Re: Tires

[Guest guest]

Where did you get the weight of your vehicles?

Is your weight what the factory told you it

weighed when it rolled out the door, or did you

weigh an in-service, fully stocked truck, ready

to run a call with 40 gallons of fuel?

Don't take this the wrong way, but did you weigh

your trucks WITH or WITHOUT people and all their

assorted detritus? I'm 240lbs wearing a towel

and my glasses; put me, a similarly sized

partner, and all our turnouts, radios, keys, the

all-important Leatherman Super Tool, etc., on the

truck, and you may be a lot closer to Max GVWR.

Now...Throw a patient in the back. Let me

see...I weigh 240, my partner weighs 240, and

let's pretend that the patient DIDN'T come from

the 3d floor down a winding staircase (which

would require at least 300lbs worth of patient),

so the patient only weighs 200 lbs. Just for

giggles, add the weight of our clothes, and we'll

round the people weight to 700 lbs. This leaves

us 50lbs before we exceed the GVWR of our tires.

Fifty pounds left over in a 8000 or 10000-pound

vehicle is nary a hair of safety margin. I dare

say that a day of rainy weather with associated

mud sticking to a truck of that size may cause

you to exceed you GVWR when transporting a

patient.

Also, sitting stock-still on scales does not

take into account the G-forces generated by

hitting bumps at 60 mph. Also, consider that the

closer you get to the maximum weight rating of a

tire, the more critical correct inflation,

balance, alignment, etc. becomes. I would like

to think that the tire manufacturer adds a safety

factor, but I don't know this to be the case.

At any rate, 750 pounds below the GVWR is not

much room for error. You might try moving up to

a tire with a higher weight rating. Also, be

absolutely positive that the suspensions of all

your trucks are in tip-top condition; body roll

around corners (obviously) shifts the weight to

the outboard side of the truck during turns.

There went your 750 pounds of leeway.

Stay safe - pr

=====

__________________________________________________