A few days ago while traveling on I-90 in Sturges, a large group of motorcycles decided to stop on the interstate and I had to stop extra hard. This resulted in a flat spot on each of the tag tires which are only a year old. I know, I should have been going slower. As a result, I feel a little vibration at low speeds but they are smooth at 65. Obviously I do not have ABS on the tag wheels. The vibration is not a problem as far as driving the coach, but I wonder if the flat spots can do any damage to the coach.
Wait a minute. First of all you were in South Dakota? Did you drive by Sioux Falls and not give me a heads up? Seriously though Chester if you do drive by and have time to stop give me a shout.
Sturgis has had more than an usual amount of cycle deaths this rally. Probably correlates with what the expected turnout was going to be since this is the 75th I believe. Lots of guys excited to drive their bikes aggressively and although the rally is officially over now it will extend another week or so. So be aware of your in that area that there are loads of bikers to watch out for.
Chester
You can take the tag axle tires and rotate them to the drive axle.
JP
Flat spots can roll out in time on cars, unless the rubber burned and reformed itself and then it's permanent. I have no experience or knowledge about big tires or coaches with this problem. Call the Michelin customer service center and ask for advice....
Todd, sorry we did not give you a shout when going through So. Dakota. Truthfully, it did not occur to me to find out which Gurus' may be in the states we crossed going from Wisconsin to Oregon.
Julius, that is a good idea to switch with the drive tires and I will do this tomorrow after I have a new windshield installed. Thanks for suggesting it.
Next time. Just got a heads up from Richard that he and the CFO will be stopping by next month on their way thru.
How will changing out the flat spot tires on the tag with the drive tires help ? You still will have the flat spots and if the rubber has any damage at all to it you will enhance the problem.
Larry
I am likeminded. Plus if you put both tires on one side you may have a potential mismatch in diameter from side to side which is not good for the differential. If you put one on each side there is a potential diameter difference in the two tires on the dually which puts more load on the larger tire. All that is theoretical but you still have the flat spotted tire.
Off setting the flatspot when mounting on the drive axle will usually eliminate the vibration from the flat spot hitting the pavement.
this allows me to get the remaining life of the tire by evening up the wear.
Unless it is flat spotted into no tread - in this case they Must be replaced due to safety.
Today I mounted the two tag tires on the curb side drive axle with the flat spots at 180 degrees. The flat spots are not anywhere near the tread, but the plan did not work out. I get more vibration than when they were on the tags. I am parked for about three weeks, but then I plan to replace both tires in Eugene, about 150 miles away. This is the second time it has happened to me so I guess that every time I experience an emergency stop, plan on spending about $1,000 for new tires. It is a shame they do not have ABS.