WorkinMan
New Member
Hunting is not a hobby, it is a passion.
Posts: 20
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Post by WorkinMan on Oct 11, 2005 17:46:28 GMT -5
I have observed several drivers thump or kick their tires. I assume this is to make sure the pressure is adequate.
Is this technique a good one, or is there another way. I know that checking the pressure with a gauge would be best, but will this technique or other like it work?
WM.
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Post by Pcuthbert on Oct 14, 2005 11:35:18 GMT -5
WM;
Beating your tires will let you know if they are flat, or possibly with much practise, that they are low on air. It will not tell you how much air they have in them.
Another technique to use (and just as accurate) immediately after stopping, guage the heat of the tire with the BACK of your hand. A low or flat tire will build up heat, and if you detect a noticible difference, then you should have a tire guy check the pair.
Use the back of your hand to detect temperature changes because the body reflex is to close the hand when it detects heat. You do not want to take a chance of grabbing a hot object.
Pat
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Post by truckertom on Oct 22, 2005 17:31:00 GMT -5
Another rough test is to put your foot on the tire and put some weight behind it. If the tire moves, most of the time it is low.
I wish I had a dollar for every tire that goes down the road under inflated...I wouldn't be an instructor for long. I would be a tourist who does a website listing the best and worst truckstops in the country. Or I might just start the first "Drive-In Movie" truckstop...
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Post by Charles on Oct 24, 2005 14:54:08 GMT -5
Beating your tires will let you know if they are flat, or possibly with much practise, that they are low on air. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but during the pretrip portion of the CDL exam isn't it required to use an appropriate mallet or rod/pipe, not a hand or boot. In fact I'm sure I read somewhere that you will fail the pretrip by simply kicking tires? I must disagree with you on this point. Every time I've ever touched anything hot I automatically jerk my whole arm/hand away! Do a Google search, such as "reflex touch hot object" and there will be many hits, including this quote from Duke University's med school: "A reflex arc exists in the spinal cord level, so that we withdraw our hand from a hot object even before we are aware that we have touched something hot". (Touching something electrically "hot" may indeed result in a clamp-down spasm and inability to let go) However, there is a good reason to use the back of one's hand - it is more temperature sensitive than the palm! So you can feel smaller temperature differences (but are possibly more likely to get burned on the thinner skin there). -Charles
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Post by Pcuthbert on Oct 25, 2005 15:14:21 GMT -5
Charles;
Thanks for a better understanding of the process. Sometimes when we pass on the correct information, we were told the wrong reason to begine with.
Pat
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Post by truckertom on Oct 30, 2005 14:51:46 GMT -5
I always used a cheap shop hammer. Somthing that has some weight to it. The "Tire Buddy" seems to me to be to light to do it properly. But, if you had the choice of kicking your tires or not checking them at all, what is better?
Hell, I adjust my own brakes because I don't trust the "Mechanic" that has a "Sheepskin" hanging on the lid of his new Snap-on Toolbox to do it right. But am I "authorised" to adjust my own brakes? Not according to the law. I once asked a young mechanic fresh out of mechanic school to hand me a throttle sprocket out of my toolbox...and he went looking for it!
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Post by Charles on Nov 23, 2005 8:45:20 GMT -5
You're right, of course, but I was just pointing out that the CDL examiner will fail you if you don't use a thumper.
Here's another good reason to check tires and brakes!
Washington Post Staff Writers Wednesday, November 23, 2005; 8:22 AM --- A gasoline tanker caught fire and exploded on Interstate 95 near the Beltway in Prince George's County before dawn Wednesday, setting off a massive fire on the highway and forcing hundreds of commuters and Thanksgiving travelers to evacuate their cars, tying up traffic for miles on the interstate and surrounding roads.
The truck, carrying 8,600 gallons of gasoline, was traveling southbound on I-95 near Maryland's Route 212 when a fire started in the truck, authorities said. No other vehicles were involved and no one was injured. I-95 in both directions near the blazing tanker was closed for about 90 minutes after the fire began about 5 a.m. Three northbound lanes, which had been engulfed in smoke, re-opened just before 7 a.m., with one northbound lane remaining closed. Southbound lanes remained closed and authorities said it could be afternoon before all southbound lanes are re-opened. Traffic on southbound I-95 was backed up about five miles in the morning rush hour.
Boyer Chew, the driver of the truck, told WRC-Channel 4 that he felt "lucky to be alive." "My wheel was on fire," said Chew, "so I jumped out. Next thing you know, she was up in flames."
Chew said he had just loaded up in Baltimore and was carrying 8,600 gallons of regular and premium gasoline. "I knew one thing, to get out of there," said Chew. "I thought it was going to explode on me."
Capt. Mark Brady of the Prince George's County Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department said the tanker is the largest gasoline tanker allowed on I-95.
He said the cause of the spectacular fire, which spread onto the median and into nearby woods before being contained by 100 firefighters, was still unknown. He said typically such fires are caused by mechanical problems but that the cause of this fire may never be known. ...
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Post by truckertom on Jun 4, 2006 16:46:53 GMT -5
My career has been dotted with smart-asses that have done stupid things like that. And yet, I missed getting a safety administrators position at Central Refer because they were more impressed with paper shredder safety man than one that might have a seen the underside of a rig before.
And companies wonder why thier insurance rates are going up all the time! Too many armchair double-clutchers filling safety positions.
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