Tire Replacement on I-80 in PA

[H3Jim]

Luvrbus,

YOu made me laugh, I too purchased Jim's pressure checking sytem several years ago, and mine is still in the box in the bus...

[bobsw]

Seattle lost a 500,000 bus today due to a blown tire. driver didn't know it until the bus caught fire and burned to the ground.

[NJT 5573]

I have never seen a blown tire burn a bus. I have drug flat tires many miles more than once. I think this bus had a brake hang and drag, it turns the drum cherry red and the heat blows the tires. The tires then provide the fuel to burn the bus.

The emergency diaphram that causes this is difficult to diagnose as you will only hear air leak while close to the brake can with the brakes released. (That can be dangerous, the bus can roll).

If you are an experienced driver familiar with this problem, you will PDQ physically check both emergency diaphrams any time you have air loss from the rear tanks because that is the only warning you will get before the fire starts.

DD3s are designed to eleminate this problem, USDOT required DD3s on passenger busses for many years before someone lobbied to get spring brakes allowed. Guess its ok to burn one once in a while to keep costs down.

[Fredward]

I'm back home now. As it turned out the service technician from the tire shop called back to the store and they had plenty of 12R 22.5 in stock. Hankooks. So I had him take the tire and rim with him and put a new tire on so I had a spare. And we continued home with a new tire in the spare tire compartment and the spare on the drivers side outside dual.

Now I'll buy another Hankook here locally and put the new tires on the front; move the fronts (which are only two years old) to the drivers side rear and then with next summer's bus budget, buy two more new tires and put them on the curb side rear.

Would you spin balance or Equal or the new front tires.

[Busted Knuckle]

Fred I use equal in all  mine! And I like the way you chose to do it. The only sugestion I have is to move the steers back next yr and put the new ones on the steer again. JMW YMMV!   BK