From: Ryan M Gill (rmgill@mindspring.com)
Date: Fri Aug 15 2003 - 09:46:00 PDT
At 9:38 AM -0700 8/15/03, Chris Davis wrote:
>I'm not an expert by any means, and would like to hear from those on
>the list with better credentials/experience than I, but as I
>understand it....
We're all armchair experts of some sort on this list. The main thing
about owning MVs is that you're doing the work and thinking in the
problems, not paying someone else to do it all for you. Your brain is
engaged about the problem and you're thinking about repercussions and
cause and effect of mechanical problems. Be they running an engine
dry or having problems with the brakes. Now, some may ignore some
problems, but by and large our segment of the driving community
know's our basic automotive repair points and avoid or deal with most
problems in an expedient fashion.
>Running any tire at low pressure at todays freeway speeds (admit it
>guys, most of us hit and maintain 75mph on the freeway... if not
>higher where the speed limit is actually 75) will cause the tire to
>quickly heat up via the friction created from the flexing motion of
>the sidewall. This is why a flat tire comes apart so quickly.
In racing, the way you control temperature in your nice soft sticky
tires is very carefully adjust the temperature. Tire reps will often
walk the paddocks with thermocouples and check on customers and give
advice on exactly how much pressure to run on a given model of tire
and look for feedback on tire issues from the racers. Lower the temp
by raising the pressure, raise it by lowering the temp.
>Radials (or bias) run at low pressure and LOW speeds (IE: most off
>road use... unless you race Baja type vehicles) shouldn't
>experience the rapid flexing of the sidewall and resulting heat
>damage. I ran the 11:00 x 16" radials on my M37 for years without
>any issues.
Now, the Firestone tires may have come apart due to some faulty
manufacturing that was only an issue when the tire was run at a low
pressure which they shouldn't have been run at anyway.
>As for the recent roll over law suites... I think the higher weight
>and center of gravity of a SUV/4x4 make them less forgiving at high
>speed. Use to be that civilian 4x4's were closer to their military
>heritage and traveled down the freeway at a more conservative speed.
>Up the anti by 25 or 30mph and I bet we'd all have fun controlling
>one in a blow out situation.
Add to that with additional distractions to people less on top of
what's going on. Most of those SUV drivers with the large heavy
vehicle couldn't find half of the critical components of a vehicle to
inspect, let alone know if they're working right.
Next time you're in traffic, look at the cars around you and look at
the sidewall bulge on the tires. Note how many look different on the
same car and look for the ones that are very low on air. Now look at
the kind of vehicle they're in and how clueless they appear. I'll
wager there are some correlations.
PS:Motorcyclist on the net in the US and in Britain have a decidedly
unkind view towards folks that drive Volvos as they appear from
significant anecdotal evidence to be the most oblivious of drivers.
It may be specious, but the perspective is there.
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