Tire Pressure and tips for proper tire maintenance

Another REASON Not To Use A Hammer On Your COMBO Tires:
Trucker arrested on felony burglary of vape shop after tire-check hammer bounces through shop glass

 

I learn everything by mistakes and seeing. The school only gave me a truck to drive around. They only taught me to pass the test. I drove for months without knowing how to do a log book. I only knew, ON, DRIVE and OFF. I didn't even know how long I could drive or rest for.

 

yeah that driver is a bold face liar.... "oh yeah officer.. the hammer just happened to bounce off the tire and go flying thru a shop window where i stole several items and threw them in the trash can when you guys showed up. complete accident"

 

That school is a disgrace. But you figured it out and other drivers may have helped. I'm not sure I ever met a driver that would not help, if asked. It's one of the really good things about the industry.

 

Don't let the others get you down, if even experienced truckers were good at checking their tires it wouldn't be one of the top 5 OOS violations and you wouldn't see nearly as many trucks with blown tires next to the road.

I went to the hardware store and got enough fittings to convert a glad hand to an air compressor hose. They have the cheap coiled hoses that don't take up any space.

While I do thump my tires if I have any doubts I check with a tire gauge and if needed use the glad hand adapter to fill the tires.

 

So you supply air to the trailer (but its not connected to the trailer) and air up your tires? Thats a smart move. I think I will do that!

 

Some drivers carry a hose like this to air up tires away from the truck stop. One end attaches to your truck air system, and the other end is used to put air in the tires of the truck or trailer. Air hoses like this are sold in most chain truck stops. Often the price is closer to $30.
50-Foot Superflex Air Hose

 

Some trucks and some trailers have an automatic tire inflation system. When you push the knob in the truck to supply air to the trailer suspension and brakes a system pumps air to any tire with low air pressure. The only tires it really is dangerous are the 2 steer tires. Almost none of them are ever connected to a centralized tire inlfation system and SOMETIMES if one of them goes flat or blows out it can be difficult to steer the truck. I've had that happen to me twice in almost 30 years and neither of them were dangerous or scary at all.

 

Thumping tires with a hammer is a good way to check if a tire is flat to pretend it's not seems silly. Sometimes banging with your fist will give you a better feel if one seems low. I would carry a glad hand hose and a plug kit to get you by if bead not broken off rim. If you have run a tire flat for a good distance and can air it up on your own (bead still sealed) stand back as sidewall may be compromised. Also courteous to let tire shop guy know if you ran one flat if he is fixing it for you. Tires that blow up while attached to truck or trailer are scary tires that let go unbolted from truck or trailer can definitely be deadly.