Check your tires!

[Michael]

mostly because im lazy when ever i head out on a trip of more then 50~ miles i just swing by my local tire shop and have them check and fill. ive always hated trying to air up the inside duals.

I also hated airing up the deuce duals. I had been making do with import truck tire gauges and inflators. I went to NAPA spent about $50 on a high quality made in USA gauge and inflator and it made a big difference. The inflator has a feature where you push it on and angle it to the side and it stays put. That helps more than anything.

 

[ARYankee]

I don't do the tire kicker thing. I use a gauge. I was wondering what pressure the tires need to be. The manual says 50psi. I just figured that's got to be too low......
I just want to prevent any more of valve stems from getting sucked in.

 

[comanderfritz]

i had a flat.. tube got twisted up in the tire... no one wanted to fix it for me. so i just bought a whole new wheel. hell $100 what the hell

 

[FormerNewMVGuy]

I don't do the tire kicker thing. I use a gauge. I was wondering what pressure the tires need to be. The manual says 50psi. I just figured that's got to be too low......
I just want to prevent any more of valve stems from getting sucked in.

50PSI is what they should be for highway driving, 35 PSI for off road and 15 PSI for sand and soft mud.
They will only suck the stem in when they are flat,Under 5 PSI.
Hope this helps you!

 

[ARYankee]

That's probably what happened. The tires were good before I left but when I got to my dad in laws it was flat. Oh well. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't anything I was doing. Thanks guys!

 

[BugEyeBear]

ALWAYS a good idea to check tire pressures, AND tire condition!

IF YOU TEND TO MAINTAIN NOTHING ELSE ON YOUR VEHICLE always make sure you have good tires AND good brakes!
It is a bad day when your truck won't run, or if it breaks down mid-trip.
It is a VERY BAD DAY when you can't stop or you lose control of your vehicle while at speed!!

IMHO the thump check is a good 1st check (looking for flats) & probably good enough for a mid-trip check (to ensure that all tires still have air), but I ALWAYS use a guage to check and ensure accurate pressures in all tires prior to any road trip. That's what the tool is designed for & I'd have to guess that the guage will be more accurate that even the most experienced tire mechanic! (I'd put $$ on it!)

ALSO be sure to frequently do a visual examination of all tires. Inspect the tread, as well as the outside, inside, & middle sidewalls of all tires. Outer sidewalls are usually more vulnerable to checking/cracking from sun exposure and curb rubbing, but middle & inner sidewalls can be easily damaged by debris & road/trail hazards too! You DON'T want to ever have to try steering a Deuce that blows a front tire doing 55+!!!
As with any large tire equipped vehicle, a blown front tire at speed is very hard to recover from! Not having power steering doesn't help this situation. I always make sure that I have my newest & best tires mounted on the 2 front wheels!

I've never lost a tire on a Deuce, but I have experienced a front tire failure (caused by debris on the track) on one of my race cars while at speed. That car took off in a direction that I had very little control over, and after hitting a tire wall it became a parts donor for my next race car... THANK GOD I had a strong cage, racing harness, helmet, & a little LUCK!! (I managed to walk/limp away from the mangled mess...)

"Cheers!"

-Bear-

 

[nk14zp]

Buy a gauge not a thumper!!!!!!!!

 

[jimk]

Buy a gauge not a thumper!!!!!!!!

I think you are missing the point. Thumping tires has it's place and so does a tire gauge. I have seen fuelers (a union bid job) thumping tires before they do a hook (commercial big rig freight systems context). The driver is required to check tires and kicking is the fastest way. The DOT used to require a tire check every 2 hours when moving a plaqured haz-mat load. Also, amazingly, the NYS Drivers manual, at the same time (a few years ago) stated that 'striking the tires was not an acceptable way' to check them. Apparently someone, who most likely never drove a dual wheel vehicle, thought a lazy tired freight man on a tight schedule will pull out his tire gauge and do 18 on the side of, say, a dark snow covered shoulder in S. Kearny, New Jersey at 3AM, then do all 18 again, 2 hours later in, say, an alley in Yonkers at 5:01AM. That man would get fired, if he survived being robbed twice. This task is no longer required and for good reason(s). Co. mechanics check the tires, with gauges, and every month. Drivers may, or may not, be concerned. If they are, and see a soft one, they might run it thru the shop.

I'd say an owner, like folks here, know pretty much what the tires will be like after a few years of maintaining them. I re-shoed the tag trailer with 8 new f-stones/stems and found year later, when all loaded up, all looked soft and needed 40psi. I figured otherwise, and was late for the show.

Let the experienced decide how and when to check theirs. All others can read posts and decide what to do.. I can say this, I have never seen a store bought thumper. Some are hammers but many are cut off Louisville sluggers, kept not so much for thumping but for a personal defense. Trucking is in an environment where both the state law(s) and the Co. own management have created rules preventing drivers carrying any weapons. Sadly, these rules seem to only apply to the law abiding.

