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Thread: Serious Tire Experience Please Read

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Quanah, Texas
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    128

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    Jon:

    I do have TPMS on my bus. At no time on recent trips did I receive any sort of low pressure reading or faulty indicators. In all fairness one must also realize I bought the coach used from Liberty. Thus we do not have an absolute tire history. As for tire date we do have a DOT date of 1506 on the blown one.
    Tread Design Pilote XZA1

    FYI the four new tires on the drive axle are DOT dated:

    3310

    They have approx 11 miles on them. Am I afraid of them; you better believe it!

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Houma, LA
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    1,783

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    I called my friend Jay Nobles who owns Nobles Tire Service and has 30 years experience in the tire business. He told me that they can smell a Zippered tire (after examining it) when the customer drives up, and they will REFUSE to air up that tire. He agreed with the 20% rule about running a tire low and said if a person knows that the tire has been run low DO NOT AIR IT UP. He says that after it cools down an experienced tire mechanic can add about 30# and listen for hissing - that indicates a Zippered tire. If you hear this hissing DO NOT ADD MORE AIR - CHANGE THE TIRE!

    Jay said that customers think that he is just trying to sell them a new tire but a Zippered tire is nothing to fool around with!
    Tuga & Karen Gaidry

    2012 Honda Pilot

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    thomasville,nc
    Posts
    1,209

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    My point was that Bill stated that the tire had no pressure,and I thought that it might have been run at too low a pressure and damaged the tire,but he has tire monitors and the alarm never went off.It sure seems like that the tire must have been defective.

  4. #14
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    Jan 2006
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    anytown
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    If Bill parked the bus after Kerrville and had no alarms up to that point the presumption is it had the correct amount of air when parked. As an alternate consideration, the TPS failed to sound an alarm when the tire lost air.

    It is entirely possible that from that time until he learned it had no air the tire was losing pressure from a leak that had not been known when parked. Unless Bill had those tires installed himself, he has no way of knowing if the tire had been run at low pressure by a previous owner.

    Tuga's post reinforces what we were told by Goodyear and Michelin.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Scottsbluff, NE
    Posts
    137

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    I've heard of this happening. I guess I'm a little curious to what the air pressure was prior to adding air.
    Usually 'zipper' purges are the result of operation of a low pressure tire for an extended period. The heat that builds up in the tire combined with the weakened sidewall are generally the primary culprit causing this to happen.
    You were very lucky. Good luck in your suit.

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    ON THE ROAD IN THE SOUTH
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    2,825

    Question

    Quote Originally Posted by jack14r View Post
    My point was that Bill stated that the tire had no pressure,and I thought that it might have been run at too low a pressure and damaged the tire,but he has tire monitors and the alarm never went off.It sure seems like that the tire must have been defective.
    From what was told to this point I also made the same assumption as Jack.

    I suppose one could coincidentally pull into the garage with pressure sensors and just before parking experience a leak that would not be noticeably alarmed because you left the bus unattended for a period of time as to loose major air. As I write this it comes to mind though there must have been an alarm or Bill wouldn't have been airing up the tire after changing a valve stem extension and bushing, this time. What was it last time? He did say there was a time before didn't he. Maybe the reason he thought he found was not the reason/cause at all. There are many unknowns to this. Does that tire sensor in fact function properly? Could a sensor possibly miss a low or high pressure? Not picking and pointing, just trying to understand as I do not relish or look forward to remote airing up under much stress to boot! I hope someone can point to a cause that will give us all piece of mind.

    JIM
    Last edited by JIM CHALOUPKA; 12-24-2010 at 06:56 PM.

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Nichols Hills
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    2,465

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    I have been using a short hose with locking chuck since I bought the Supertank some years back. You can stand in front or behind the tire while you fill it. I've been in two tire explosions and while I was uninjured, both of the other guys with me were hurt - broken arm (guy reached into the cage we were airing the tire up in to remove the tire when the split rim lock ring blew off) and the other had a severely lacerated face.

    I don't think its much to obsess about. Just don't stand facing the tire with your hand on the chuck.

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Quanah, Texas
    Posts
    128

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    Guys I am sorry I am not a better report writer. LOL I do appreciate your additional comments and thoughts.
    Maybe this will help. I do want to keep investigating this for safety. There has to be a reasonable answer.
    While in Kerrville I had a flat on the inside port dual. The tire people came out and found a leaking valve stem extension. THEY changed such and all was well. I did not have an extra extension or I would have changed both at that time. At that point all was well. I did maintain extra tire vigilance on the trip home just in case. Upon returning home I ordered extra extensions and rubber stabilizers from Prevost. After being home a few weeks I noticed the addditional flat. How long had it been flat I cant say? I am in the bus barn daily but i truthfully just cant say when the tire went flat.
    I cannot point blame at the TPMS because the system had been setting there for weeks in sleep mode. Again on the trip home from Kerrville I would say we had a flawless event. I agree with Jon about ditching the extensions. Now how can I get a locking chuck in place to add air?

    Of additional interest the tire being returned from Michelin should arrive here next week. Does anyone have any ideas from this point?

  9. #19
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    Jan 2006
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    This is not a good answer, but it is something to consider. I have been using these valve stem caps: http://www.alltiresupply.com/p-43-098.html

    Since I started using them, incidents of having to constantly add a few pounds of air every time have dimished significantly. They supplement the Schrader valve so I have a double seal. They do not have to be removed for filling a tire. But for those who have TPS with the sensors that screw onto the valve stem these cannot be used. With the exception of TPS that uses internal sensors I am not going to consider a TPS because the sensors on the valve stems literally force you to use valve stem extensions on the duals and I am not comfortable with that or the fact that you are totally dependent on a single seal. At least with conventional valve stem caps they offer a second seal.

    But getting back to my solution. In reading the causes of a zipper blowout it appears anyone that know the tire's history is unlikely to encounter a blowout unknowingly unless the tire had a manufacturing defect. I have to put that down as a risk I am prepared to take.

    With my double seal fill through caps my straight tire chuck works on all tires without valve stem extensions, On the inner tires I always mount them with the inner stem 180 degrees opposed to the outer stem so I just stick the straight chuck that is about 6" long through the hole in the outer wheel, feel around a little and stick it right on the valve stem cap. The cap has ridges and they tend to hold the tire chuck in place until I get a pressure reading and fill if required. Since I know my tires (all were new since I bought the coach), and I know I never ran low pressure or hit any objects my safety program is to check and fill my tires as Jerry says by standing slightly to the side.

    I realize what works for me right now in the absence of an ideal solution is not likely to work for anyone with TPS, and I also realize most with valve stem extensions are not going to give them up so my answer to this issue is not going to work for very many. I'm going to accept the fact that doing anything with our tires is a risk, but so is waking up in the morning and slipping in the shower.

    I've had one complete engine failure and two partial failures (a cylinder went bad) and I still fly so I guess others would think me a risk taker.

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Wilsonville, OR 97070
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    852

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    "Bill did you heard anything like a zipper noise? I have heard they call these zipper blow out because the first sound of it starting to blow is the "zipp" sound of the casing coming apart. The TPM could tell you early on that you are low pressure and therefore you would be able to fill up with air and not run on the tire for a long time with a low pressure.

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