Tire blowouts

[lougaudin]

Read a post that recommended an infrared temp gun for checking surface tire temp.  Understand, but a dump question. What help is knowing the service temp of your tire in preventing a blow out?

Thanks, Lou

 

[ksbowman]

It will immediately let you know to either check the air pressure or let you know there is a problem with the tire separating. I use mine to help check drum temps for brakes possibly being set to aggressive or checking for a bearing that is carrying too much heat due to lack of grease, roughness or too tight. I check at almost every stop on a walk around.

 

[darsben]

Their is no "NUMBER". At each stop I check the center of the wheel near the bearings and the sidewall of the tires at the junction of the tread and sidewall. I check inner and outer on the duallies.  I am looking for anomalies in temperature. Is One tire significantly higher temp than the others.
For some reason the sunny side of the RV is always a little hotter on the tires than the shady side. It is the first thing I do when I stop for gas.

I used to put my hands on the rims in the center to check temps before I got the gun.

 

[grashley]

A good TPMS will show real time tire temp and pressure as you drive.  HOWEVER, the hub temp checks provide information the TPMS can not, as mentioned above.

 

[Larry N.]

I have TPMS, but I also use the infrared gun to discover if a tire or hub is getting unreasonably hot, even though there may not be a TPMS alarm. What I expect to see depends on the temperature, the road surface, how much sun is out, which side (sunny or not) the tire is on, etc. It only takes a minute to walk around with the IR when I first get to a rest stop. It also let me know that I should stay put to let brakes cool (and when I could go) one time after a long descent where the engine brake wasn't enough to keep my speed down.

 

[lougaudin]

It is a lot more clearer now With all parameters being equal, u are looking for a tire or hub that temp does not match up with the others. If doing nothing else, just set tight and let things cool down. An infrared temp gauge is cheap enough. Thanks for all the input

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The key thing is to be observant of abnormalities.  Just like the old-time truck driver who walks around his rig thumping tires with a club. He can't tell whether the tire pressure is ok or not with a thumper,  but if he hears a different sound from one tire, he knows he needs to investigate.

Probably the most important thing in using the infrared gadget or even a thumper is that you actually walk around and stop & look at each tire position.  You are much more likely to actually spot of an incipient problem.