Tire Sealants: Some Sticky Issues
Tire sealants designed to stop inflation loss from punctures and other casing injuries have been around for a long time. Traditionally, widespread uses have been concentrated in abusive (to tires) service conditions, such as mining, off-road construction, certain agricultural equipment, and similar mixed service (on/off road) applications. Most sealants are made up using a viscous
Commercial Truck Tires Trends and Thoughts
Since tires represent such a large expense for truck operators (normally the second largest non-labor cost behind only fuel), considerable thought is given to tires of the future; specifically, on ways to improve operating efficiencies influenced by tires. I’d like to share some admittedly subjective thoughts, based on my 50 years spent in this area.
Balancing Commercial Tire/Wheel Assemblies
The issue of tire/wheel assembly balance has been debated for decades. Several significant changes have influenced these discussions, which resulted in changes to maintenance policies and, in some cases, later reversals of these policies. Historically, the goal has been to use balancing to prevent or solve complaints of truck ride, vibration and even wheel hop.
Tire Noise and the Sounds of Silence (Sort Of)
If you’ve been an observant motorist for 20 years or more, you may remember when truck tires were noisy. Really noisy. Much has changed over the years and one benefit of modern tire technology is that line haul radials are now almost universally quiet, to the point that the noise generated by rolling down the
Tire Selection for 6×4 vs. 6×2 Power Units
Tire selection is about to become more complex. Commercial truck tires have evolved to be axle specific, and in nearly all Class 4 to 8 applications, have become service condition-specific. The three major service distinctions are city pick-up and delivery, mixed service (on-/off-road) and high-speed line haul. In this last and most cost competitive service
Rolling as Part of a System
Truck tire problems often tie to more than just ‘tire problems,’ in recent years.
Great Expectations
Great expectations deserve effective communications.
Truck Tire Inflation: Clearing the Air
It’s common knowledge in our industry that all tire guys preach the benefits of maintaining proper truck tire inflation. With recent steep escalations in tire pricing, coupled with all-time high emphasis on the best fuel economy possible, most fleet managers are now devoting more time to reviewing and possibly revising inflation maintenance programs. Old school
Proper Tire Storage
What do tires and mushrooms have in common? Cool, dark and dry conditions are always preferred for storage. First, tires wear much longer these days and therefore are exposed to longer lifecycles as original treads are consumed. More importantly, casings have become more durable, and many line haul tires reach total mileages of 750,000 to
Proper Truck Tire Sizing
There are lots of incentives in today’s transportation business to maximize efficiencies by carefully matching equipment—especially trucks—to the tasks at hand. Recent new truck sales reports from Wards show that purchases of Class 3 through 6 trucks through September are substantially higher than in earlier years, especially compared to the same time period in 2009.
Exploring the Future of Pneumatic Truck Tires
What will the commercial over-the-roadtruck tire (or its worthy replacement) look like in 10 to 20 years? Although wecan’t evaluate currently unknown innovations, we can look at developments inother tire types: race, passenger car, aircraft, military and other nichemarket applications. We now have run-flat passenger car tires that have successfully obsoleted sparetires in some vehicles.
When Your Tires Leave, Know Why
The old adage “what you don’t know won’t hurt you” certainly shouldn’t apply to your tire program. In fact, the more you know, the greater the opportunities for reducing costs and improving efficiencies. Most good maintenance managers are aware of the obvious variables essential to the tire cost-per-mile equation. Initial cost, first tread mileage to