The Keller Saga

[Jim Skiff]

Thanks to Jim & Karen for being good sports about this article!
:o
http://www.prevostownersgroup.com/public/index.cfm?fuseaction=articles.view&id=3682&publicationtype=Articles

[Joe Cannarozzi]

I'm still wondering. Was that simply a run flat or did something else fail?

[Jon Wehrenberg]

The tread separated. I don't think any of us knows if the tire went flat first, if the tread separated first, or even what caused it.

According to the way the trucker was describing it on the CB, the tread sounded like it was both beating the fender flares to death while wrapping around the front axle, which if it did wrap tight enough to lock up that wheel really bad stuff would have happened.

Maybe Jim has learned something more.

[BrianE]

Thanks for sharing Jim. Glad it wasn't more serious. A lesson learned for me in addition to Jim's comments is to be more aware of my Toad tires at rest stops, etc., to monitor the BU camera a little more often, and to keep the CB tuned up (yeah, it's pretty bad sometimes). :eek: For those that are new to the scene, CB channels 19 and 17 are the common trucker channels and channel 9 may work for emergency services and/or road conditions.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

The expense of a mishap such as this is maybe just as much if not more than the purchase of any one of a number of wireless tire monitoring systems.

Ours was 700 bucks, does a good job.

[Denny]

I'm glad that I had SmarTire installed on the bus before Branson; I wish now that I had had it put on the toad. I'll add it to my list of things to do. Tire pressure is critical and a tire monitoring system is a valuable investment.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Ladies and gentlemen,

I think even with a tire sensor system we still need to check our tires at every opportunity.

Jim Keller and Roger both use the infrared temperature guns and they definitely will show a tire pressure that is out of line, even when the tires are hot and you cannot check pressures.

Sensors are mechanical, and maybe I am too sensitive to this, but mechanical stuff fails so you always need a back-up.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

O/K Jon then when I plug in my dash display next time and I get a positive lock on all tires and the readings are all good, I will then in the name of complete confidence and that I'm sure I have checked everything twice, will then check them all manually to make sure the numbers aren't lying:D

Just kidding point well taken. You old tire thumper ;)

For me visual inspections are still very important too because a good wireless set up may tend to alter what were otherwise good habits.

I have had mine for 3 years now and it is working fine. If I were to buy another set I would opt for the ones that monitor tire temps. along with pressure. They are out there.

The temp. rise would allow you to catch a tire that is separating for example, before it becomes catastrophic. A pressure sensor alone will only automatically tell you if its going down or it blows and considering the frequency of separations and the characteristics, I think that I would like temps. in an auto-monitor mode too.

I can see if pressures are increasing on mine but have to manually scroll through tire positions periodically to do so.