Driving on a Flat Tire ??????

Last year I was behind an intermodal on the 401 in Cambridge that only had the sidewalls left of the inside passenger rear trailer tire.....tried him on the radio, but "they" don't use em....

 

I have seen a brand new tire blow.I have seen patched sidewalls last for a year. I have blown a tire and never knew it until someone passed me and told me. I have driven a loaded truck over a 100 miles on a flat tire ( no place to get it changed ) . I have blown 2 side by side tires at the same time.I have driven trucks many miles with the cord showing on the tires, and they never blew.
Tires are possibly the most un-predictable item on a truck. You never know, but using the best tires you can afford is certainly the best policy.

 

Rockstar_nj-No, there wasn't any sign of sidewall damage. It was the outer sidewall of the inside tire. I'd really like to know how you think that sidewall was damaged. Short of driving on riffraff, it isn't going to get scrubbed or bumped. Remember, this was a milk tanker, nota trailer that's going to drive over riffraff.But, I'm sure in your couple months on the road you've seen enough to tell folks who have changed more truck tires than you've touched how they screwed up.

 

Yeah. Because trucker=mechanic, right? Did anyone have that trailer recently before you? Did that tire move just a few feet under a heavy load while flat?

How long I've been a driver has #### to do with knowing how the weight put on axles and tires, can lead to blowouts... that's something I picked up after years in shops, you know, where mechanics work. So enough with the new driver bs, leave it for things that are actually about driving, not mechanics

Sometimes the rubber IS just bad. But the majority of time, it was something that someone did, either you or someone with a trailer before you.

 

Sidewall had blistered, and where it had blistered was NO evidence of scrubbing. And you asked the weather conditions: night driving, I-80, 30, 81, and 20 into Sioux City... don't know where it blew out, never heard it pop. Running at night, temperatures around 50-60 degrees, driving between 55-65mph. Don't tell me it was heat or speed that blew my tire out.

Now, let's add in another factor here, rockstar: Math.

255 low pro 22.5 tires, rated 5500lbs a piece, smallest common trailer tire size until we get into ultra low steps, certain equipment trailers, etc.

Assuming a closed tandem, 8-tires, that's 44,000lbs. of weight rating on your tires back there. Now, the argument is that you're going to have other tires continue blowing out because now they're carrying more and more weight...

If you're legal on the closed tandem, you're around 34,000lbs.

We've blown a tire, so, we have seven good ones still back there... what's that weigh rating coming out to... 38,500lbs... still 4,500lbs. over the load carried back there.

Even if we go clear up to a spread carrying 40,000lbs, the tires are only marginally overloaded, lose a tire, and you're about 1500lbs short. Spreads equalize loads effectively, so, you're 700-900lbs over on the back tires.

Is there a chance the tire was damaged or low before I hooked it? Of course there is. But, when it was the outer sidewall of an inside dual tire, with no evidence of scuffing, puncture, etc. or cup wear on the tire, you're going to have a hard time convincing there wasn't a defect in the tire.

 

Like I said, sometimes the river is just bad. I thought you were asking a hypothetical question.

And these tours are made to handle weight, but your trailer is built to distribute that weight evenly. Stop until that inside tire his that resistance, it's all on the outside tire. Uneven wrought causes uneven wear and off alignment. It can cause you're damage in extremely low pair cases to the flat tire, but it can cause some wallet damage worth the other 7 too, and is not like we're millionaires.

 

Rubber, not river

 

Coloradogreen,this was discussed over a year ago in another thread.
Some LEO's explained the following:
1°your not allowed to leave the bad tire on the axle.
Have to remove it.
2°You cannot calculate to the spread.
Only to the single tire.
So 34 000 on the spread gives you 17 000 on a axle which means one side off the axle has a 8 500 load on it.
With a tire rated at 5 500 you are 3 000 overloaded.
Hopes this helps.

 

Rockstar nj,you might tell the people reading this that it isn't the rubber that lets go when you have a blowout but the steel threads in the tire.
The rubber holds the air in the tire,the steel gives it strenght.
If you run underinflated tires,the steel threads start to flex at at higher rate which makes then break and heat up.
Heat the tire up fast enough and it will raise the pressure in it while at the same time it has lost it's strenght(broken threads).
Blowout.

 

must be why that on every fed x trailer i see,they advertise that they are proud ATA members.how about just getting out of the middle lane fed ex? wrong thread.sorry.