Steer tires only lasting 50K miles??

Anytime you see tire marks on asphalt, you're looking at rubber that used to be on your tire.

Folks who have driven with no power steering know this intuitively.

 

Have you ever driven without power steering? I've followed your thread. Air ride steer axle long hood Pete 127,000 miles on steers 60% plus left. Rotated every 50k. Yes I understand rubber on the asphalt came from my tire but is it enough to constitute premature wear. If that was the case swift/cr England etc would be buying new trailer tires every couple weeks as you see drivers day in and day out dragging/skidding them as they make crazy hard turns in every truckstop across the country.

 

As for the flat spots on trailer tires, I tend to think it's the newer guys using the brakes too hard, and locking them up while empty. I've done it myself, and since then I prefer to use jakes while empty. Mine are muffled, so not obnoxious at all.

 

Seen one too many yard jockeys hook up to a loaded trailer and drag it all the way across the yard without bothering with the air line to wonder why those bald spots are "suspicious"

 

Of course. Turning the steering wheel when stopped is very hard without power steering -- doing it while creeping is very easy.

I'm not saying it'll cut your tire life in half, but it is wearing your tires more than would otherwise happen. Is that "premature"? I guess. But I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Frankly tires are not a terribly significant expense for an OTR rig -- figure $800 super singles (or $400 duals) every 300,000 for drive & trailer = $0.021/mile and $400 steers every 100,000 miles is $0.008/mile. So 3cpm for a tractor/trailer.

Fuel is 10x that, driver is 20x that.

 

Too bad your OP has been quoted multiple times already lulz

 

Oh this is just getting better and better

 

I was hacked by those #### russians!

 

That's what I was going to say. Try to avoid it if you can just like trying not to pull the trailer tires sideways unless you have to. Not the end of the world if it happens occasionally.