Truck Topics

Tire Care & Maintenance Basics

Tires are one of the biggest expenses for any truck owner, but a little care can not only make them last longer, but also reduces the chance of a roadside tire emergency.

Keeping tires properly inflated is the most important thing you can do to increase tire life. Low tire pressure can lead to uneven and premature tire wear, failure on the road and earlier replacement.

“The proper inflation, and the inflation of a set of dual tires within 5 psi of each other, takes care of the lion’s share of tire problems,” says Curtis Decker, national manager, field engineering, for Continental Tire North America.

This means doing away with a tire billy and getting a good tire pressure gauge. Either buy a new gauge, or use one you already own that hasn’t been dropped on the ground (which can throw it out of calibration and give you false readings).

One way you can lessen the hassle of checking your tire’s pressure is through using a tire pressure monitor or a central tire inflation system. The former alerts you when tire pressure is low and it’s up to you to fill the tire back up to the proper pressure. Central tire inflation devices also monitor tires, but they also automatically fill tires back up to the proper level. Typically they offer paybacks in 12 to 18 months. And while tire pressure monitors can keep a check on any a tire in any axle position, depending on the central tire inflation system, they cannot inflate tires on the drive and/or steer axles.

Keeping An Eye On Your Tires

Maintaining your tires requires more than just keeping them properly inflated. Any time you are doing any other kind of inspection maintenance on the truck is a perfect opportunity.

Check them weekly, recommends Ron Gilbert, director of sales, commercial products at Toyo Tire USA. “This includes a visual inspection for nails, irregular wear and any other foreign objects in the tire.”

Inspections also should include measuring the tread depth and noting a tire's physical condition. Keeping records on tread depths can help you determine your tire cost per 1/32. Making notes of a visual inspection can help pinpoint the causes of tire problems and offer clues toward other equipment problems.

“Quite often tires are removed while there is still usable tread depth left on the casing [because there's] an irregular wear pattern," says Continental’s Decker. "People are quick to believe that irregular wear patterns on a tire are caused by the tire itself. Yet every component of the wheel end position can have an effect on the wear pattern of the tire."

This means getting ahead of potential problems by keeping a regular preventive maintenance program with the help of your truck dealer. Regular PMs are the key to catching a problem before it develops into irregular wear or unscheduled downtime. For instance, if you wait until a shock absorber completely fails, allowing the wheel end to bounce repetitively, you can expect the tire to be damaged in the process. The same goes for not keeping tires properly aligned.

Changing And Rotation

When you change one tire, you need to change others, too. “If one steer tire need to be changed, for whatever reason, change the other one as well,” says Timothy Miller, marketing communications manager of corporate tires at Goodyear. “For drive tires, replace tires by axle. If one tire needs to be changed, replace all the tires on that axle so that all tires match in brand, type, age and tread depth.”

This same logic applies when it comes to rotating tires, which should be performed during regular PMs to help get even tire wear. “Left steer tires tend to wear a little faster than right steer tires," Miller says. “If the steer tires are in the 25 percent to 75 percent wear range, it might be best to flip them left to right and right to left just to increase the chances they will both require replacement at the same time.”

The same is true for tires on tandem axles. The drive tires on the rear tandem will tend to wear a little faster than the tires on the forward axle. During PMs this is a great time to pull all of the tires off and switch them from axle to axle, even reversing the direction travel to get even wear patterns, while also allowing a technician the opportunity to inspect them more closely than he can when they are on the truck or trailer.

The Right Tire

To get the most out of your tires, it's also vital to pick the rigt tire for your operation. When it comes to truck tires, there are a lot of choices. It’s no longer just a case of picking steer, drive and trailer tires. Tires have gotten more application-specific for each wheel position, such as long haul, regional or city driving, so they will last longer and give better performance.

Tire makers can offer a lot of guidance when it comes to finding the right kind of tires. A good local dealer can make things even easier.

Don't Forget The Valve Stem

You can spend a lot of time choosing just the right tire and making sure you have a good preventive maintenance program and still miss a potential downtime culprit: valve stems.

 Two items that are typically under-inspected are the condition of the wheel valve stem grommet and the valve core, says Henry Box, a technical services director for Toyo Tire USA. “Periodic inspections that can confirm the grommet is not aged and is properly tightened, and the valve core is free of debris and protected by the use of a valve cap, will go a long way to help minimize downtime.”

Guy Walenga, engineering manager for commercial products at Bridgestone Firestone North America, recommends using steel or carbon fiber (dense plastic) valve caps with an inner rubber seal. These are designed to provide the final seal for the tire/wheel assembly, but he also notes taking the valve caps on and off hurts efficiency in checking air pressure. “Try the flow-through valve caps & stems like the Alligator V2B, a double seal check valve that does not require another cap.” For added insurance, he says, replace the valve stem, grommet and valve core any time you replace a tire.

Planning For Emergencies

No matter how good a job you do when it comes to selecting and maintaining tires for your truck, roadside emergencies can and will happen. The key, says John Cooney, director of sales with Yokohama Tire, is to “be prepared for the inevitable.” This means having an emergency service provider lined up in advance that can get your truck up and running, even if it’s at 3 a.m. and sitting along a deserted road in Slapout, Ala.

Most tire makers have roadside emergency service you can sign up for, and there are also independent companies that can provide the same service, as well as address other roadside truck breakdown problems. The key is to finding one that provides the right level of service for your operation at a price you can afford.

Don't Dismiss Retreads

Another way you can help keep your tire costs down is to run retread tires. Not only do they cost less than new tires, they can actually improve your uptime because they fail less than new tires. You may find that hard to believe, especially if you remember using retread tires some 15 years ago or more, but it’s true, according to the Tire Retread Information Bureau.

The reason is the extensive screening that tire casings are put through before they are retreaded, weeding out the ones that otherwise could fail on the road.

Getting the most uptime from your truck and trailer tires is relatively painless. Taking proper care of your tires is like taking care of yourself -- sooner or later we break down for one reason or another and need help to get back in the game. Truck tires are no different. Give them a little care and attention and they will take care of you – but always be prepared for the inevitable.

Sources for more information about truck tires:

Toyo Tires-- http://www.toyo.com/

Goodyear-- http://www.goodyear.com/truck/

Bridgestone-- http://www.bridgestonetrucktires.com

Firestone-- http://www.firestonetrucktires.com/

Michelin-- http://www.michelintruck.com

Tire Retread Information Bureau: http://www.retread.org

For more information about tire pressure monitors or central tire inflation systems:

Link Manufacturing-- http://www.linkmfg.com/

Tire Sentry-- http://www.tiresentry.com/

Doran Manufacturing-- http://www.doranmfg.com/

ArvinMeritor-- http://www.meritorhvs.com/Product_CVS.aspx?product_id=21&top_nav_str=hvs

Airgo-- http://www.tireinflation.com

Evan Lockridge is freelance writer who covers truck tires for RoadStar and Heavy Duty Trucking magazines, and is the producer and host of Expediter News Break.