Page 20 - CTB n2 - 2013/2

TYRE MAINTENANCE TIPS
Top Ten Tips for Effective Tyre Management
4 Regrooving
Unless the application of the fleet is particularly arduous then adopting a regrooving policy will extend the mileage of the tyres and help manage costs.
Most modern truck tyres are designed to be regrooved, you can check this by ensuring the word regroovable appears on the sidewall of the tyre. Premium truck tyres carr y additional rubber below the tread pattern to allow regrooving when the tyre is nearing the end of its first life. To ensure casings are not damaged, regrooving should be carried out when the tyre tread depth reaches 3mm.
Continental produces full guidelines on regrooving which can extend the tyre’s life by 20% - 30%.
5 Retreading
Retreading is a long established and respected method of optimising a tyre’s life. Once the new tyre has worn to the point of removal, only 20% of the original material has been used. It therefore makes good
It is common to find that steer axle tyres wear more on the outer shoulder. This is particularly true for vehicles which operate in cities or on country roads. To extend the tyres life Continental would recommend that once the difference between the inside and outside tread groove is greater than 4mm that a tyre service provider turns the tyre on the rim.
Matching of twin Tyres
The overall diameter of twin tyres must be as near equal as practically possible. Tyres with a difference in diameter of more than 8mm will lead to irregular and uneven wear.
7 General condition of the tyres
A daily visual check of the condition of tyres should be conducted to detect any possible safety or durability issues. Your tyre service provider will be looking out for obvious issues such as punctures, cuts, foreign objects and any visible distortion.
Any separation between components is usually denoted by
Our main feature this month focuses heavily on the fact that engaging a team of fleet management specialists to manage the tyre policy on your fleet can be a more than worthwhile investment. Making sure you have the optimum tyre choice per application combined with a vigilant maintenance policy can save you substantial amounts of money.
programme they should consider putting a set on trial to monitor the difference.
3 Inflation Pressure
Maintaining the correct tyre pressure is critical for any fleet, as it is one of the most significant causes of excessive tyre wear and damage. This in turn will impact negatively
Following a vigilant maintenance policy can save you substantial amounts of money
A daily visual check of the condition of tyres should be conducted to detect any possible safety or durability issues.
However, if you are a smaller operator or if you have not operated a bona fide tyre management policy before, there are a number of things you can do to increase the efficiency of the tyres on your vehicles. Steve Howat, Continental’s General Manager of Technical Services for the UK and Ireland, offers 10 key tips for fleet operators to make sure that your tyres are operating for you in the most cost-effective way possible....
1 Tyre Selection
It is essential that fleets are given the right advice to enable them to select the best tyre for their individual needs. Truck and trailer operating costs can vary greatly depending on the tyre used. Ensuring that new tyres deliver optimum efficiency and reliability is therefore of paramount importance, and can have a significant impact on tyre life as well as other costs, such as fuel.
2 Fuel efficiency
With fuel such a major cost for fleets, switching to a low rolling resistance / fuel efficient tyre can result in significant savings on the fuel bill. So much so that the savings can almost wipe out the tyre bill entirely. If fleet managers do not feel they are getting the best return from their current tyre
on tyre performance and fuel efficiency, lessening the tyres life and increasing running costs.
Both over and under-inflation change the footprint of the tyre, this affects tyre traction, leading to safety concerns as well as causing irregular wear patterns. Under-inflation causes increased flexing and heat build-up within the tyre components and damages the tyre compound. Overinflating tyres conversely will make them more vulnerable to tread surface cutting, impact breaks and shock damage. Using the optimum air pressure gives tyres the precise shape for slow and even wear, a constant 20% under or over-inflation could decrease tyre life by 30%.
It is important to remember that running tyres at less than optimum pressure will also increase fuel consumption and impact negatively on the environment. In fact just 20% under-inflation can result in an increase in fuel consumption of up to 3%.
Your tyre service provider should ensure that tyres are checked frequently (at least every 14 days or 2,000 miles). Tyres should be checked when cold with an accurately calibrated tyre pressure gauge. A vehicle should never have different pressures across an axle.
economic and environmental sense to retread the tyre rather than discarding it.
All ContiRe tyres are ‘bead to bead’ retreads, meaning that both the tread rubber and the sidewall rubber are replaced. The tyre looks as new and the cost is significantly lower than the cost of a new tyre, while maintaining 95% of the original tyre’s performance, further reducing tyre operating costs. However, retreading not only cuts running costs, it also offers substantial environmental benefits. Using just 80% of the raw materials needed to manufacture a new tyre, every ContiRe produced saves 68 litres of oil, 44 kg of rubber and 182.24 Kg of CO2 compared to that of a new tyre.
6 Tyre Husbandry
Turning the tyres on the rims
cracks or bulges, if in doubt your tyre service provider will be able to offer advice and diagnose potential issues.
8 Irregular wear
It is important to continuously monitor the tread for any signs of irregular wear. This is a complex area and can be aggravated by many factors including: vehicle and tyre maintenance, road hazards, wheel alignment and conditions. The type of irregular wear encountered will provide a clue on how the wear is being created.
9 Tyre Repairs
Damaged tyres must be carefully inspected by a tyre expert before repairs are carried out. Your tyre service provider can decide if the tyre should be repaired and whether
20 Commercial Tyre Business