Tire inflation systems

[RostyC]

Anyone using tire inflation systems on your trucks or trailers? I'm thinking of getting one for my trailer and I have the phone number of a sales rep for Meritor that I'm going to call tomorrow but I just wanted to get some opinions from some that may have them. What was the cost? and do you think they're worth it?

[Rev.Vassago]

Landstar has them on all their dry vans. I personally love them. The first trailer I ever hooked to at Landstar had a flat tire that was no longer seated to the rim. Thinking I needed to have a tire shop come out and fix it, I called Landstar up. They told me, "Just drive down the road 5 miles or so." I questioned this, and they repeated it. So I did.

I stopped 5 miles later, and that flat tire that wasn't seated to the rim was at full pressure. That sold me on the system right there.

I've heard others state that the tire inflation systems are rough on the tires, but I'm not entirely sure how so. In the year I've been at Landstar, I have yet to have one tire issue, even from pulling many different trailers.

[Kranky]

The first trailer I ever hooked to at Landstar had a flat tire that was no longer seated to the rim.

How did the self inflation system seat the bead? It must have some sort of magical powers.

[Rev.Vassago]

How did the self inflation system seat the bead? It must have some sort of magical powers.

I don't know, but it did. And very quickly.

[chris1]

All the trailers i have purchased this year have the SS & pressure monitoring. Pick up the occasional nail ect and the lite comes on to let you know you are losing air. One completely flat and bead broke,just charged the trailer air rolled ahead and it re-inflated and drove to the tire shop. About a 900.00 option on new trailers. A few i retrofited cost 1700.00 still worth it in my book. As soon as it's availible on tractors i'm ordering.
It's not like most drivers ever check air pressure(it's up it's good)

[catalinaflyer]

One completely flat and bead broke,just charged the trailer air rolled ahead and it re-inflated and drove to the tire shop.

Taking it to the tire shop Only because I'm no longer there to drive 40 miles one way to the office and fix it at 2:00am Now I see how things are

[catalinaflyer]

As for the inflation system, I was with a company 4 years ago and when they bought me a new trailer it was equipped with it. For the first couple of weeks I was very unhappy with it. The light was coming on all the time yet when I would check the tires with a calibrated gauge they were all exactly right. Finally got the book out and read it and then read the code on the little LED on the control unit and it told me which axle end had a small leak so I tightened the fitting and low and behold all was good. After that I swear by them. We did a lot of work for the railroad moving heavy equipment and a week never went by without flats. You would run over something pulling out of a rail yard and within a couple of miles the light would let you know you have a problem. Before that the first sign of a problem was the loud explosion followed by rubber scattering all over the highway. We were always maxed out on weight so a blown tire was a roadside repair. just a couple of those and you have paid for the system. With the system, unless you picked up a spike and it came back out, the tire would stay inflated and you could easily make it to a tire shop.

On the NASCAR trailer I was pulling it ran 17.5 tires and loaded I was always right at 33,000 on the trailer. Those little midget tires wouldn't take anything out of the ordinary. I was blowing a couple tires a week on it and after an entire day on the phone with Bridgestone it was determined that at the extreme we were running them that as small as a 5psi imbalance between a pair would cause a failure. Bridgestone actually bought me 4 equalair systems for it. Not quite the same as an automatic system but a quick walk around the trailer and I knew all the tires were at the right pressure. And, they kept the pressure balanced. Since the trailer had a built in air system I just took one of the outlets and plugged a regulator set at 125psi into it then used an air hose with a clamp on chuck and while I was getting ready to roll in the mornings I would just pop it on the equalair on each set of tires and it would bring them right to 125. After going to that setup I didn't blow another tire for a year which is pretty good because those little midget tires have a really short life even in the best conditions. About $400 for 4 of those but one blowout on the side of the road and they were paid for. Bridgestone stood behind the tires though, in one year I went through 11 tires and 2 wheels and they picked up the tab on most of it.