Burning rubber, burning money: extending tire life can add thousands to the bottom line per truck and needn't cost a penny. Here are the top 10 ways to get more miles from your rubber

Canadian Forest Industries, Mar 2004

7. Rotate tires

Moving tires around takes time and effort. The temptation is to leave them in one position for the life of the tread. But intelligent tire rotation promotes even tread wear and can net a lot of extra miles in tread life. Some fleets will run new steer tires in the drive position and take off 1/32 to 2/32-inch in tread depth to establish a good wear pattern. Drive tires should be rotated between forward and back positions at least once to even out wear. Rear tires of a tandem typically will wear more quickly than the forward positions. Some drive tires will also develop heel and toe wear. This can be evened out by reversing their direction.

8. Replace tires with matching ones

For optimum tread wear, tires should be as alike as possible across the same positions. If a tire must be pulled due to irregular wear or from striking a road hazard, it should be replaced with a tire that matches the existing one. "The more you can do to eliminate variation, the better your tread wear will be," Waibel says. "On dual assemblies, the outside diameters and tread depths should be as close as possible. A good rule of thumb is no more than 2/32-inch tread depth difference between duals. It's also wise to have the same tread design on both positions of an axle."

9. Check and replace worn wheel and suspension components

These can be the hidden enemies of tire life. A wheel bearing that is not properly torqued can cause irregular tire wear. Worn shock absorbers can create depression wear on treads and an early trip to the retreader or scrap pile. Fleets will often wait until suspension components are obviously broken or are leaking before they replace them. By then, the tire damage has already occurred. To prevent irregular tire wear, you should be replacing shock absorbers and other suspension components on a set schedule rather than waiting until they fail.

10. Keep good tire records and use the data wisely

Because every fleet is different, there are no hard and fast formulas for tire management. In fact, copying another fleet's practices might do more harm than good. To manage most efficiently, regular collection of data on your tires is critical. You should be recording information like tire inflation pressures, wear trends, and tire mileage at removal. Using such software as Goodyear's TVTRACK, you can analyze tire performance and make comparisons with different vehicle configurations and tire types. By changing specifications, you may be able to realize significant gains in total tire mileage and other performance goals. "It all starts with good data," Waibel concludes. "The more consistent and accurate you are with data gathering, the better the information generated."