Is this cracking bad enough to cause a blowout? Steer tires.

Yep. Worked for a small O.O. that didn't want to replace a BAD Pigtail (randomly flickering Lights and the Trailer did not have bad pins yet some had been spread a bit open) till the "next time I got back to the yard", which was one of his favorite deflections.
I Said "You HAVE A NEW Pigtail, so let's install it NOW or I'll see ya later".
He installed the new pigtail and no more electrical gremlins.

 

Sounds like the management at the outfit I am currently with. Every trailer has electrical problems or bad tires, brakes needing replaced out of DOT spec. management actually told me and another guy who wrote up these issues that "the equipment is old it is going to be beat up". I am currently in the hiring process of another job because I refuse to work for an unsafe carrier.

 

Using this pic as an example of what type of tire that tread is in the OP pic....



Wide Base tires are some of the most explosive type of tire to have on a steer of a truck. 120 plus psi of pressure, a lot of volume of hot air inside when they’re loaded.

When the rubber starts cracking, the water gets inside, corrodes the steel belts.

Then when they blow, they blow. There goes the hood, rim and everything in the area.

There are two types of explosions happening at once.

One is the tire, the other is the jet of brown s*** shooting through the driver’s seat as the person desperately tries to get control of the truck back as it careens out of control.

I myself have no idea. Never happened to me yet. Just based on what I’ve been told by our company and other company truck drivers.

 

Just wondering if the op was the one can hauler sitting at the Detroiter checking his tires and taking pictures of them yesterday? If so don’t get pulled over by Wayne county, they will put you out of service for steers like that.

 

Steer tires have a 4/32 minimum, double what is required for the rest. REPLACE!!!!

 

I would say yes....Put a penny upside down into the tread & if even or above Lincoln's head tire needs replaced..2/32/ for drives & 4/32 for steers....The small cracks are in the tread & not the sidewall which is more common & not as serious....

 

If you ever have a tire situation that makes you wonder, it's because you're probably right to question it. Trust your instincts!!!

 

I love when I see this from folk not from NC. People have to understand we don't get JUST snow. Here its not the white fluffy stuff you get up north or west. Here we get an oreo. 1 layer of ice, then a layer of heavy wet snow , capped off by another layer of ice. Out of town folk not getting this concept as they transfer down here as refugees or half backs learn quickly after their first tow out of a ditch and higher insurance premiums after the repair.

 

I hate reading about crap like this. It's not a debate. You are the driver, not your boss. Take a stand and refuse to drive the truck without the tires being replaced. If he refuses, I am quitting. Too #### dangerous. Also, if he is that cheap to my face, where is he cutting corners on the equipment that I don't know about? Too many companies that care about safety to put up with idiots.

 

I tell ya, any thread with YOU in it needs a warning header - to swallow the coffee before your post!