Teach Your Drivers How to Maintain Tires – Maintenance

Have you ever learn articles on tires till you’re blue within the face? Maybe there will likely be a nugget or two on this article that you just haven’t considered. Or possibly you’re laying aside tire upkeep as a result of it’s too expensive, an excessive amount of hassle, or any variety of excuses.

I’ll go into a few of the ordinary matters like tire stress and tread put on, however first …

You’ve gotten constructed a multi-million greenback over a number of generations, and you make an acceptable revenue most years. Do you concentrate on legal responsibility? I wager you do, however do you relate that to tire failures and extra particularly to catastrophic tire failures? What occurs to your enterprise if a worn, broken tire fails at velocity — it doesn’t even should be excessive velocity — and your driver loses management of your fleet car and it plows into one other car?

If a number of of the occupants is a younger passenger, particularly a working mom or father, your legal responsibility skyrockets. I wish to name this the $5 million accident. You don’t need to lose your enterprise within the occasion of one in all these failures simply since you have been lax in ensuring that your tires have been in good situation.

Your drivers are your first line of protection to stop tire failures. Instructing them to learn how to preserve their car’s tires will go a protracted approach to avoiding legal responsibility.

Use Right Tire Gauge, Examine Stress Commonly

This one appears apparent, however do you (or your supervisor) examine every tire’s stress periodically? Or do you permit it as much as your upkeep supplier? Purchase an honest tire gauge and use it. There are two varieties of gauges. Ensure that the tire gauges learn truck tire pressures and aren’t just for passenger automobile tires, which function at decrease pressures. If correctly outfitted, even vans and SUVs run on gentle truck or LT tires.

One of many gauges reads to 100 psi whereas the opposite gauge reads to 150 psi. Be sure that the gauge will learn to the stress wanted to your tires. There’s a decal on the door jamb or “B” pillar that tells you what to inflate your tires to; it needs to be in each gentle truck and van. If it’s not there or is illegible, then go to the producer’s web site to search for the info. There may be additionally a most load/stress embedded within the tire’s sidewall.

Tire stress must be constant on dual-wheeled automobiles. If the within twin is underinflated (and this isn’t simply seen), nearly all of the load is being carried by one tire, not each.

Don’t combine treads on rear axle(s) on dual-wheeled automobiles. This can lead to uneven put on at a minimal and a lack of traction on the most unlucky time.

You may as well add valve stem extenders. That method, with a dual-wheeled car, the within twin is less complicated to entry when including air. I extremely advocate these; they work and are cheap.

Moreover, you possibly can add a central tire inflation system for items outfitted with air brakes. These are costly (roughly $1,500 or extra), however are price it, particularly on trailers in some areas the place the climate inhibits common tire inspection/inflation (besides when the car is within the store for upkeep).

Monitor Tire Tread Depth

Be sure that there may be sufficient tread left on all 4 tires. Some passenger tires have put on bars within the tread. Exchange when your tires have the wear and tear bars, even with the remainder of the tread.

Most upkeep suppliers is not going to exchange a tire previous to being worn all the way down to 4/32-in. tread depth. Ideally, I wish to have them changed earlier than that. By no means allow them to get bald or threadbare! Keep in mind your households, drivers, and different lives rely upon you conserving your tire fleet in good condition.

If there’s a mismatch in tread designs on the rear of dual-wheeled automobiles resulting from a failure substitute whereas en route, ensure that your tire supplier corrects this at its earliest alternative. The brand new substitute tire can at all times be matched with others of the identical design and used sooner or later.

Examine that the tires are carrying easily.

Examine for Tire Cuts and Injury on Sidewalls

Examine your sidewalls for cuts and harm (bulges). A tire will be lower on the facet and look like serviceable, but rain and standing water can penetrate to the metal belts and corrode the belts. This can result in a failure of the tire.

At a location the place I had come to audit, I red-tagged a truck with a lower on its sidewall, and the rear tires have been changed the subsequent morning. It is a good instance of how the $5 million accident occurs.

Take note of your tires.

Concerning the Writer

Les Good is president of Good Fleet Administration, a small and medium fleet consulting firm. He will be reached at [email protected]