Tire Thumping

Low air pressure is the #1 cause of tire failure. I can't tell the difference between 110 and 85 psi with a hammer. But I can walk around my flatbed and check all 16 tires on drives and trailer just by looking at the crossfires. Best investment I ever made. Have not lost a cap in the two years since I put them on. Lost three in six months before installation.

 

How about installing cats eye's tire equalizers or get one of the new trailers that has air pressure coming out of the axles keeping the tires up to correct pressure.
I personally run cat eyes on all my tires except steers.
Also availiable they have tire pressure monitors with a monitor screen inside the cab.

 

I thump whenever I stop and check pressure weekly. I've done this long enough to know when and where I need to do it.

Another thing thumping will tell you that air pressure won't is whether a retread tire is about to separate. I have saved time and money by catching gators before they hit the road. The technique I used to catch them was "Thumping Tires."

 

++ on the infrared thermometer. I never once professed that I could guess what the tire pressure was by thumping but I do it at every stop and before I pull out...all the way around. Ain't nobody trying to look "cool" (?) by thumpin'. I use my tie-down bar (portable parking lot) and thump tires as I walk around checking chains to see if any have got loose or need adjustment...every time I stop...all the way around. Don't know how that could be misconstrued as someone trying to look cool. Also above it was noted...tire gauge is used at home or if I detect by my thumpin that a tire might need some air. Saved my bacon many times. Have known some few drivers that wouldn't check tires, thump or gauge. When the call comes in for 2 tires on the same axle...9 times out of 10, he didn't do his job unless something he ran over cut them. Thumping would've been a good idea then but now he's looking "cool" on the side of the road with gators scattered all over the highway.

I had no idea I was being perceived as cool by thumping my tires with my bar...had I known I would have added a little more swagger as I strolled around my big truck.

 

You could impersonate Elvis singing "Hunk a Hunk Of Burning Tread!"...lol

Thank you! Thank you very much! Im here until Thursday!

 

so thumping a tire gives you the exact airpreseure reading? Cool i'll have to try that ROFL.
Im sorry if i was to spend $$$$ on tires, i #### well want to make sure they have the proper air presure.

 

No. An Air Pressure Gauge does.

Where Im from we Thump our watermelons to see if they are ripe. When we thump the watermelon it makes a particular sound that tells us its ready to be harvested. It serves as a warning of a sort.

We thump tires for the same reason. When the sound of the thump and feel of the thump feels awkward we need to investigate the problem. It helps us determine when to check the pressure, and determine if the tire is damaged. Does this now make sense?

 

So with all this talk of thumping tires how many of us do a start to finish pretrip daily?

 

Don't roll too much if you are talking to my post...I never said that if you read my post. Maybe you were referring to an earlier poster. And I do buy my own rubbers...like I have for almost 40 years. Just put on 8 new Bridgestone M726EL drives on and a pair of 16 ply steers and I trust my method as well as anything else I've seen. Automation is fine...Crossfires and Cat's Eyes are great...I got an entire set of 110 lb Cat's Eyes sitting here in the office by my desk...just haven't felt the need to put them on.

 

Whenever I want to check air pressure in my tires, I use an air gauge- whenever I want to check for flats, I thump. Generally try to check air pressure when doing a p/m, which is around twice a month. This practice has worked for me since I became an O/O (for the second time), almost twelve years ago. I might lose a tire tomorrow, but I see no reason to check any more than that. Gauging tires as part of my p/m also allows me to:
Do what I consider part of my p/m program at the convenience of my home, using a shop air compressor, without kneeling in, and smelling urine, that has become as integral to a truck stop parking lot as asphalt.
There has also been a couple of times I was confronted by undesirables, who, in all likelihood would not have been very intimidated by my rubber air hose, or little silver air gauge.

IMHO, there are very FEW things that are cool in the truck driving profession; walking around beating on tires with a stick is NOT one of them, and how someone can perceive that as so, is far from my line of thinking.

What he said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! +1