| Author | Message | ||
| Bruce Henderson (Oonrahnjay)
Registered Member Username: Oonrahnjay Post Number: 235 Registered: 8-2004 Posted From: 149.168.204.4  Rating: |
I know that most people here don't need to be reminded but just in case, have a look at: http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f60/oonrahnjay/?action=view¤t=BigTire.jpg This all turned out quite well considering. What's hard to see on this photo is that the front bumper is pretty well bent from the battering that it took. (BTW, that's the way that the truck looked when it stopped on the side of the road - no "clean up" has been done, other than taking the wheel off. This truck was part of a convoy going to a forest fire in NC. They were traveling on US 421 about 25 miles n of Wilmington. They were doing ~80 MPH when the tire went "quickly". It was lucky that this tractor was pulling a flatbed trailer with two large generators for the command center, not one of the low-loaders with D-5 Cats with brush blades on the front and dual 8-foot fire lane discs on the back. The driver was running in the left lane (four-lane divided highway) when the tire went. There were tire marks in the left lane, the right lane, the right lane shoulder (paved), and the left shoulder. He finally got it stopped (shiny side up) about 2 feet from the guardrail in the median -- without hitting anything. The tires on that truck were about 4 years old and had little mileage (maybe 20K). Nothing to indicate that there would be a problem - all the others check out OK. If anybody tries to tell you that tires aren't important, send him to that photo. | ||
| Ed Jewett (Kristinsgrandpa)
Registered Member Username: Kristinsgrandpa Post Number: 375 Registered: 2-2003 Posted From: 64.24.214.153 Rating: N/A |
Driver error. Ed | ||
| Douglas Wotring (Tekebird)
Registered Member Username: Tekebird Post Number: 333 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 71.59.75.212 Rating: N/A |
was the tire rated for sustained 80mph? was it properly inflated? those are my to suspects | ||
| John and Barb Tesser (Bigrigger)
Registered Member Username: Bigrigger Post Number: 69 Registered: 9-2007 Posted From: 24.197.246.104  Rating: N/A |
I'm having a hard time believing that Chevy would run 80mph with a load on. Must have been downhill with a tailwind! Sounds like a "truck driver story" to me. | ||
| Luvrbus (Luvrbus)
Registered Member Username: Luvrbus Post Number: 374 Registered: 8-2006 Posted From: 74.33.32.76 Rating: N/A |
John, some of that model of Chevy trucks had 400 Cummins, 8 and 6V92s or 3406 Cat engines I had one with 3406 that pull a load at 75 and 80 mph | ||
| Bruce Henderson (Oonrahnjay)
Registered Member Username: Oonrahnjay Post Number: 236 Registered: 8-2004 Posted From: 149.168.204.4 Rating: N/A |
BigRigger wrote: "I'm having a hard time believing that Chevy would run 80mph with a load on. Must have been downhill with a tailwind! Sounds like a "truck driver story" to me." They were in a convoy. The driver was "in a very contemplative mood" when he got back to the shop but I felt about as sorry for the guy who was a couple hundred yards behind him -- he DID have a D4 with all the firefighting rig on the back and saw it all! I don't think that he was ever really worried about actually hitting the truck in trouble but he was certainly on his brakes through the whole thing. And he also says "about 80". As for underinflation, these units don't see a lot of miles - they may even go a week or more "out of fire season" without being driven, but they get INTENSE maintenance -- pretty much like any other fire truck. Sure, somebody may have screwed up or something went wrong, but I know these guys and I'm gonna guess that it was something other than "preventable/lack of maintenance/mis-maintained". These guys don't mess around when they're on the way to a fire. I was once asked "how far are you out?" I looked at the smoke and my Air Speed Indicator and replied "3-4 minutes"; the next thing the ranger on the ground asked me was "where's my tractor?". I told him "he's right under my left wing - right where he's been for the last 5 minutes". Now an L-19 observation plane http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f60/oonrahnjay/Forest/?action=view¤t=BDog.jpg will cruise at about 105 and I was bucking a 10-15 MPH headwind, so you can do the math -- he had literally been running right with me (I was flying parallel to the road, of course; straight long flat divided highway). Actually when the guy came in and said he was doing 80, my first thought was "I'm not sure I believe that, he was probably doing faster than that"! (And as I said, he had the "light load" - a couple of 10-12 thousand pound generators.) What really matters is that he and the rig (minus the fender, bumper and headlight cluster) are OK. They got really close. | ||
| Douglas Wotring (Tekebird)
Registered Member Username: Tekebird Post Number: 334 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 71.59.75.212 Rating: N/A |
no doubt really close, I still suspect tire inflation.....the steers can be quite low on air and still look inflated particulalry after a loaded trailer is put in the 5th wheel........running 80 or so would cetainly heat up a tire enough to cause a cat. failure. especially if it was a sustained 80mph run. Something like this is easily overlooked in a maint bay. I know our daily checks in the Fed Fire Service did not include tire pressure checks. and IIRC neither did the monthly. a very large % of tire failures is caused by underinflation | ||
| Dilip & Zoe (Vintagehounds)
Registered Member Username: Vintagehounds Post Number: 101 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 67.182.176.32 Rating: N/A |
Take a peek at the right front tire in the pic. If the left front was as bad as this no wonder. probably a matched pair and not well maintained id say.. what was ambient temperature at that time? Heat related tread seperation id say. Under inflate, and cause the tire to run at a higher temp and then . even on a cool day. Bammm. driver error id say too. know your tires. they are really the only thing between you and the road. Especially with a load... maybe someone was on their way to a fire or something. | ||
| larry currier (Larryc)
Registered Member Username: Larryc Post Number: 168 Registered: 2-2007 Posted From: 207.200.116.13 Rating: N/A |
Those are not even tubeless wheels. It could even/probably be a fabric tire. Maintaining 40 year old technology will not take the place of knowing the difference in good equiptment and junk. Most pro drivers should be able to control a blow out. You just keep it pointed straight ahead and don't jam the brakes on and they will roll to a stop relatively straight. They go where you drive them, even with one tire blown out. | ||
| Douglas Wotring (Tekebird)
Registered Member Username: Tekebird Post Number: 335 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 71.59.75.212 Rating: N/A |
what makes you say those are not tubeless wheels? |
