Driving on a Flat Tire ??????

A sidewall that was driven on has a very obvious sign. It's thinner than your tread and is going to show blatantly obvious wear. Look just under your tread, if it looks like that on the middle of the side, guess what. Spend just 5 minutes talking toa mechanic, and while you can't predict where a blowout would be, or stop things from breaking mid-trip, you learn A LOT of what to look for and where your risk is. And is trust a mechanic way more than a random driver when it comes to mechanical issues, some is kind of his job

 

Finally you've said something I can agree with you on :smt038....A damaged tire is a damaged tire...it's like a sore thumb...you know it's there , and you have a responsibility to have it repaired. Even while en-route when you do a walk-around ( takes less than 5 minutes) if you find a problem you are obligated to have it fixed , myself , I would rather loose time in a truck-stop repair shop , than be sitting on the shoulder waiting for a tire repair guy...but that's me...agree?

 

Inside tire on duals, Rockstar_nj, the outer tread of the inside tire that faces the outer tire of the duals.Mind telling me how that sidewall was driven on?

 

Weight distribution. Your tire bubbles out under weight. If it's under-inflated, you're not going to bubble, and you're going to drive on both sidewalls, instead of air pressure pushing them off the ground like an inflated tire

Well it will bubble, but more on the side than if inflated right. It'll be both sidewalls, not just one

 

The uneven weight will put more pressure, 2x as much until the inside tire takes the weight on the outside tire. Everything is built for specific tire pressures.

 

For those saying, when the company says run it flat, what choice do I have..

Find a reputable company to work for. They obviously don't give a crap about you as a driver. They will certainly throw you under the bus if anything happens.

I have pointed out quite a few flats in fuel islands to drivers coming out of truck stops after getting their receipt. Doing a walk around should be part of your fueling procedure.

 

I have driven on 1 flat tire in my nine years that I know of. And that is the kicker. I have had flats before and had them replaced when I found them but I could not tell you where they went flat at. Blow outs are different. You mostly know when they occur. The one I drove on was on I35 in Kansas. Just before the first travel plaza. I had already rolled over the scales so it wasn't flat there. Another trucker called me on the CB and told me I had a flat on the trailer. I thanked him and continued on the five miles to the travel plaza and had a tire guy come out there. Now stopping at the plaza didn't save me any time as there was no tire service at the plaza but at the time it seem like the safest thing to do.

 

You aren't even paying attention, Rockstar_nj. I had pre-tripped, the tire was properly inflated. Under-inflation is not the only cause. So, tell me, in all of your talks with mechanics, and all your pre-trips, where oh where did I miss something that caused the blowout?

 

Like I said, was there any sign that the sidewall was driven on before you got that trailer? Was there any sidewall scrapes? Was the alignment right? How hot was the air outside? 9/10 times, there was damage to the toe that caused it. And that damage isn't always a hole, just a sign that the tire rubbed. That's all it takes to ultimately spiral into a blowout

 

I check my tires once a year whether they need it or not.