Check your tires!

[98hd]

Well I WAS getting ready for a 250 mile trip in the deuce tomorrow.

Decided I should make sure the tires are aired up. First one I grab...Flat.

Hmm, Better check some more. 4 good ones, another flat. I got disgusted and went inside to eat. Must have given me energy. I went and inflated one, it seemed to hold air. Ok lets change the other (valve stem is gone). It is an outer dual, not big deal.

Time to air up all of the tires. What is ths........another flat. Tried to air it up and I can hear the air leaking inside. Time to pack it up and delay the trip a week.

So 3 out of 8 rear tires were flat. This sucks.

Are 9x20 tubes common? Or will I have to order them to get them changed?

 

[DaveP]

The 9 20 tubes are pretty common around here. I had a few replaced not long ago and I had them dropped off in the morning and picked up that same afternoon with no appointment or anything.

 

[dm22630]

I have had a few rears go flat on me.......I can NOT tell unless I back over a rock/curb & look OR if I check the tire pressure.

Luckily they are easy to change.

Thanks for posting this though.....good advice!

 

[sprucemt]

Find yourself a good thumper. You can tell by the sound.

 

[cranetruck]

Good suggestion. When Brandon visited a week ago, we checked out the old deuce and when he peeked below the engine he noticed a split in the tire casing near the bead of the right front tire...dangerous! the tire is still holding pressure and looks normal.

 

[bulldog_mack13]

I check TP before I run out of town. Around town with is only 3 blocks I just do a visual and thump. Good advice

 

[ARYankee]

I'm running into a similar problem with the flat tires and missing valve stems. I've had 2 tires do that to me. What causes that? Over or under inflation? I consulted the operator's manual and it says the tires should be inflated between 35 to 50 psi. It looks like that it should be more. What do you all run them at? Just wanting to check and see. I'm going to run out there and see what they are set at now.

 

[FreightTrain]

here it cost me $50 to have a flat fixed.That includes a new tube.Radial tubes will work with Bias tires but Bias tubes will NOT work radials.The price includes a brand new tube,the guy pulling the tire off the truck,removing the tire from rim,replacing with new tube,reinstalling tire on rim and back on truck.I just let them do it for that price.Gives someone some work to do and saves my back since they have the correct tools for the job.

 

[Josh]

ive had 3 tubes replaced @ les schwab( dunno if you guys have that in the east). 32 bucks each tube, all i got do is drive the truck there and they do the rest.

 

[ARYankee]

I got a quote yesterday from a place that will do it for $60. So I guess that's not bad. That also includes it all.

 

[Nonotagain]

A good old hickory stick with a steel collar, thump the tires and life is good. Thump, good tire, thump, good tire, thump, good tire, thud, flat tire.

After you thump the tires a few hundred times you get a very good feel for the amount of bounce back the stick has.

As for the missing value stems, they got sucked into the tires when the pressure got low enough to cause more flexing of the tire than the tube could handle. If you continue to run them that way the stem will chew up the inside of the tire and then the possibility of a tire catching fire.

 

[doghead]

Thumpers can't tell you when a tire is 10psi lower than the one beside it(even with a good ear and experiance). Get an air pressure gauge and check them all, a couple times a year, or more.

 

[Speddmon]

well said doghead. China freight has the cheap tire inflators with the dual head truck chuck for under $20. The gauge in it is not the most accurate thing in the world, but after you compare a few with a good gauge, you'll get the reading you need to ensure you have the proper pressure.

Edit: I know I've got a slow leaker on the front...maybe 5 to 10 psi a week, so I fill her up every time I move it, and check the rest each time as well. At least until I get out to the tire shop and get it fixed.

 

[Nonotagain]

Thumpers can't tell you when a tire is 10psi lower than the one beside it(even with a good ear and experiance). Get an air pressure gauge and check them all, a couple times a year, or more.

Doghead,

I beg to differ. On a tire inflated to a normal running pressure of 50 psi, you can feel the difference in 10 psi pressure. That's a 20% difference in pressure.

I'm not saying to not get a good tire pressure gauge, just that for a quick check, a 10 psi change in pressure is pretty easy to feel.

As a side note, in the aerospace industry we use a test called "tap testing". You normally use a small aluminum hammer and lightly strike the surface. The hammer gets balanced between a couple of fingers, and you bounce the hammer for striking the surface. Areas that are bonded together bounce back with little resistance while areas that are unbonded, the hammer falls to the surface with little recoil.
The best tap check QC inspector we had was legally deaf. It's all in the feel of the bounce.

 

[doghead]

I think for most of the guys here, a pressure gauge and taking time and effort to check them all, is the best option.

But any check is better than no check.

 

[Josh]

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.

 

[2Deuces wild]

Yep, I had a flat. Went to my truck tire shop and had them replace the tube when he was done he heard a hissing sound and found a nail in the inside center duel. Dam good timing. Both repairs cost me 60 buck including tubes. For the tie gage I bought a good stick gage made here in the U.S.A. and a air inflation gage made in china, After airing up the tire i check the pressure between the two and found they both read the same pressure.

 

[Canislupus]

ive had 3 tubes replaced @ les schwab( dunno if you guys have that in the east). 32 bucks each tube, all i got do is drive the truck there and they do the rest.

Hey Josh:
The $32.00 include the tube? Seems pretty cheap. But Typically Les Schwab is GREAT.

"C"
Dallas Car Show Sunday 7/26

 

[Two Dogs]

I've been kicking tyres for more than 60 years and can tell instantly if a tyre is under inflated, then it's out with the compressor and a good quality pressure gauge. Don't buy cheap gauges, I've known them to be so inaccurate as to be lethal, get a good quality gauge and check it against a calibrated gauge by having your tyres inflated at a tyre shop and then check with your gauge before driving the truck as tyre temperature will affect the readings.

 

[jimk]

I'm a tire kicker too. When pre triping big rigs (mulit trailer swaps per day x 25y)I'm looking for the flats. The slightest kick will catch one that's real bad. A few extras kicks and I can get acurracy up. Commercial tires run at 90-100psi so 50psi is easy to spot. I doubt I can tell 20psi low tires being such a wide range of makes and wear. The ground surface seeems to make a difference.

. At home everything seems to need some air. I try to do a yearly go round but that's not really good enough. I like to check air before any long trips but sometimes can't. I had a slow leakeron a deuce steer this spring, figured it was a nail. Turned out to be a bad tube near stem. There were a group of tiny cracks, rubber rot I suppose . These like to collect grit getting in the hole in rim. Anyways it got worse pretty fast from months to days, which is why i thought I's say something here. I doubt it would have every left me stranded but could have become (though rather unlikely) a pain in the buttocks had I been on a long very trip, or been in a big hurry.