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Show Recreational Vehicles Might Be Dangerously Overloading The Council also makes a-vailable a-vailable a "Recreational Vehicle Ve-hicle Tire Kit," which contains a copy of the booklet, a special high pressure air gauge calibrated cali-brated to 120 pounds, a tread depth gauge and a set of four protective metal valve caps. Cost of the kit is $3.50 and can be also ordered from the Recreation Rec-reation address. WASHINGTON, D.C. Nearly Near-ly one-fifth of the recreational vehicles traveling on the highways high-ways could be dangerously overloaded, ov-erloaded, estimates the Tire Industry In-dustry Safety Council. The Council bases its estimate estim-ate on a study recently conducted conduc-ted by the Wisconsin Department Depart-ment of Transportation which found 21 per cent of the vehicles ve-hicles it inspected were carrying carry-ing loads which exceeded the tires' maximum load carrying capacity. "We feel the figure may have gone much higher if the tires' air pressures had also been checked," said Ross R. Ormsby, chairman of the council. coun-cil. "Because of time limitations, limita-tions, the Wisconsin researchers research-ers were not able to take air pressure into account only gross weight." For motorists who might be unaware of the serious problems prob-lems of overloading and under-inflating under-inflating tires, the Wisconsin researchers offer the following advice : "First, overloading a tire increases in-creases tread wear and increases increas-es the probability of structural failure at any given speed and life milepost (as measured by miles.) "Second, structural failure, if it occurs under conditions of overloading, will produce exaggerated ex-aggerated control problems and more likelihood of a crackup than a structural failure occur- ing under acceptable conditions of loading." "Excessive heat is a tire's worst enemy," says Ormsby. "Its most frequent causes are underinflation and overloading. Excessive heat buildup reduces reduc-es a tire's strength and increases increas-es the risk of premature tire failure." The Tire Industry Safety Council reminds owners of travel tra-vel trailers, truck campers, camping and boat trailers and motor homes of the three major ma-jor "don'ts" when it comes to caring for their tires. 1. Never "bleed" hot tires to reduce air pressure buildup, as pressure increases up to 15 pounds are normal. 2. Never overinflate beyond recommended limits in an attempt at-tempt to compensate for overloads. over-loads. Instead of making matters mat-ters worse, lighten the loads of the vehicle. No one ever needs everything he packs. 3. Never drive on underin-flated underin-flated tires. As owners are beginning to ready their vehicles for warm months ahead, the Council recommends rec-ommends that now is time to carefully inspect the tires for excessive or abnormal tread wear, fabric breaks, cuts or other damage. Removing nails, small stones or bits of glass embedded in the tread will help prevent flats or costly tire damage which can lead to failure. fail-ure. Tires should be replaced when tread is worn to l16th inch or less. The Council is offering free of charge a "Recreational Vehicle Ve-hicle Consumer Tire Guide." The guide contains valuable information in-formation on the proper care of tires, charts covering load range and inflation pressures, and tips on how to increase the mileage and safety factors of the tires. The guide may be ordered or-dered by writing to 'Recreation," 'Recrea-tion," Box 726, New York N.Y. 10010. |