You might think you’re saving money running standard precure retreads, but are mismatched duals killing your tires and your fleet costs?
In this blog post, we cover what it means for tires to be mismatched, how this occurs, and its effects on performance, costs, and safety.
For tires in a dual assembly, matched diameters are key. What does it mean when tires in a dual assembly are “mismatched”?
Tires are considered mismatched when there is a difference between the two tires, either in inflation, tread depth, diameter, or circumference. This difference doesn’t have to be large to cause serious damage—even minimal diameter differences are capable of killing both tires in the assembly (sometimes in as short as a matter of weeks).
With the rising costs of both fuel and tires, this issue can be costly to ignore. Maintaining matched diameters on your truck and trailer will help you dramatically improve fuel mileage, load distribution, and increased tire life.
Mismatching takes many forms, including:
1. Mismatched diameters or circumference. When tires in a dual assembly are different heights, the larger tire bears the brunt of the load. This causes the larger tire to undergo sidewall stress and the smaller tire to wear irregularly due to excess scrubbing.
2. Mismatched tread depths. Any significant difference in tread depth between a newer tire and one that’s been worn creates the same size difference as mismatched diameters. This difference will cause the same scrubbing effect on the more worn tire, and the same strain on the larger tire.
3. Mismatched inflations/pressures. Even a slight difference in PSI between two tires in a dual assembly shifts the weight of the load onto the more inflated of the two—resulting in its rapid wear and tear. If the underinflation is severe enough, you are at high risk for tire blowout due to excessive load.
4. Mismatched models or brands. When mounting new tires mismatching can be avoided by mounting the same brand, tread design, tread depth, and setting the same air pressure. To circumvent mismatched duals when installing precure retreads requires much more consideration. It will be important to match casing brand, tread design, tread depth, air pressure, and even tread width!
5. Running two different types of tires. The construction of bias and radial tires causes them to perform differently, so mounting both radial and bias tires on one axle will be a recipe for disaster. Whether using bias or radial, these two constructions should never be mixed.
Tires with a difference in diameter, inflation, or ply can cause:
1. Uneven and accelerated wear. Uneven or accelerated wear will occur when one tire is smaller or more inflated than the other. The tire with the shorter diameter sees rapid, uneven wear because it has to scrub along the pavement to keep up with the distance traveled by the larger tire. The more inflated tire sees accelerated wear and tear because it takes on the majority of the load in comparison to its underinflated counterpart.
2. Shorter tire life. Mismatching kills tires—not just one, but both tires on the assembly! The larger tire on the assembly will be overloaded and suffer faster wear, but the smaller tire will also suffer intense wear from scrubbing. Overall, you’ll see a much shorter tire lifespan—costing you more money in tires and truck operating costs!
3. Uneven load distribution. Load difference is a big contributor to premature tire failure and short tire lifespan. Matching your tires reduces this risk by ensuring that both tires travel evenly over the road and evenly share the weight of your load.
4. Lower mileage and higher operating costs. If you’re consistently running mismatched tires on your dual assemblies, you’re likely running through tires a lot faster than you should. Since mismatched tires don’t operate how they should, you’re also losing out on fuel efficiency. The damage inflicted on your tires by mismatching can cost fleets up to 20% in tread life, wasting a value of around $50 per tire!
5. Tire failure. The excessive wear and overloading as a result of mismatched tires puts not only one, but both tires at risk for a blowout.
When mounting two new tires in a dual assembly, it’s not enough to simply match inflation pressures and tread depths. While these indicators are important, they can’t be measured alone to determine a proper match. The most important variable to consider is the matching of tire diameter.
If you’re installing two new tires, it won’t be a challenge to install two tires of the same brand, model, age, diameter, tread depth, and inflation. But a proper match is nearly impossible when used tires are mounted in dual assemblies.
If you’re looking for an alternative to new, and you don’t trust retread technology from your grandfather's era, we recommend upgrading to premium remanufactured tires using AcuTread® technology, co-developed by Wonderland Tire. A matched diameter and full width tread are foundational in the technology of their process:
AcuTread® tires are cured in a segmented mold which produces a fixed diameter every time – just like new tires. Each tire— regardless of brand—is within 1/32” in diameter. This important feature allows even distribution of load extending mileage and reducing heat build-up. A simple tread depth measurement is all that is required to match AcuTread® tires in dual wheel positions.
— AcuTread.com
Wonderland Tire has 13 locations to serve West Michigan, Chicagoland, Northwest Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio. Our commercial specialties include new and retread tires, fleet services, retreading programs, road service, and more.
With over 45 years of experience in commercial fleet tires, we know what it takes to keep your fleet on the road with a quality product that’s smart for your business.
Find your store.
Please click anywhere to continue browsing our site.