Are Air Suspension Motor Homes Dangerous

jackgilliat wrote:
On a hot sunny day, a motor home traveling east on an asphalt highway with a 10mph wind from the south entered a right turn cloverleaf. It was towing a small vehicle with it's own braking system. The motor home was equipped with tripod air suspension, two height control valves in the front and one in the rear. At the end of the cloverleaf the traffic light turned red and while stopping, the left front tire blew. I believe it blew because of the left front height control valve causing it to carry more weight than it was designed to do, particularly in the turn and braking at the same time. Also, if the towed vehicle had an empty vacuum booster or for some other common reason was not functioning, it could have further pushed up the rear of the motor home.

Your belief system needs a reality check. Simple overloading of a tire does not cause it to instantly blowout. Tires blow as a result of heat build up over a long period of time due to sidewall flex. There is not enough build up in heat to cause a tire to blow in the time that it takes to go around a cloverleaf. Not even close. Now, if the tire was underinflated, and was already overheated, going around a cloverleaf could be the straw that broke the camel's back, but there is no way on earth that it could be the root cause. The tire would have to have been already on the verge of letting go, for a cloverleaf to push it over the edge.

A little lesson in physics. Think about the meaning of the term "PSI-pounds per square inch". If you place load on an inflated tire, the tire begins to flaten out, till there is enough square inches on the road to support the weight. The air pressure in the tire does not really change as a result of the load. If you don't believe me, jack one tire off the ground. Set your air pressure to 100 lbs. Now lower the tire to the ground, and see how much it changes.