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Tires, tag axle
This week I was at Prevost in Jacksonville getting some maintenance done and John pointed out a rip in one of my tag axle tires on the inside. Surely, it would have blown if driven any further. It was a stroke of luck that it didn’t blow on I-95 on my way from Melbourne to Jacksonville.
There’s been considerable talk about blow outs of tires placed on the tag that have been on the steering axle. I’m not sure how long this tire was back there, but I know it originally was on the front. Strangely the opposite side tire was fine.
Unless visually inspected prior, one would never have known until it blew while driving.
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19 Replies
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My experieces precisely! I have had a 4 year old tag blow and a sidewall separation occur on the inside of a 5 year old tag. Both had been rotated from the front (which I no longer do) but my theory is the twisting action on the tag tires (like trailer tires, which tend to fail often) is the culprit.
I would recommend thorough visual inspections of tag tires regularly.
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I agree and will inspect them frequently from now on. Strange that the tire on the other side had the same date of 2010 and was fine. That would lead me to believe this tire had some sort of manufacturing defect that might have been insignificant had it remained on the steering axle.
Personally, I never make a slow speed tight turn unless I take the pressure out of the tag air bags, BUT I haven’t owned this coach all the time those tires were on the tag.
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Could easily have been a curb cut Grizz and likely the previous owner.
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Tom:
That’s possible, but I drove 12k miles on that tire since getting the coach from Marathon. The damage is on the inside. If it was curb damage it would have to have been on the tire before moving it from front to rear and flipped. It’s hard to believe that Marathon (or any tire dealer they work with) would have allowed remounting a damaged tire to any position on a coach. (Marathon Florida did all the work on that coach for years.)
In the photos, there’s some greasy hand and finger marks put there during inspection, but no marks that would normally be evident with that kind of damage. There are many small surface splits I didn’t photograph.
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Had the same issue leaving OK city rally this fall. 365 steers(date 2012) rotated to tags Apr ’14 after careful inspection. 5000mi later same damge as Grizz on the LR. Repl at Prevo Dallas and repl the other one at Jeff’s a short time later. Can only speculate as to cause, but will not rotate any longer. Geo.
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Grizz, your tire pictures are not up on message.
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Al:
I could see them on my computer, but reposted them again. Let me know!
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I never swap places with tires , when steers are worn out or old I put new ones on , and when tags are worn out or old I put new ones on , drives the same never had a problem that way , but I put new tires about every two years or three
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I have no clue how any of us can adequately inspect our tires for damage.
The best we can hope for is we see what we can see, make sure the pressures are OK, and pray what we cannot see is undamaged.
It is virtually impossible to see the inside of the drives and tag. We could raise the coach, lay on the ground and try to get our head in a position to see between the duals, and inside the tag and drive. The steer we have a better chance by turning the steering wheel all the way left or right.
I have been very lucky because over the years I have found one tire with a nail through the inner sidewall at a 45 degree angle. On a second occasion I had a fist sized chunk missing from the area where the tread meets the sidewall exposing the belts. Both times I found the damage from my pit. In fact now that I have had the pit for 15 years I fully appreciate not only the benefit of being able to do much better pre-trip inspections, but I also recognize the benefit of doing those inspection often. I don’t need or want excitement while on the road and the more I can find and repair prior to a trip the happier I am.
I have said this before, but will repeat it……Any time you or a mechanic have occasion to be beneath the coach, take advantage of that opportunity to do a detailed inspection looking for chafing hoses or wires, tire condition, hub seal leaks, and drain the air tanks and verify the proper operation of the air system check and protection valves. Any time the front is suspended and the tires are off the ground take advantage of that occasion to look for loose tie rid ends, kingpins or ball joints, or bearing issues.
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Jon always has great suggestions. To me … its just like putting the race car up on jack stands, crawling underneath on the creeper and looking around. Its amazing what I’ve found.
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Not that tough to see the inside of the tag. I jack up my coach and rotate all tires to check inside and outside for sidewall bulges and foreign objects at every service.
I do agree most of you will have problems inspecting the inner sidewalls of the drive tires but with super singles on my drive, I don’t have that issue.
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Grizz, I think I was there while you were. Did you get your air line fixed?
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Joel is right, but if you do as he suggests remember to rotate the rears you have to release the emergency brake and that means you need to use wheel chocks to prevent it from rolling. And of course never get under the coach unless the chassis is properly supported.
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Grizz, I can’t see your pics as they are just small squares. I’m using Google Chrome on my Apple.
Mark
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Quite true re chocks if you raise one wheel at a time. I don’t own a jack capable of raising a weighted coach wheel so my procedure is to raise the coach using level low (or should that be level high?), place jack stands and release air from suspension. Then a simple 2 ton jack can raise wheels for service as necessary. I also have enough room to work under coach.
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