SuperSparkies tyre wear ??

[T1 Terry]

That tricky one where you don't trigger the drive through weigh bridge system because the axle weights are just inside the limits. The problem is if the mermaids pull you over and weigh each axle, they will add the two together and bust you for exceeding the GVM. Those roadside blitz campaigns they run at the beginning of harvest season to grab the poorly maintained seasonal rego trucks are the ones that will catch you out.

T1 Terry

[supersparky]

So today, off to the suspension gurus we go. And then find out the Mr Winnebago or someone, has already put an extra leaf in the front.
Not quite sure yet where the front goes from here. The head guru man was telling me that he has about 6 sets of the front airbags that Winnebago used to fit to hold the front up. But all they really do is break stuff because the chassis isn't designed to have them where they are.

[T1 Terry]

So now you have to either shed 1400kg or get the GVM upgraded. What about the combined vehicle mass? GVM plus the weight being towed?

[Newcastle George]

Dave, from your quoted figures, by my calculation the front tyres should be 89psi and the rear are 150kg over spec.

George

[supersparky]

So now you have to either shed 1400kg or get the GVM upgraded. What about the combined vehicle mass? GVM plus the weight being towed?

T1, What I should have posted was the front was 3200kg and the back 4800kg on the scales giving a total of 8000kg. The GCM is 8500kg
Those weights that I did post are axle maximums.
The front axle max is 3100kg and I think that it should be pretty simple to shift maybe 200kg up the back. This obviously includes shifting the batteries which for the time being are AGM LA. Then it will be legal.

What amazed me was the simple fact that we are fairly mindful of weight and don't carry too much 'stuff' unless it can be multi purposed.
But there would be a multitude of others out there with a vehicle that may well be grossly overloaded.
If the steering hadn't started to shudder on a downhill bend I probably wouldn't have looked for a reason and a steer tyre may have failed. Thankfully that was not the case. See photo

the steer.jpg

It is a bit hard to tell from the pic but there is about 4mm of air gap under the centre section of the tread .

[BernieQ2]

You can see the gap Dave once the pic is enlarged .
I still had a tonne I could have put in our bus...
Bernie .

[Newcastle George]

Dave, with your corrected figures the pressures should be (using those figuires) 92psi front, 74psi rear. It seems strange that the centre of the tyre should be further worn given that you have been running at a low pressure.

George

[supersparky]

An interesting fact , BF Goodrich USA and Michelin both use the exact same charts. Not sure who owns who, but one does own the other.
The wear pattern charts show my tyre as under inflated on the steer, even though I was running 85 psi. Up until recently I had been running 75 psi. It just goes to show what trouble you can get yourself in if you aren;t aware of your vehicle weights.

[jon_d]

I hope you're not going to use Permatex filler to fix the tyre.

Dave, just an fyi. I have

3.04 T front
4.56 T rear.
7.60 total. Goweigh 2nd June 2018

About 80% fluids. GVM 9000

[supersparky]

Jon, The Permatex card was the only straight thing that I could find to demonstrate the sunken centre rib of the tyre.
Left and right wear is almost the same. The right side has a bit more scalloping though. Funnily enough the Michelin website cure for the issue is to set the correct air pressure and keep driving on them. I'm not convinced that is a good idea.