Thread: Class 8 Trucks
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Old 01-21-2009, 10:34 PM   #44 (permalink)
elhigh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Christ View Post
I'm well aware of a proper walk-around, and what it entails as far as tire safety. The point of the post was that adding fastened skirts to the rear wheels could prevent a TREAD from blowing out into another lane as it peels off the tire, potentially causing an accident, or killing another driver.

The tire flying off is a wholly other incident, but a solid skirt with enough strength could also keep the tire from coming off the axle completely, which would allow the drivers to stop before the 200 lb tire came flying at someone else on the road.
I'm not sure that's a good scenario, either. A skirt robust enough to contain a loose wheel could be robust enough to hold it in and ski-jump the entire truck - then there's a whole lot more than just a tire loose on the road.

That's an extreme example but not outside the realm of probability. More likely it would just shred the skirt to flinders. Then there would be the loose wheel plus flying bits, some sharp, some metal.

I think the best option would be full fenders plus skirts, but the skirts should be hinged and latched with breakaways so the lugs are easy to check, but the wheel won't be dangerously contained, God forbid.
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