Charles R. Schultz wrote:
>It's best not to assume that every destroyed truck >tire you see along
>the highway is from a recap. It's my understanding >that the primary
>cause of catastrophic failure of a dual-mounted tire >is underinflation
>of its mate. That is, if you let one of the duals >go soft, the one
>adjacent to it must carry more load, causing >overheating and eventual
>failure. Once one tire goes, the other is even more >likely to fail.
>This can happen whether the tire is bought new, >regrooved, or recapped.
I would have to agree here. My Fiancée manages a trucking company and the
only time her drivers have problems with tires is in the case of pulling
equipment that belongs to another company with poor maintenance standards. I
have answered many a late night phone call from one of her drivers stuck on
the side of the road because the tires and equipment were not properly cared
for.
He also wrote:
>PS: NASCAR fans _are_ crazy. I had a great time >watching yesterday's
>IROC and BUSCH races at Talladega, then spent more >time driving the 10
>miles home than the total amount of time the two >races took to run.
>I'll watch at home, next time, thank you! Better >yet, I'll run the VCR
>and go autocross, instead!
Sorry you had such a hard time. Even though I am not a big NASCAR fan I went
to Sunday's Winston Cup race because I had full access passes to the paddock
and pit areas plus reserved infield seating (they do put on a good show even
if they never turn right). It took me just over an hour to get to the
infield of the track from downtown Birmingham and only about thirty minutes
longer than that for the return trip. I know traffic can be bad but we took
the back roads home and avoided it all so it can be done. I will admit that
I was actually able to see less of the race than if I had watched it on TV
but just like an autocross there is something great about being right there
in the middle of it all (my seat was less than 25' from Labonte's pit).
Jason Suknot
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