Heavy Duty Tire Tip
10/18/2007
Calibrate your tire gauge to maintain proper tire air pressure:
According to the Tire Retread Information Bureau, the only way to properly and accurately determine the amount of air in a truck tire is to use a tire gauge on a regular basis. But, and this is a big but, tire gauges take a lot of care.
An expert tire engineer says:
1. A new truck tire stick gauge right out of the box is accurate to plus or minus three psi. After you drop it a few times on concrete, it gets worse, depending on how the stick hits the floor.
2. There is no significant difference between the manufacturers of truck tire gauges.
3. It is very important for a fleet to calibrate stick gauges using a master gauge on a regular basis. Gauges can go bad any time, and of course, it is important to check a range of pressures when you calibrate, for example, 50 psi, 75 psi, 100 psi and 120 psi.
Tires represent one of the highest costs of running a truck, second only to fuel. Truck tires properly maintained and not run under inflated will be much more retreadable, and retreading is an excellent way to cut your tire costs by 50 percent or more.
For more information, visit www.retread.org.