Truck Tire TLC: Preventing and Surviving Steering Axle Tire Blowouts

Truck Tire TLC: Preventing and Surviving Steering Axle Tire Blowouts. In this video, Dave talks about how to inspect tires, in particular the steering axle tires, and what to do in case of a steering axle tire blowout.
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[@SmartTrucking]

Good Day, Driver. We're so glad you've taken the time to drop by today to take in today's uploaded new video. Have you had a scary experience with a steering axle tire blowout? If so, what was the outcome? Love to hear from you.

[@BlackDynamite901]

Ill never forget my first steer blowout....going 65 down a hill in Ark on my way to Houston. Thank God it didnt veer me hard. I tapped clutch or brake( i dont remember which) to knock off my cruise and aimed for the shoulder. Brought her to a slow stop and announced myself on my radio....another driver told me " you done good"😂

[@herbertmitchell405]

I was at a truck stop and next to me was a bobtail with wire showing around the steer. No tire does that over night. People just don't care for their safety or the safety of others.

[@crazyeyez1502]

That Pa RV wreck was a mess. Happened just a few miles from my warehouse. The RV blew a tire, went thru the median, and by pure bad luck, went thru at a cross-over, bypassing the safety cables.

[@briandarazs6620]

That's really good advice Dave. I'm constantly keeping an eye on all my tires. Just like yourself, I've also seen guys just take a glance at their tires. The one I love is when guys give their tires a tap, literally, with their shoes, and call it good. I've seen that more times than I care to remember.

[@labourlawact7826]

Kicking your tires with shoes on can give you a good idea of the pressure in the tire. Low pressure is immediately shown by the vibration you see when you kick it

[@koolerstream921]

@@labourlawact7826 while that might be true, it doesn't give the full picture. Kicking a tire without actually checking the pressure, sidewalls, or tread depth is not a full inspection of the tire.

[@kentr2424]

Kicking a tire is not recommended - mainly because people kick the SIDEWALL, not the tread area. The sidewall is much, much thinner than the tread area, and kicking it can (and often will) damage the cords in the sidewall which leads to bulging. To check it, I use a rubber mallet and if it feels and sounds suspect, out comes the air pressure gauge.

[@briancallahan5673]

My first company out of Gretna Nebraska had me run with a gash in the sidewall of my steer tire. It was a new tire. I brought it up for three weeks straight. Finally I told him I’m not move until they fix it. They said it was fine the sidewalls thick enough

[@alenagoddess2400]

Old Dominion has the best in-house maintenance I've ever seen in any trucking company! It's a shame they lost a driver. Not sure where it happened but the roads are also an issue in Arizona New Mexico and other places.

[@warlocksnevereverdie]

arizona and new mexico west borders are abominable. its embarrassing and dangerous.

[@crazyeyez1502]

The RV blew a tire, went thru the median, and by pure bad luck, went thru at a cross-over, bypassing the safety cables.

[@weathforjr]

If you call the tire shop, they'll blame you, then threaten you to take the load, then the accident happens, "why did you move the truck?!". This is why I got out of trucking. That any why reloads on a friday afternoon at 3pm take 6hrs... "Yeh! But you get detention!" I didn't get to see my kids, or now I have to wait on home repairs. They'll just shrug and say "sorry" meanwhile you're parking in their yard at 9pm or later on a weekend, while they've been at home since 3pm. Nope. No love my way? No love theirs. Not everything is money.

[@sappy4happy448]

Maybe I missed hearing it but I think it’s also important to stay calm and not react by stomping on the brakes. Once you have control of the vehicle and can aim for a safe place to pull over, light brake pressure or maybe even none will be required.

[@aviatortrucker6285]

Today’s steer tire by manufacturer require 110 pounds cold. Fleets are using minimal tire ratings which equal about 12,300 pounds. If you could put 12,500 pounds on the axle you were over rating your tire. This crap didn’t happen when we use tall rubber 11R24.5

[@JuanCheeto]

110 psi in my xze2 11r24.5’s is recommended for about 13500 lbs per Michelin

[@PeckhamHall]

You have probably saved some lives with this, my friend. Great stuff 👏

[@19017070]

Well said! No caps on the steers. Check your tires. They will tell you the health of your steer axle.

[@montedyoung3247]

The “Properly inflated” rubber side down!

[@604h22a]

Happened to me once luckily I didn’t lose control but boy was it scary

[@7.3PSDA2]

i have blown a front ditch side and it ripped me off into the ditch lucky the ditch was mildly flat i was hauling a side dump. prolly 1 of the scariest things ive ever experienced.

[@thomasbarclay9083]

Sir even though it’s not a good idea to run recaps on a steer. It is not illegal to do so. That only applies to busses.

[@fredbezemer394]

I had my first steering tire blow out in 45 years this week in Phoenix luckily no damage to the hood just tire and rim replacement upon inspection there was a V shaped puncture obviously debris was on the road replaced tire with Michelin X-Line Energy 16 ply in 45 years I've always only ran a premium steering tire DO NOT CHEAP OUT WITH CHINESE TIRES your life or someone else's could depend on it

[@TheKindredTrucker]

Dave, your videos are always sobering and they help remind this semi-new driver avoid complacency. Thanks so much for your great content!!

