Tire Safety - How to inspect tires and avoid accidents

Tire Safety
Tire Inspection
Accident avoidance

1. Tire Safety

2. Running to Destruction
•Its not a safe practice
–Potential for loss of control
–Potential for debris to injure
personnel if tire ruptures
•Tires with damaged structural
component create safety
hazard

3. Structural Components
•Tire manufacturer consulted
since tires have different
designs
•Inspection of defects, such as
determining depth of cuts, on
pressurized tire can create
safety hazard - deflate tire
before inspection

4. Belts
•Impact /penetration belts between
tread & structural belts
–Exposed impact /penetration belts
inspected
–Exposed structural belts removed
from service
–Ply rating is nominal strength rating
& doesn’t indicate number of belts
•Continental Tire considers tire with
any belt exposed not “viable”

5. Sidewall
•1 structural belt in sidewall with
a non-structural turn up of belt
in bead area
–Exposed turn up wires inspected
–Exposed sidewall structural belt
wires removed from service

6. Radial
Tire
Tread Shoulder
Sidewall
Air ChamberBead BundleChafer
Turn
Up
Ply
Belts

7. Rims
•Damaged rims can damage tires
–Rims with minor damage scheduled
for maintenance, cracked rims or
damaged lock rings immediately
removed from service
•Wheel driver keys not considered
structural components
–Missing keys allow rim to slip, wear
o-ring, & cause air loss - schedule
for maintenance

8. Driver Key
Insert
Damaged Rim

9. Structural Components
•Many defects in tread & sidewall
areas can be repaired
•Manufacturer establishes tire’s
repair limits
•Proper repair is essential to
maintain tire safety
•Moving tire with structural defect
to inside rear axle position is
unsafe

10. Maintenance Training
•Develop schedules & out-of-
service criteria
•Equipment operators visually
inspect tires during pre-shift
inspection & trained to recognize
hazardous tire defects
•Maintenance personnel trained to
safely & properly inspect & repair

11. Maintenance Training
•Society of Automotive
Engineers: Off Road Tire
Conditions Removal
Guidelines- Draft
•Draft available for review,
comments requested
•Note - this document does not
affect Agency policy

12. Defects
•Bulge: area of separation
packed with rubber that has
migrated from adjoining area of
separation.
•Blister: localized bubble on tire
surface
•Chipping: flaking or tearing
away small bits of tread rubber

13. Defects
•Chunking: tearing or breaking
away pieces of tread rubber
•Cracks: splits or narrow breaks
in rubber compounds not
caused by foreign object
•Cut: damage made by sharp or
jagged objects

14. Typical defects
•Exposed cord: belt, ply or steel
chafer/bead area reinforcement
seen
•Puncture: air chamber
penetrated by foreign object
causing air loss
•Separation: parting of de-
bonding of any adjacent parts

15. 10 Do’s
1.Pick correct tire for the job
2.Check air pressure
3.Conduct pre-shift inspections
4.Get monthly or bimonthly
professional inspections
5.Repair problems early

16. 10 Do’s
6.Rotate tires
7.Establish tracking program
8.Conduct out-of-service
surveys
9.Limit weight & loads
10.Care about the tires

17. 10 Don'ts
1.Just put on cheapest tire
2.Let air down for smooth ride
3.Just kick tires & go
4.Assume you know everything
5.Just let things go
6.Let front tires be your worst
tires

18. 10 Don’ts
6.Assume you are doing good
with your tire program
7.Throw away tires without
knowing why
8.Run overloaded when you could
have tires that can carry the load
more effectively
9.Tell operators to not worry about
the tires, just run them

19. Safety References
•Manufacturers, tire industry
organizations, & machine
manufacture’s tire safety &
maintenance information