Anyway, thumping/kicking is a quick way to check. Most here have gauges, and use them, or have someone else do it.

p.s. we always get a kick out of he new hires kicking the steering wheels.

p,p.s I had a catastrophic left steer tire failure w/CH Mack tractor10(?)y ago. The last mechanic apparently left all the rim clamps too loose. The rim shifted due to braking, sheared the stem tab, and later cracked the stem. Happened 3-4AM I90 passing a car near Fultonville, NY .Tire went soft unnoticed then suddenly everything got pretty violent. Shredded sidewalls and the tread hitting fender paint before It wrapped up around the steering tie rod end and front brake hose. Lots of hand effort to keep it going straight. Gouged up the pavement pretty ggo. I pulled over and got paid to read Stephen Hunters Point of Impact. Road service guy did a ether job . I had him check the right side. That was loose too. My term manager had to complain I was late. I promised myself the next time I'll flop it in the median for him .

 

[SEAFIRE]

Our local tire shop does them for $50 too...

We run 50 PSI in the rear, 60 PSI in the front. We make sure our front tires are in the best shape with the newest tubes.

We've had hell with tires this year with all the big grass fires and all, we've had about 10-12 flats this year. Our standard practice is to carry a wood 4x4 so that we can at least replace the outermost duals in the field without a jack by backing over the 4x4 with the inner dual.

It sucks backing over the 4x4 only to find the inner dual flat as well. this happened to me once this year....

 

[rosco]

If you run a dual flat, it will suck in the valve stem. It can also be a good way to start a fire - the tube rubs the inside of the tire, creating friction/heat. Good way to ruin both. Tubeless tires pretty much eliminated the above.

If your bumping tires, temperature has a lot to do with how the sound/feel. The colder they get, the more they all sound alike.

Lee in Alaska

 

[zak]

Anybody run valve stem extenders for the inside duals? I have a set but have not put them on yet.

 

[MikeON]

I also hated airing up the deuce duals. I had been making do with import truck tire gauges and inflators. I went to NAPA spent about $50 on a high quality made in USA gauge and inflator and it made a big difference. The inflator has a feature where you push it on and angle it to the side and it stays put. That helps more than anything.

Do you have a NAPA number for that tire inflator? Or a picture?
Thanks.

 

[LongueCarabine]

This thread is relevant to my experience today. Took the Deuce out for a spin on the gravel roads around the house (been trying to do this at least every other weekend) to put some miles on it and work out any kinks.

Well, before I left today I was sure all tires were normal, though I did not do a formal walkaround. But it's not like me to miss that they were flat before taking off, so..........Took the Deuce out for 3-4 miles and then back. Got out and saw that the rearmost passenger side duals were flat. Both of them. Tire stem on the inside one was gone, I guess it is either inside the tire or popped off???

Weird thing was, I could not feel anything different in the way the truck drove, though I am sure at some point they were both flat while I was moving.

I'm guessing it could have been the tubes are in bad shape from dry rot (the truck was sitting at Camp Beauregard for at least a year and a half according to the sarge I talked to). The tires themselves look good, lots of tread left on them.

I could not find any punctures or foreign objects in the tires, but I guess I will find out more once I get them off and head down to the local truck and tractor tire place......

LC

 

[airmech3839]

I kick my tires every couple of days. I have had flats from road debris. I use a exchange program with the local deuce overhaul shop. I exchange my flat wheel assy for good take offs for about $75.

 

[FormerNewMVGuy]

This thread is relevant to my experience today. Took the Deuce out for a spin on the gravel roads around the house (been trying to do this at least every other weekend) to put some miles on it and work out any kinks.

Well, before I left today I was sure all tires were normal, though I did not do a formal walkaround. But it's not like me to miss that they were flat before taking off, so..........Took the Deuce out for 3-4 miles and then back. Got out and saw that the rearmost passenger side duals were flat. Both of them. Tire stem on the inside one was gone, I guess it is either inside the tire or popped off???

Weird thing was, I could not feel anything different in the way the truck drove, though I am sure at some point they were both flat while I was moving.

I'm guessing it could have been the tubes are in bad shape from dry rot (the truck was sitting at Camp Beauregard for at least a year and a half according to the sarge I talked to). The tires themselves look good, lots of tread left on them.

I could not find any punctures or foreign objects in the tires, but I guess I will find out more once I get them off and head down to the local truck and tractor tire place......

LC

When you run em flat , it sucks the tube in, thats why the valve stem is gone...

Most of the tires i've had go flat are from the flap being all cracked and dry rotted around the valvestem area, which then pinches the tube and cause's loss of air

 

[dabtl]

Each time I work on my tires I replace the flaps if they look old. One tire had the flap taped with duct tape to hold it together.

 

[mcmullag]

tube

Somebody asked, where can you get tubes. Two weeks ago I bought one for $26 at a commercial tire goodyear store in the industrial section of town, all big trucks in the bays. My trucker buddy sent me there and said to ask for a "900-20". That worked, they knew what I was talking about. The guy at the counter asked if I was buying this for one of those fishing contraptions with built in waders where you float around on a lake in a standing position held up by your innertube. He said he usually sells that size for that purpose. Just posting this in case it helps somebody find where to get inner tubes.