Your tire philosophy

Centermatic doesn't do any good possibly bad if got stuck at some point. (thats what my tire guy said)
I've got Continental eco plus steer tires running about 140k miles without any service after installation. Looking good.
Too many rotations and balancing can add up to certain amount.IMO.

If your truck shaking at certain speed something is not right so better find out and solve it before buying new tires.

 

running empty can cause some different wear patterns on tires. think of it this way: if you inflate your tires for a full load and then run empty... you're over-inflated. I wouldn't say it causes problems, but you will get uneven tire wear if you do it enough.

 

Excessive High speeds has some affects too. I do not run max psi. 95 steers, 90 on trailers. Rides well, good wear milage. Still average good mpg.

 

You're under inflated.

Read up on MD Alignment and what the owner, Mike has to say about air pressure.

High pressure will not cause a tire failure. It will actually reduce sidewall flex and thus heat, which is what kills tires. The whole nonsense of running higher pressures causes only the center to wear is greatly over exaggerated. Can a tire wear the center more? Sure, if its running empty a lot.

When you read the sidewall of a tire. Its states max load at a certain psi. But it does not state a max pressure. Its a common misconception.

I prefer to run my tires at 130psi. But my ignorant boss doesnt understand so he wants them at 120. Not my truck, so whatever.

 

I might as well throw my two cents in. It's the truck not the tires, you know how nice and tight the volvo turns. Well in order to accomplish that something had to be given up, you guessed it tire wear. The easy fix for this is shorter turn radius to the right. Flip the tires and shorten the turn radius a little and I think your problem will be solved.

 

Now I'm sold on MD alignments but. I have managed fleets, and now my own. I am not under inflated per tire psi/load tables. I'm not gonna tell you what to do, but I haul heavy and my old man hauled really heavy. Between the 2 of us when he past 64 years of tires. I will keep doing what I do. Think about how many times your not heavy and don't need that high psi? Yes it will improve fuel milage at tire wear expense. Everyones operation is different so to have a blank answer is wrong. You have to study your own. I check temps even. I actually worked at a shop that did MD alignments up till 2005ish. You don't even need there product to align it in their manor. You can do the same with a tape measure. But the process is spot on.

 

Just from one side to the other.

 

From my personal experience as a owner operator for 17 years, the best longest lasting steer tires that money can buy are Michelin or Bridgestone R283a with Centramatics.

The best longest lasting drive tire are Bridgestone M726ELa, with 32/32 tread depth when new, you can't go wrong.

Bridgestone M710 use softer rubber that doesn't last as long as a M726.

I need to buy some new steers, so I may try the Firestone, as they are made by Bridgestone, without the extraordinary pricing.