Every business should be concerned with maximizing their ROI, and with the cost of tires increasing every year it is important to make every mile count. Here are 3 tips to getting the most out of your tires life.
- Keep tires properly inflated- Running a truck or trailer tire at 20 percent under recommended inflation pressure generates excess heat and flexing that can reduce tire mileage by 15 percent and can damage the casing. It pays to keep your tires at their proper PSI.Mismatched inflation (or mismatched tires) on dual assemblies is an important contributor to faster tire wear. In an 11R22.5 tire size mounted in a dual assembly with the same new tread design, you would assume that they are the same size with the same circumference.
At 5 PSI difference in inflation, the lowest inflation tire has a circumference that is 5/16-in. smaller. During every rotation cycle, the smaller circumference tire must scuff ahead to keep up with the tire with more inflation. These tires rotate around 500 times per mile. Simple math means 500 times 5/16-in. translates to the equivalent of dragging a tire for 13 feet per mile.
*Remember to inflate or deflate tires with seasonal temperature changes.
- Stay on top of tire rotations- Tire rotations may contribute to lessening the wear. One of the things that happens when there is a change in the direction of the rotation or when cross rotating the tires is the evening out of the irregular wear areas. Changing the direction of rotation has a tendency to even out heel/toe wear on the shoulders of drive tires and erratic wear on the shoulders of trailer tires.Steer tires are normally rotated side-to-side which changes the direction of rotation and helps even out wear. Directional tires would be the only tires that should not change the direction of rotation.
- Check your alignment- Misaligned drive axles affect the wear of drive axle tires, but also affect steer axle tire wear when the driver has to turn slightly left or slightly right to keep a truck moving in a straight line. Similarly, trailer axles that are out of alignment can be problematic. Vehicle misalignment can negatively impact truck fuel economy, as well. If any of the wheels on an 18-wheeler tractor/trailer are not in alignment, the total drag on the vehicle increases.
