TALKING TYRES
(^50) Summer 2019 Truck & Driver
category to the highest
in the next one, but it’s
worth bearing in mind.
Winter tyres
Beyond the likes of snowploughs,
there’s no market for specific
winter truck tyres in this country,
but many tyres are stamped
‘M+S’, which stands for Mud and
Snow. It doesn’t actually mean
the tyre has been tested in either
of those conditions though as
there is no standard to meet!
However, a new marking has
been introduced; ‘3PMSF’ is an
abbreviation for 3-Peak Mountain
Snow Flake. Tyres with this
marking (such as our
BFGoodrich ones; nice!) have
been tested and shown to have
winter capabilities and are
therefore suitable as all-season
tyres. All the Michelin X Multi-
range tyres have this marking.
The right tyre
The most fuel-efficient tyre may
not be the ideal one for your
particular application, especially
for vehicles such as tippers,
where a resistance to accidental
damage is important. Michelin
offers an accidental-damage
guarantee, which, subject to
some conditions, can get you
money back on a damaged tyre,
providing it’s less than 50% worn.
The tyre’s initial cost might be
more but if it lasts longer, and
you get a refund for one that’s a
month old with a metal bar in the
side of it, it’s worth it. Buy the best
you can afford; it’s as simple as
that. It’ll cost less in the long run.
Tyre maintenance
There’s no point in spending
good money on premium tyres if
your maintenance isn’t in place,
which is sometimes the case
with owner-drivers and small
fleet owners. Tyre pressures play
a huge part in fuel economy and
tyre wear. Michelin reckons many
new trucks are PDi’d with the
tyres inflated to 125psi, which is
very often too high for the drive-
axle position, causing premature
wear on the centre of the tyre.
What pressure should you run
at? That’s a million dollar question.
Numerous ballpark figures are
out there but Michelin’s team of
engineers in the field can run a
series of tests on your trucks to
work out the optimum pressures.
Trucks on light work can run at
lower pressures than those sitting
at 44t all day. Steer tyres tend to
run at 120-130psi on a tractor
unit. Drive tyres are 80-90psi, but
in some applications can be as
low as 60psi. Our Foden has
been inflated to 125psi on the
steer, 110psi on the midlift and
The old tyres were well past their best
Tyres are marked 3PMSF, so they’ll work in snow
Machine makes fitting a simple task
It’ll take a while to colour in that side marking!