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December 2006

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Goodyear

Tires

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Archive for December, 2006

Balancing
Posted by Craig on December 20, 2006

Is it necessary to balance rear tires on a light truck. I have a fleet of Ford E-450 with dual rear wheels. Tire Size is LT225/75R 16 E.

Overall, I think it is worth the time and money to balance tires in all wheel positions of nearly everything that travel over the highway.


Tire Fire
Posted by Dale on December 19, 2006

I would like to know if a 425/65R22.5 front tire would catch fire if driven underinflated or flat?

It is very unlikely that a commercial truck tire with steel body ply and steel belts would catch fire. Bias ply tires with fabric body plies can have this problem especially from excessive brake heat (a brake shoe that is dragging). Although underinflation creates heat, I don't think that enough heat is created to catch fire on a steel/steel construction tire.


Response to excessive fuel consumption on Subaru
Posted by Daniel on December 6, 2006

Original Question

I recently bought new Michelin Pilot tires for my 2003 Subaru outback which were recommended to me from several sources. I am very disappointed so far. After 1500 miles on them my gas mileage has dropped by aprox 5 mpg. Since I drive 100 miles a day this is a substantial amt. of money over time. Is this normal for tires to cause this much decrease in mileage?

A. I’m guessing that you are seeing something like a 15 - 20 % loss in fuel economy with this tire change. I think there is something else affecting this besides tires. Have the vehicle checked out by a good mechanic.

Toppin answer…

This issue I am sure is related to either inflation pressures or a different rolling radius of the new tires. Try checking you tire pressures first. Keep inflating them to a maximum of 38 PSI or until ride quality becomes unacceptable.

You may then want to check your speedo calibration. Rolling radius will effect percieved MPG significantly when making tire changes, ieven if the width and aspect ratio are identical, you will find actual rolling radius varies significantly from manufacturer to manufacturer even with the same size tire. If either of these do not solve this, something else is going on with engine tuning. Hope this helps .Toppin


Tires Selection
Posted by Nelson on December 6, 2006

I am a package car deleivery driver along with 20 other drivers in the northern California. We have a lot of snow in our rural area every year. Our company recently changed all the front steer tires on our delivery trucks using Goodyear G149 RSA and we just had our first wet snow storm last week with few inches wet snow on the ground I noticed my front end was all over the place with no control whatsoever. I cannot remember I have that much control problem with the tires we used to have (G133 or G124). Would you recommend using the G149 RSA for our snow rural area?

The G133 and G124 are both considered "traction" tires and are typically used in drive positions only. If you were used to the snow traction you were getting from them in steer positions, I can assure you that the G149 tire will not "bite" in the way that G133's and G124's do in that type of condition. But, the G149 is a vary common tire for steer axles in all across North America.


Flat Spots
Posted by Rick on December 5, 2006

Is it possible to have flat spots on all four tires when braking for a deer hit.

If you have a 4 wheeled vehicle, lock up all the brakes and the vehicle slides on the pavement for any substantial distance, you will have 4 flat spotted tires.




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