Chapter 38

Tires, Wheels, and Hubs

 Tire Designs
• Tire bead
• Liner
• Sidewall
• Carcass plies
• Tread
• Bias
• Bias ply
• Radials
 Tire Designs (con’t.)
• Bias ply – crisscross plies, soft ride, higher
operating temperatures
• Bias belted – more stable and lasts longer
than bias ply
• Radial ply – steel belted
– Improved traction
– Lower temperatures
– Longer tread life
 Tire Ratings
• Tread wear rating
• Traction rating
• Temperature rating
• Speed rating
• Load rating
 Specialty Tires
• All season tires
• Snow tires
• Directional tires
• Run flat tires
• Compact spares
 Tire Placard and Inflation
Pressure
• Tire size
• Passenger, truck, commercial
• Cross-sectional width
• Aspect ratio
• Construction type – radial, bias belted, diagonal
• DOT codes
• Maximum inflation pressure
 Wheel Rims
• Steel
• Aluminum
• Alloy
• Magnesium
• Drop center
• Hub-centric
• Stud-centric
• Custom wheels
 Tire Balancing
• Static imbalance
• Wheel tramp or hop
– Static imbalance
• Dynamic imbalance
– Wheel shimmy
• Wheel weights
• On-the-car balancers
• Computer balancers
• Centering the wheel on the balancer
 Wheel Bearings and Seals
• Roller bearings – provide rolling contact
between mating surfaces
• Frictionless bearings
• Ball
• Roller
• Needle
• Direction of bearing load
• Radial load
• Thrust load
 Wheel Bearings and Seals
(con’t.)
• Ball bearings
• Roller bearings
• Tapered roller bearings
a. Inner race (cone)
b. Outer race (cup)
c. Bearing cage or separator
• Needle bearings
 Wheel Bearings and Seals
(con’t.)
• Dynamic seals
• Static seals
• Sealing lip
• Auxiliary lip
• Synthetic seals
• Nonsynthetic seals
• Other seals
 Wheel Bearings and Seals
(con’t.)
• Wheel bearings – nondrive axles
• Live axles (drive axles)
– Axle bearings – nonserviceable
• Drive axle bearings
– Semifloating axles
– Full-floating axles
• Front-wheel drive bearings
Wheel Bearing Lubrication
• Grease
• National Lubricating Grease Institute (NLGI)
• Temperature characteristics
– Dropping point
• Viscosity
• Grease performance classification
• Extreme pressure lubricants
 Wheel Bearing Lubrication
(con’t.)
• Chassis lubricants
• Wheel bearing grease
• Universal joint grease
• Multipurpose grease
• Solid lubricant greases
– Molybdenum (moly)
– Graphite