Truck Tyre Casing Killed Transmission

[tmac450]

Usually a blow out is due to poor maintenance (low trye pressure, buckled rims, etc). More often than not, poor maintenance is found on company owned velicles or trailers, whereas owner drivers tend to be pretty good on upkeep (without it they are out of a job). Company vehicles or trailers tend to run buckled rims, or older tyres because it's cheaper (especially if they have a fleet to maintain). These are the more common vehicles to have blow outs, so once again, it's not usually the driver's fault.

Do a little test, next time you're driving past a truck, look at the wheels and see how many are wobbling. See if they're on the truck or the trailer. Wobbling wheels generate heat in the tyres due to the added friction, this can cause a blow out. Same with an under inflated tyre.

Realistically, the RTA are supposed to have clean-up crews to keep all roads free of debris. Unfortunatly, like all Government run departments, we are regularly let down. Yet another safety issue where rather than dealing with it properlt, they'll blame any accident on speeding and fine/tax us for it. We'll never know how many serious accidents are actually caused by debris on the road. How many people have lost control on a freeway trying to avoid something on the road, only to be classed as a speed related accident?

[Iconic Bionic]

Unless your parked or stopped at a set of lights, then most crashes are going to be speed related.

I.B.

[tmac450]

Yep. There was an indipendant report into accidens done a little while ago.

While the RTA atribute most accidents to speed, the report found that less than 5% of accidents were actually atributable to speed. They found poor roads and insufficient driver training to be the major causes. They also found that regardless of the speeds in the accident (the majority under the speed limits), every accident scene with skid marks on the road was put down as speed related.

[yw84u]

YW84U Understandable about not wanting to risk running across a freeway to collect a retread, I certainly think it would be hazardous to your health.

My issue is if they regularly come off the trucks ( they must as I travel up and down the coast on the freeways regularly and see a lot of them on the road.) Why are they allowed to be fitted to trucks. Cost would be an obvious reason and that is understandable for an owner driver as I try to keep my business costs down as much as practible also. However if they cant be fitted without a guarantee of not coming off with the real possibility of both damage to vehicles and more importantly personal injury then the RTA should not let them be fitted. I may be on the wrong track here so please educate me if you think otherwise. Also agree about roadworks, driving up the F3 today doing 80 in work zone and I think I was the only one doing the limit.

cheers

Yeah cost is a big one, being about $600 a tyre for a new one versus about $250 for a retread. and you would be lucky to get 30000km from a tyre. The 1 thing that destroys retreads is heat. obviously underinflated tyres would cause this but nearly every truck driver I know does a full walk around every day checking tyres/lights everything. But being a owner driver I can't vouch for company drivers as there arn't any at my work. Even though you seem to see them every where it doesn't happen that often. Work out how may tyres are on a semi. its 22. times that by how many trucks are on the road. now think about how many you see. it really doesn't happen that much. that isn't taking into account b doubles either + another 12 tyres.

Why are they allowed to be fitted. well truck tyres are are different from car tyres as they are desinged to be retreaded. most can be regroved as well. (they cut a new tread into the old tyre). Also in Australia there is no govenment approval system for tyres we use the american system. eg "DOT"

I always have 2 tyres sitting there ready to go. when I wear out my tyres I have the new ones put on and away I go. the old tyres (cases) are sent away to be capped (retreaded). before they cap them are are x-rayed to make sure the are still alright and if they pass they will recap them. if not sent to the bin. Where I get my retreads from I get a garentee if 1 blows out they will replace it. but I also don't do alot of highway work so I don't get anywhere near the heat required to do this.

there are also different types of retreds. hot and cold. this refers to the prossess in which they are made. one is done with hot rubber and the other with cold. hot recaps arn't as good and can't take as much as cold ones but the are also cheaper.

Usually a blow out is due to poor maintenance (low trye pressure, buckled rims, etc). More often than not, poor maintenance is found on company owned velicles or trailers, whereas owner drivers tend to be pretty good on upkeep (without it they are out of a job). Company vehicles or trailers tend to run buckled rims, or older tyres because it's cheaper (especially if they have a fleet to maintain). These are the more common vehicles to have blow outs, so once again, it's not usually the driver's fault.

Do a little test, next time you're driving past a truck, look at the wheels and see how many are wobbling. See if they're on the truck or the trailer. Wobbling wheels generate heat in the tyres due to the added friction, this can cause a blow out. Same with an under inflated tyre.

Yeah that is true, but next time see how old the truck is. all older trucks run 2 piece rims are they are very prone to the wobbly tyres you describe. Most trucks built in the last 10 years or so now run either billet alloys or steel 1 piece rims and you don't get that problem anymore. even trailers now run billet alloys. You will notice most jap trucks (Izuzu, hino, UD,) run steel but most american and europian trucks (kenworth, mack, sterling, Volvo, merc, scania,daf) run alloys standard. And Most drivers are now putting alloys on as they last longer and look better and at like $700 dollars a rim it aint cheap either.

[Iconic Bionic]

Yep. There was an indipendant report into accidens done a little while ago.

Independence does not always equate to scientifically sound.

I.B.

[tmac450]

It was conducted by a professor who is Europe's leading traffic and accident expert. He also conducted a survey of our speed zones using an accepted method, whereby traffic flow is monitored and speeds measured. The theory is that 80% of drivers will naturally drive at a suitable speed to suit the road and conditions. The top 10% are disregarded as the hoon element driving too fast, the bottom 10% are considered too slow (drivers lacking in confidence, etc). Speed zones are then set to the nearest 10ks above the determined 80th percentile speed for that section of road. For exapmle, if the average speed was 74, the seed limit should be 80. This method is used in several countries in Europe, and has proven to assist trafic flow, dramatically reduce the number of speeding drivers, as well as reduce the number of minor fender benders (drivers were not as distracted from the road by not having to constantly watch their speedos).

What they concluded in the Australian test, was that the Australian authorities had already done the same research in the majority of roads tested. However, instead of setting the speed limit to the nearest 10ks above, all of the limits were coincidentally set 10ks below the 80th percentile average. His report slammed the RTA, etc, condeming their actions as blatant revenue raising while sacraficing real road safety.

I beleive the professor and his team were commissioned by the NSW State Government in a bid to make it look like they were addressing road safety, but it backfired and the report was kept quiet. The professor told all in a radio interview with John Laws a few years ago, but that's about as far as it went.

I'd certainly trust what the professor said before I trust what the RTA and Government tells us.

[tab]

Tmac you're all confused buddy....speed kills. Don’t you watch all the informative advertising campaigns that they spend millions of dollars on each year?

They need to keep lowering the speed limits to save our lives. You should be grateful

[Guest]

You're funny Tab!

[tmac450]

Tmac you're all confused buddy....speed kills. Don’t you watch all the informative advertising campaigns that they spend millions of dollars on each year?

They need to keep lowering the speed limits to save our lives. You should be grateful

Sorry. I don't know wat I was thinking.

Also, according to those adverts, anyone who'se ever spun their wheels has a small pecker

[Iconic Bionic]

But gee the chick on the billboards for the add is a hottie!

I.B.