[@Acordionista509]

I worked for a company in WA who only buys used tires for their trucks even on steers. The steers they have are also really old and cracks on them, they dont give a damn about their drivers

[@AMPProductionsVideo]

Good video on that matter, I have seen it in the News Too. Have a good weekend

[@willjones4630]

Great video and information driver!! I was hoping for a good story of a time you maybe experienced something like this but on the flip side I’m hoping you haven’t experienced something like this…

[@labourlawact7826]

I had a steering axle tire disintegrate on me after it developed a slow leak from a nail while en route. Scary day🙈

[@392nightrunner]

My right side steer is getting heal toe wear, even though it's been aligned and has a new shock

[@bigal-ox9jw]

I remember blowing steer tire on my dad's truck hauling asphalt on a sharp turn, I wasn't going that fast and made the turn left a bit wider into a convince store(very convient) on my right side which was dirt parking lot. This was in the mid 80's and I was only early 20's , this happened on the east coast Canada 🇨🇦 NB province back when I had a fellow trucker doing the same run not only stopped to see if I was ok, but took his spare tire off his and gave it to me and think even helped change it .Big Al from miramichi original and where this happened. 😊..and oh BTW, I only kicked the back and forget the front, good advice.

[@MrFahrenheit99]

Great video. Thanks!

[@zachzimmerman7076]

I always use a name brand tire not a off brand tire and i look at cracks and cupping on the tire.

[@mattberg916]

Jakes and trailer brakes!

[@lisahansel4216]

Thanks!

[@renedominguez7621]

Good video thanks 🙏 Dave

[@charlesbolin7207]

Dave, recaps are only prohibited on the steer axels of a passenger carrying bus. They are not illegal on other commercial vehicles. It's not a smart idea to use "All Position" recaps on a steer but it's not illegal. Garbage companies and other low speed operations use them all the time.

[@Redwines5]

Yep alot of ppl say it is but they haven't read it in the book

[@jimmysavage258]

I was always taught steer tires had to be virgin

[@labourlawact7826]

It's just stupid to use retreaded tyres on the steer axle. We don't even do that in Africa. Buses here run with new tyres on all axles.

[@lifeitsgreat]

I like 105 to 110 and firestone

[@alwaysbewhoyouare9592]

Blowing a steer is my #1 fear

[@jimmysavage258]

Great advice as always Dave. Thanks for what you do.

[@jacannon58]

Thanks! good info.

[@glenngardner4808]

Don't forget to check the DOT numbers, (it will tell the date, and year the tire was made) if over 10 years, get them replaced

[@larryborkstrom3580]

I've lost a steer one driving no fun but after that I've looked at them better and caught 2bad and had replaced on the spot

[@peters1927]

Thank you 🙏

[@anthonyrich4763]

Had tandem tire issues 3 different truck stops to get it right, Roadside Assistance didn't do me any favors either by approving one tire the wrong size which caused the inner to go bald in only 100 mi. Trying to get me killed looks like.

[@fucbdc]

Thanks for this.

[@Brsrafal]

so sad i was driving after the shop one of my tires fefell off on one axle thank its scary

[@user-uw8id2mk7u]

I did two DVIRs and they denied replacing the steer. It thin so can't see inside it halfway across my company didn't want to replace it.

[@bh1567]

Always thinkin about blow outs when B truck is rumbling down the highway

[@davidestep94]

The tire shops probably won't let you run recaps on the steer

[@jerrydyer787]

First you have to buy a good not a cheap Chinese

[@604h22a]

Happened to factory installed Goodyear’s. Companies cheap out not replace them preemptively

[@pointnIaugh]

I had the hub oil in a steer tire/wheel run out and burn through the arm and the wheel came off and rolled into the field. I came to a skid and was able to get to the shoulder. Luckily, I was only going about 30mph. This happened in Roswell, New Mexico where the aliens supposedly visited. 👽 👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽

[@TheGenericavatar]

Tire Recapping is the same thing as Tire Retreading. Regional name difference, I guess.

[@aaronmoreno5652]

How do I know when a stir tire is a recap tire?

[@TradingIntuition]

I noticed you said take your foot off the gas on a blow out. When I ran the simulator during Schneider training they had us stepping on the gas to get out of it. Now I am curious what is the right way

[@SmartTrucking]

If they've trained you that way, then that's the way to do it. I only mentioned foot off the fuel as that's what works for me, but definitely do as you were trained by them.

[@pitpao]

Ya I remember something in school about adding fuel and turning in the same direction as the blowout initially as well. It's never happened to me yet hopefully my cat-like reflexes will know what to do in the moment.😮

[@copseverywhere5160]

What is rear ratio on your truck, how it perform on it 11r24.5

[@bh1567]

Tire companies need to figure out something better. No reason for sidewalls to be that thin too

[@deanpahl8591]

Replace my steer tires every ye ar, no matter how good they look.

[@rogerpenske2411]

The Korean mafia does not even use recaps on our drives or our chassis. You’re better off just buying a cheap Chinese tire or Korean tire rather than using any type of recap. I also found out from a DOT inspector in banning California about the front axle being a 20,000 pound axle if the tires are rated at 10,000 apiece.

[@truckercatgo]

Should only run premium steer tires no cheap stuff.

[@martinlebreton6391]

Step 1: drive a twin steet

[@justgetitthere]

What would you do if you blow both steer tires

[@labourlawact7826]

That happening at the same time is virtually impossible 🙄

[@Joshualibbyy]

What if u lost all 18 tires!

[@JustinD912]

I refuse to drive an unsafe vehicle! Especially dangerous or bad steer tires.

[@cruzinsweetsntreats]

I presume *recap* is the same as *retread* 🤔

[@ronnies379peterbiltexperie2]

Yes

[@labourlawact7826]

Exactly the same thing

[@skipdegraff6547]

In

[@Joshualibbyy]

Swift and western express have left the chat…

[@SmartTrucking]

Haha. Yep.

[@carlosaguirre1313]

Why they do that ?

[@Joshualibbyy]

@@SmartTrucking love ur videos man! U Inspire me to be a better trucker everyday! I got great at mountain driving after I watched your how to handle mountains video great stuff!

[@lisahansel4216]

Thanks!

[@SmartTrucking]

Hey thanks so much for the support! Much appreciated.