new tires AND budget cuts....

[Hank's P-O-S]

I DONT THINK SO!


All four drives are like this, on a school bus that sees regular long highway trips. There is no money in they budget they say

[Asetechrail]

Looks like a blowout waiting to happen!

[Dapplecreek]

Take photos of the Superintendent's tires, add these, and call the local paper?

[EastCoastCB]

Man, those look ROUGH

[Hank's P-O-S]

This is my schools bus, their only bus, and only they own it.
I have been promised that they will replace these tires over the summer thankfully.

The tires passed the last yearly inspection like this, which makes me think they have the same mechanic I do but then again my vehicles don't haul 70 kids.
They keep their buses until they break. This one was bought for $25000 i believe after the bus they had lost the tranny three hours from town!

One day **** is gonna happen, I just hope no one gets hurt.

(EDIT: I wasnt going to give more info but as soon as getting people in trouble came up I figured this info should be known. These are my friends, I believe they do what they say, and there is honestly no money.)

[GreyCoyote]

Maybe its just the way I'm broken, but when polite smiles and silence conspire to put 70 kids at risk, I'd feel compelled to speak. Loudly.

I'm here to tell ya, if this is what the school thinks is acceptable for transportation, the quality of education is highly suspect.

Just. Wow.

[cadillackid]

wow! those tires look worse than mine did...

interesting thing was the only people that didnt FREAK about my tires was

1. the bus dealer (of course they wanted to sell a bus.. thats expected
2. The DOT man I saw when I was broke down.. (he said mine "would need replacedat some point but werent terrible)

3. a trucker that loved the bus (while I was stuck broke down).. said he has had company trucks with way worse... (maybe a reason why we see busted truck tires all over the highway all the time).

4. My Tire man - yes the guy that told me I could easily wait quite a while on my old tires... the same guy selling me 6 brand new ones..

so my conclusion is either there are a lot of reckless people out there...

*OR*

some people on this forum are wayyy sensitive...


now these tires you posted I am surprised would pass DOT as it looks very close to the "belts showing" which is what I was told will DOT fail a tire...

-Christopher

[Dapplecreek]

Originally Posted by Hank's P-O-S

This is my schools bus, their only bus, and only they own it.
I have been promised that they will replace these tires over the summer thankfully... These are my friends, I believe they do what they say, and there is honestly no money.)

Hank, if they're folks of their word and they told you the tires would be replaced over the summer, that's great. But otherwise? It sure seems to me like it might be time for a fundraiser. I'm in for ten bucks - nothing in comparison to what is needed, of course, but it might help shame the district into action. (Not to mention it's about all I can sneak out.) And folks might join me.

[EastCoastCB]

I'm a cheapskate, a MAJOR one. But replacing old cracked tires is a must for me.

So no- I don't think this forum is overly-sensitive on this issue. Its one of the biggest safety concerns with operating a large vehicle on a public road. I know I'm guilty of driving on a couple bald retreads to get mine home, but ideally I should have replaced them before going 800 miles on the interstate. I'll post some pics next time I'm at my bus. They're scary looking.
I only say this because its up to us how school bus conversions are perceived. Insurance companies don't want to cover us as it is. I say the more we lean toward safety and responsibility on this forum, the better.

Hank- you're in Canada, eh? I thought your schools were so much better funded than ours. What gives?

[cadillackid]

im in 100% agreement safety is best.. obviously what I read had some influence on me as i went down and bought 6 new tires..

but the Industry as a whole seems to see tires a little differently than people here do..

several here on the forums called my tires time bombs.. others in the industry did not..

my point really is that this active school bus above passed a DOT inspection.. and Ok the district is out of money but would they replace the tires anyway.. probably not..

what has determined the rules that DOT sets.. im guessing they werent just arbitrary.. somehow the rules were developed by studies, tests, and experiences of tire failures in the field, accidents, caused by, tire manufacturer and 3rd party tests, etc..

the general human perception is that any crack in any tire is a time bomb..

-Christopher

[Brad_SwiftFur]

Call tires like those Maypops. They May Pop at any moment going down the road.

[EastCoastCB]

https://www.fmca.com/motorhome/basic...re-safety.html

Waht is the correct maximum age for tires?

What you need to know about your RV tires - Lets RV

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulation...section/393.75

(a) No motor vehicle shall be operated on any tire that—

(1) Has body ply or belt material exposed through the tread or sidewall,

(2) Has any tread or sidewall separation,

(3) Is flat or has an audible leak, or

(4) Has a cut to the extent that the ply or belt material is exposed.

(b) Any tire on the front wheels of a bus, truck, or truck tractor shall have a tread groove pattern depth of at least 4/32of an inch when measured at any point on a major tread groove. The measurements shall not be made where tie bars, humps, or fillets are located.

(c) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, tires shall have a tread groove pattern depth of at least 2/32of an inch when measured in a major tread groove. The measurement shall not be made where tie bars, humps or fillets are located.

(d) No bus shall be operated with regrooved, recapped or retreaded tires on the front wheels.

(e) A regrooved tire with a load-carrying capacity equal to or greater than 2,232 kg (4,920 pounds) shall not be used on the front wheels of any truck or truck tractor.

[cadillackid]

my point exactly.. do those tires have belts or ply material visible?? I know mine sure didnt.. but these are worse and may...

DOT regulations and human articles seem to vary

-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

my point exactly.. do those tires have belts or ply material visible?? I know mine sure didnt.. but these are worse and may...

DOT regulations and human articles seem to vary

-Christopher

Yours and the ones in this thread both had/have sidewall separation.
Anyone telling you to run them is one of the "reckless" folk.

[Brad_SwiftFur]

I don't know about seeing belts or plies, but one could certainly make an argument about separations in the sidewall.

[somewhereinusa]

I found this on a site about CSA truck inspections along with lots of other pictures of acceptable tires.

Tire Inspections | DOT / CSA Insights: Success Ahead

And it clearly shows that the pictures from OP are probably legal, I think that they are carrying things too far. Even going on the premise that it's a dual, and there is another tire to carry the load, with sidwalls like this if one goes the other probably will go at the same time.

Weather checking is not a violation or an OOS condition, if the checking does not expose the underlying material.

Hank, you originally posted that this bus regularly sees long highway trips. I'm just guessing, but around here that means sports. If there is enough money in the budget for any kind of sports venue, there is enough money for tires. Many would argue with me here, but sports is NOT the primary reason for a school to exist.

I think that I would keep an eye on the situation and if the tires get replaced before the next school year, all is well. If not, even at the risk of someone getting into trouble, I think some action should be taken. Isn't someone getting into trouble better than a child getting injured or killed?

Dick

[Stu & Filo. T]

Unfortunately if they blow and/or anything happens to the kids it all falls back on you for driving the bus in the first place.

[Hank's P-O-S]

hmmmm....me ranting has brought very helpful info to light.

Anyway,
I spoke to my friend who is in charge of the bus again today. Apparently my rant did something magical I guess because apparently he was approved for new tires.
(actually 3 days ago! Ive been busy and haven't been able to chat with him )

Although him and I count as "several concerned parents" and "a truck mechanic" or as far as accounting is concerned.

I hope I didn't stir too many feathers, im just lazy and have been meaning to post this for a while and I guess I was a bit late.