| Myth | The Reality | What It Costs You |
| Bigger tires can handle anything | Every tire has hard load and speed limits regardless of size | Premature failure, heat damage, unplanned downtime |
| Road conditions do not matter | Road debris cuts tread and sidewalls progressively | Casing damage, shortened service life, unplanned replacement |
| Scrap tire analysis is unnecessary | Every failed tire contains root cause information | Repeated failure from the same preventable cause |
| The wheel does not matter | A damaged wheel compromises a new tire immediately | Irregular wear, air loss, and avoidable failure |
| Valve stems are not important | Valve stems are the most overlooked cause of pressure loss | Chronic under-inflation and accelerated casing breakdown |
Myth #1: Bigger Tires Can Handle Anything
Bigger tires have higher ratings, but they still have hard limits. Every OTR tire is engineered to carry a specific load at a specific speed. Exceeding those limits causes failure regardless of tire size, and the failure mode is almost always heat.
Four performance factors define what any OTR tire can do. All four need to be verified against the manufacturer’s data book before the tire goes into service.
- Speed rating: The maximum speed the tire is designed to sustain safely under load. Exceeding it generates heat faster than the tire can dissipate it.
- Load capacity: The maximum load the tire can carry at its rated inflation pressure and speed. Overloading compresses the casing and accelerates structural breakdown.
- Heat resistance: How the tire manages internal temperature under sustained load and speed. Heat is the primary driver of premature OTR tire failure.
- Impact absorption: The tire’s structural ability to absorb road shock without casing damage. This is a function of ply construction and compound formulation, not size alone.
Myth #2: Road Conditions Don’t Matter for Big Tires
Road condition is one of the leading contributors to premature OTR tire failure. Sharp rock, haul road debris, and crushed aggregate cut into tread and sidewalls with every pass. The damage is progressive. A small cut that goes unaddressed becomes a path for moisture, heat, and stress into the casing structure.
The cost of poor road maintenance shows up in the tire budget, not the road budget. Unplanned replacements, shortened casing life, and downtime events that trace back to road-induced damage are all preventable. Check out this guide from the MAXAM team on proper haul road maintenance and tips.
Myth #3: Scrap Tire Analysis Isn’t Necessary
Every failed tire contains diagnostic information. The wear pattern, the failure location, the condition of the bead and sidewall, and the remaining tread depth all point toward a root cause. Skipping the inspection means buying a replacement tire without addressing the reason the first one failed.
The four most common root causes in scrap tire analysis are all preventable once identified.
- Under-inflation: Causes excessive sidewall flexing, heat buildup, and accelerated casing breakdown. The most common root cause found in scrap tire analysis.
- Overloading: Exceeds the tire’s engineered load rating, compressing the casing and generating destructive internal heat.
- Impact damage: Sudden shock loads from rocks or road hazards that breach the casing structure. Often visible as internal separation with no obvious external cut.
- Misapplication: Using a tire rated for one set of conditions in an application it was not
Before ordering the replacement tire, have your dealer or MAXAM representative conduct a scrap tire analysis on the failed one. The inspection takes less time than the downtime the next failure will cost.
Myth #4: The Wheel Doesn’t Matter
A damaged wheel compromises even a brand-new tire from the first moment it goes into service. Wheel condition directly affects inflation retention, wear pattern, and casing integrity. A wheel with a damaged bead seat allows air to migrate between the tire and the rim, creating chronic pressure loss that is often misdiagnosed as a valve stem issue.
Wheel inspection is not optional. It belongs on the same checklist as tire inspection, and it should happen before every tire mounting. Check the rim flange for deformation, the bead seat for corrosion and debris, and the valve hole for damage. A wheel that cannot hold a consistent seal is not a serviceable wheel regardless of how it looks from the outside.
Myth #5: Valve Stems Aren’t a Big Deal
Valve stems are the most overlooked cause of chronic pressure loss in OTR tire maintenance programs. Air pressure is the foundation of every performance rating an OTR tire carries. A valve stem that leaks or sits improperly defeats inflation management entirely, regardless of how well every other maintenance step is executed.
The three-point valve stem check takes less than two minutes and should be part of every pre-shift inspection.
- Valve core: Check for leaks. A leaking core shows seepage at the stem tip. Replace the core if any seepage is present.
- Stem cap: Confirm it is present and tightened. The cap is the secondary seal. A missing cap exposes the core to debris and moisture.
- Stem seating: Verify the stem is properly seated in the wheel. A poorly seated stem loses pressure progressively under load and heat.
Field test: spray soapy water on the valve area with the tire inflated. Bubbles indicate a leak. This test takes thirty seconds and identifies the most common source of chronic pressure loss before it affects performance.
MAXAM Support: More Than a Tire Supplier
Tire failure is expensive. Most of it is preventable. MAXAM works with fleet managers and operators to identify the root causes behind recurring failures and build maintenance programs that address them before they generate cost.
Our dealer network provides scrap tire analysis, load and inflation verification, site assessments, and application-specific tire recommendations. The goal is fewer unplanned replacements, longer casing life, and lower total operating cost per machine.
Talk to a MAXAM Dealer
If a tire failed before it should have, that failure has a cause. Talk to your MAXAM dealer about a scrap tire analysis and a maintenance review. The conversation costs nothing. The next avoidable failure does.
