Three Easy Ways to Extend OTR Tire Life

3 Easy Ways to Extend OTR Tire Life

Whether you operate in the mining & earthmoving business, hauling freight across the country or your machines handle containers at port and terminal sites. Tires play an essential role in keeping you on the move. Downtime is costly and always inconvenient at the least. Especially unscheduled downtime due to malfunction or damage. Looking after your machinery and tires is essential for a smooth operating business. Below we will show you three easy ways to extend OTR tire life.

The Easiest Way to Extend OTR Tire Life

Magna Tyres develops tires which are specifically designed to operate in harsh environments. While our tires can take a beating without issue, you can easily extend tire life by taking proper care of them and avoiding unnecessary risks. Not every risk is avoidable. One of those unavoidable factors is climate. Climate and changing weather conditions influence the lifespan of a tire but can obviously not be changed. However, the way one operates machinery in various weather conditions can be. Moderating speed and braking under harsh weather conditions is an easy way to extend the life of your OTR tires.

Also, taking lateral forces into account while operating machinery on OTR tires can drastically improve tire life. That means hard cornering around sharp bends while carrying too much speed. This obviously puts more stress and friction on the OTR tire than necessary. In general, the easiest way to extend tire life is adapting an appropriate driving style in general.

Tire Pressure Is Key

It is proven that there is a direct connection between tire pressure and tire life. Inflating a tire to the right pressure is essential for an OTR tire to perform as it should. Overinflating makes a tire more vulnerable to incisions and increases the chance of damage when colliding with rough objects. Underinflating causes the tire wall to deform and deteriorate faster. OTR applications often require carrying heavy loads. By not inflating the tire properly, the weight puts more stress on the tire than necessary. This will result in a heavier wear, thus reducing tire life. The increased wear of the OTR tire will decrease the TKPH (Tonne Kilometers per Hour) and will increase the overall operating costs.

Make sure you check tire pressure levels on a regular basis to avoid unnecessary damage to your OTR tires. Not sure what pressure level is appropriate for your specific tire application? Check our brochures for more specific information on every available tire per industry.

Efficiency is Essential

This applies to every sector, which often translates to carrying as much load as possible in the smallest amount of time. Attempts to maximize efficiency usually results in overloading a vehicle. While the vehicle has to make fewer trips to move the same amount of cargo, frequent overloading causes major deformation at the edges of the tire. This will result in a faster decline of tire health. Continuously overloading could even terminate a tire altogether, even though the tread may still be in a healthy condition

Tyres consist of a certain amount of components. Two key elements are the carcass and the tread. Overloading can cause the tread to come loose from the carcass due to higher temperature it causes inside the tire. In some cases treads can be replaced, but treads coming loose while operating can cause major damage to the carcass and even serious injury to operators in- and outside the vehicle. Therefore, make sure vehicles carry the correct load and tires are checked regularly to operate efficiently and mitigate risks at the same time.