Retreads on the front axle of a spread axle flatbed?

You know even before the FMCSA existed you would meet guys that swore that recaps where illegal on the steering axle of anything.

As a Pennsylvania state inspection mechanic I would break out the state inspection manual and show them that the only place that recaps were prohibited was on the front axle of a school bus.

That didn't stop them for a minute,I don't know if they were too stupid to read it or what butthey would just keeps swearing that recaps were illegal on a steering axle on anything

 

BS! He is correct that on the front axle of a spread, it could cause a retread failure. On of the reasons most smart companies and or drivers don't run retreads on spreads

 

I'm not a big fan of recaps today, but understand why some carriers and OOs use them. Recaps would be OK if the shops did the recapping process correctly. After my 16th birthday in 1974 I worked in a recap shop until Dec of 1975 when I went into the Air Force. While all I did was sweep floors and from time to time carry tires to another shop I did watch the guys that worked in the recap shop and learned how important it was for those recaps to stay in the matrix until fully cooked. This applies to commercial tires as well as regular car tires. I also listened to the guys talk about the difference between a "cold" cap and having rubber applied. "cold" caps are cheaper and don't last long, as well as causing most of the "gators" you see all over the roads. Recaps get a bad name because shops don't inspect the casings correctly and save money by shorting the "cooking" times. I remember when it was done correctly and if I were still driving would have no problems with the recaps that old shop put out! Most of today's junk? (redacted) NO!

 

And pretrip must be 15 minutes

 

Run caps on the trailer, the ones on the front axle are done with a more rounded profile. The company that does the caps is a Michelin house. In like 10 years only had a problem with 2 tires, none of the ones used on the front axle. Maybe it’s been real good luck.

 

I ran recaps on my spread axle belly dump for years with no trouble. Always heavy and lots of tight turns

 

Sad but true. Then you get the ones that will argue that only 1 axle drives the truck until the power divider gets locked in.

 

What. Stop it. The next thing you’ll tell me is that 4x4 only helps you go and doesn’t help you whoa.

lol

 

Yeah those guys, why can't they just shut up and let you fix their truck, or pull them out of the ditch or wherever they happen to get stuck at?

Although an old-timer when I was younger and I mean a guy that would be well over a hundred if he was still alive showed me a setup that if I remember right was international harvester from like the 1920s or 1930s that did just that. One axle was always in, and the other one just coasted until you lock the lock.
I never saw one in real life,I have no idea how many of them were out there,I'm almost 60 and I'm sure they were all scrapped before I was born,and I've only ever seen one reference to it in literature

Here's one for you, have you ever seen the belt-drive twin-screw?

 

That's a new one on me. I've seen chain drive but never a belt drive.