Truck tire debris

[JDgreen227]

About 3 weeks ago I made a trip to Indiana and back, and yesterday I drove to southern Detroit and back, both trips were about 230 miles total. Most of the miles I drove were freeway miles, and to me it seems this year there is a LOT more truck tire debris along the shoulders than I recall ever seeing in past years. In all the distance for both trips I only saw a few chunks of smaller rubber on the roadway itself but there must have been hundreds of partial treads on the shoulders. Perhaps it's just my perception but I cannot recall ever seeing so much truck tire debris as I have recently.

Thankfully, we have never sustained any damage that I know of to any of our vehicles, but the last time my in-laws drove to Nashville, their late model Buick got hit with a large chunk of rubber in the bottom of the front fascia...and they said it is a $300 repair. Have any of you sustained damage from hitting tire debris?

 

[bcp]

I cannot recall ever seeing so much truck tire debris as I have seen recently.

I would guess it is more likely longer intervals between roadside cleanups than more tire failures.

Bruce

 

[Thomas]

Another reasons I don't like to travel interstates from dusk to dawn on my motorcycle...those darn road gators.

 

[phiferpharm]

bcp may be right, but I do know my son who drives an 18 Wheeler loop from Florida - Texas- Wisconsin - Pennsylvania - Georgia, has phoned me quite a few times the past 4-5 months having stopped to replace tires. He's been on two different trucks, so I don't think it's an issue with the rig. I don't think it's heat either as he tries to do most of his driving at night.

 

[jeffsw6]

Crappy roads? In Louisville, the I-64 bridge over the Ohio River was closed for about 6 months. This meant the traffic on our I-65 bridge was about 50% more than normal and they could not really close any lanes for major repairs. Now they are finally getting around to fixing it, but the pot holes in that I-65 bridge deck, you wouldn't believe them unless you drove over them yourself. Going 10 MPH in bumper-to-bumper traffic on that thing still makes you worry about blowing a tire as you go through huge, deep potholes, one after another.

It seems like a lot of roads are getting worse. I imagine this is because a lot of states have less money to spend on roads. So motorists pay the price in tires.

 

[grnspot110]

Have you priced tires lately? Many of them are probably being "over-used" to save money!

 

[newbury]

Low bid roads, communities forced to take low bid, fly-by-night contractors.
I've seen a lot of roads put in in my area in northern Virginia over the last 4 decades.
The last two decades there has been a big decline in life span. It seems many roads need resurfacing in four years. And often the resurfacing comes off in two years or less.

When I was travelling to Germany frequently their roads were perfect in West Germany, and like ours in the former East Germany right after the wall came down.

It's like the fly-by-night contractors that "repave" your asphalt driveway with a bucket of thin tar.

 

[JDgreen227]

I agree with you there...with the steep rise in tire prices recently I am sure many drivers are trying to stretch their tire life.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I think its all the above. Tire cost, less cleanup, bad roads, ect.

Chris

 

[Bigfoot62]

Have you priced tires lately? Many of them are probably being "over-used" to save money!

That's a huge issue. Tires have more than doubled in cost, just in the last few years. I bought two 11R24.5 last week. Paid $900 for 2 tires! (and my tractor/trailer has 20 of them)
And those were a "cheap" Chinese tire. (the only thing the tire shop had on hand) I also believe the quality is very poor on most of these Chinese tires.

Other factors are temperature, (it's getting hotter, and more tire failures will occur) some drivers are lazy and don't check tire pressures regularly, and there's more "junk" on the roads that we are running over. (boards with nails, metal scraps, etc, that damage our tires)