Texas.From the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Houston, Texas.
A loose wheel nut on a tire can spell disaster if you're driving a bus.
Now METRO has installed tiny, neon-green triangular rings that are giving passengers a safer ride. Wheel-Check is a loose wheel-nut indicator. The plastic rings sit on top of lug nuts.
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"If all goes well with the lug nuts, the Wheel-Checks will all point in the same direction," said Larry Hewitt, METRO director of maintenance support functions. "If a lug nut becomes loose, then the Wheel-Checks will point out of position or sequence."
Each ring cost 32 cents and allows bus operators to do a simple visual check to find out if a lug nut is loose. Wheel-Checks are also heat sensitive and can signal hot-wheel conditions caused by a tight brake or wheel bearing problem. If the temperature soars higher than 248 degrees Fahrenheit, the circumference of the ring will blister and distort.
