Driving on a flat tire

Police officer speaking to trucker. Why did you park on the side of the road?
Trucker, I had my triangles out!
Police officer, do you see how little room there is to park a truck.
Trucker, well sir I had a flat and was getting off the road.
Police officer, well tell that to the family of little miss sweetness that just died because she slid under your truck.

Don't think this can't happen? Really? IF YOU can't safely get out of a road just because of a flat then put those flashers on and drive to a safe place. If you are parked and someone slides under your truck you have NO guarantees of getting out of it without major $$$ changing hands!

 

You can if below a certain weight run easily on the one surviving dual if the other had been destroyed or run flat.

You would have a variety of reasons, the most common is to get to safety and facility to repair the tire. If it can be done.

Sometimes your price of moving is destruction of suspension and airlines etc. So you stay.

Most of the time when I lost a tire or two in the old Seacan days, I stay put because I am pretty heavy 110K or so and there is no point in trying to move and risk losing the sister dual which will introduce a whole set of problems. If it was the outer tire, I pull the tools out and pull the 5 spoke bolts and take the bad tire and it's wheel rim off, put the new tire on. For that you needed a 10 ton capacity jack under the axle with some wood. Sometimes if the blown tire is facing the highway on the left there is no point in risking your life trying to do that. (Or that of the repair man.)

I said alot. But I celebrate that the new tires these days retail are pretty reliable with the exception of Goodyear.

 

None of this applies to a super single tire. Those are one blown, and stop now.

 

A few years ago I blew a tire just before the i 55n / i255 junction in St Louis. I elected to limp to the truck stop 15 miles away. There is no place that I could get off, wait for repairs, and get back on safely. Added to that I only had an hour or so left on my 14, so if I stopped it would have been a road call for the tire, then a tow to the truck stop.

On the other hand I blew a tire less than 3 miles from a truck stop that had a pre-authorized shop and made them come out to me. In that case I was 34 k on the trailer, 28k on the drives, and when the tire blew it bent the mud flap bracket in so it was gouging the inner tire. Add in high winds and I had little control, so on the shoulder I waited.

In any situtaion I ask 3 questions - which was is safest, which is most profitable , which is easiest - in that order. Safety trumps everything, profits come next, then everything else.

 

I recently had a right inside tire go flat on my trailer and I decided after talking with the nearest truck stop that it would save me at least $250 to get the trailer to their facility vs sitting on the side of the road somewhere for hours. I drove 2 hours in the middle of nowhere to the truck stop and even ran into a scale that was conducting inspections! I explained to the state police that I had a flat tire (they didn’t see it) and told them I would rather drive the truck to the truck stop than to be a roadside hazard where some distracted 4 wheeler might run into the back of my truck! He let me roll....

 

That is the main reason i like to run dual tires vs super singles.. With super singles you are done if you have a flat or blow out.. With Dual you have options.. Try running route 50 in NV or route 2 in Montana/ North Dakota, then you will begin to understand why drivers have no problem running a bit on a flat to get some place Safe, cheaper, and less time of down time..

 

best to at least limp it off to an exit ramp or someplace safer than the side of the road

 

About five years ago an inside front drive tire blew out on my brother's truck when we were teaming, just east of Tucumcari, NM on I-40. It took out the front airbag.

Wouldn't you know it, but that was the trip he decided not to bring a hacksaw. If we had had the hacksaw, we could have easily cut away the sidewalls of that tire. Instead we had to limp along at 20 mph or less to a shop in Tucumcari to get a new tire and air bag.

I would rather see a driver find a safe place to park. Roadside work on tires, especially driver's side, is very risky if you simply park on the shoulder. Help keep them safe. At least get to the nearest exit.

The only time I called for roadside on a shoulder was west of Laramie, WY. A trailer tire blew, pulling the mudflap holder down into the other tire. That was passenger side, so the tire technician was protected.

I DID put out my triangles in the requisite positions, unlike the vast majority of drivers that can't seem to be bothered to walk farther than 20' past the end of their trailer. I also got out my spotlight, in the middle of the night, and shone it on the biggest scraps to help drivers avoid them. I cleared all the debris off the lanes of travel to the shoulder. There's no excuse for letting your tire scraps cause more damage, when all you have to do is walk up to a quarter mile back and clean it up.

The next exit was about twenty miles west.

 

Did you see that last week? You might have watched me. When tire blew I had choice.
1) call breakdown line (15-20 minutes for them to answer)
2) Then another 15-20 minutes for them to get me all set up with road serv.
3) 20-25 min before road serv calls me to say they are months way.
4) 30 min (or more) break down arrives puts on new tire.
5) 10 min later breakdown asks me to sign thier BLANK work order form. Then I'm on the way.

Or 2nd choice
1) put on 4 way flashers, get in right lane continue to drive 8 miles to nearest truckstop.
2) as I'm driving call break down. So they can notify shop I' on the way.
3) 15 min later arrive at truck stop shop.
4) 30 min later tire is replaced. I am back on road, appx an hour before road service truck would have left to come to me.

 

Yes depends on a few factors the how hot the highway is how fast your going, and how heavy your load is, now the weight is being shared by 3 tyres instead of 4 so weight will play a big factor if he's empty i can't see a problem. We run mostly tri axles so its alot easier to run with a flat tyre with 5 tyres still barring up the weight.