SERVICING ALUMINUM
WHEELS
by Glenn Kinyon
Contributing Editor

I arrived at a jobsite recently to discover that the vehicle on which I was to install a new set of tires was a customized (designed to haul motorcycles) moving van – an artistic and fresh-looking paint job and logo adorning its bulkheads, with brightly-polished aluminum wheels providing ornamentation below decks. The scene before me suggested I would be working on a relatively new unit, so I was surprised to learn that this clean, perky trailer was resting on such an ancient configuration as stud-piloted wheels. I had already attached the hub-pilot socket to my impact wrench, and now, head down and mumbling to myself, I returned to my truck for the correct tool....

Also in this issue:
• Servicing Aluminum Wheels
• Skilled By Definition
• Certified Tire Service Instructors
• Certified Tire Service Technicians
• Training Quiz
• What’s Your Opinion

TIRE REPAIR FOR TRUCKERS
by Glenn Kinyon
Contributing Editor

My whole life is one long Seinfeld episode. Time and again someone will misunderstand what I say or misinterpret in a negative way something they saw me doing – or think they saw me doing – and often, when I discover what has happened, the explanation of the truth is so confusing or so difficult to put to words that I’m reduced to relegating the incident to fate and letting it go. But there are times when failing to resolve such a misunderstanding is too expensive to consider. The supervisor at a trucking company that I service once told me with no little annoyance that they had to remove a tire that I had repaired from service. The driver was angry that I “plugged” his tire and he refused to drive on it. I informed the supervisor that I do not plug tires – I repair them properly. He would expose the lie, however. He rolled the tire in question, still mounted, out of his shop and directed my attention to the plug in the middle of a chalk circle...

Also in this issue:
• Tire Repair for Truckers
• No Job is Complete Until…
• Certified Tire Service Technicians
• Training Quiz
• What’s Your Opinion?

CLOTHES MAKE THE TIREMAN
by Glenn Kinyon
Contributing Editor

At the north boundary of my neighborhood sits a huge Harley-Davidson dealership. Once a week (O.K., it’s probably more like once a month but it seems like once a week) the dealership hosts a massive rally at which the
bikers meet, join forces and lay siege to the nearest major intersection to collect money for the March of Dimes—an admirable endeavor, I will admit; and the way I handle it is with my cell phone. As I approach the stop light, I put that little technological marvel to my ear and carry on a heated conversation with the mouthpiece. I work my jaws and shake my head; I smile and nod; I run through my rehearsed repertoire of facial expressions and I practice my Sean Connery impressions, all for the benefit of the easy ridin’ philanthropist who, hopefully, thinks I’m so engulfed in private discourse that I don’t know he’s standing there with a sign and a collection bucket. And the stop light takes its ever-lovin’ time. The last time I found myself in that situation, I caught sight of the woman behind me in my side view mirror, yackin’ away on her cell phone like a teenager. I would’ve loved to have met her. Clever girl...

Also in this issue:
• Torque, Thy Name Is Torque
• Commercial Tire, Retread & Recycling Conference Moves to Orlando with TMC
• Certified Tire Service Technicians
• Training Quiz
• What’s Your Opinion?

TIRE CHAINS
by Glenn Kinyon
Contributing Editor

Winter is here again, just like I predicted several months back. You know what the great thing about winter is? It’s the one season from which I can squeeze topics for articles. I don’t really care what the great thing about winter is for anybody else. We in the flatlands and the southern climes aren’t clued into what people in the mountain states know about tire chains: that they are an industry unto themselves. To truckers, truck mechanics, and commercial tire people in the altitudes and the latitudes, tire chains are part and parcel of winter existence – aggressive tread is not enough to get the cargo to point B under some conditions...

Also in this issue:
• Shhhh!
• Certified Tire Service Technicians
• Training Quiz
• What’s Your Opinion?

DEMOUNTABLE RIMS
by Glenn Kinyon
Contributing Editor

Here we are in the future, the year 2007. What a disappointment. Not only is there no colony on Mars, but we haven’t even been back to the moon. Not only can we not fly from Seattle to Miami in two hours, such a flight now takes about three to ten hours longer than it did in 1970 if you include the time spent in the airport, or on the tarmac. There are no flying cars, no climate-controlled body suits, and no underwater cities. We still have disease, we still have famine, and we still have demountable rims...

Also in this issue:
• Demountable Rims
• Equipping the New Truck
• Certified Tire Service Technicians
• Training Quiz
• What’s Your Opinion?

BALANCING ACT
by Glenn Kinyon
Contributing Editor

When a customer walks into your shop and says, “I’ve got a vibration problem,” you know you could be in for a tough day. The only thing worse is when a customer walks in and says,”I still have a vibration problem.” In that case, you are about to tie up a service bay, an employee, and a service manager for what will probably turn out to be a long morning or afternoon. Frankly, there is no way around it; you have to accept the situation and suffer the consequences because the shop’s monthly service totals will take a hit. The number crunchers don’t care that you did what you had to in order to keep a customer happy. All they see is that the company paid the expenses of running a service bay for half the day without any income to show for it...

Also in this issue:
• Tires: A Brief History
• Certified Tire Service Instructors
• Certified Tire Service Technicians
• Training Quiz
• What’s Your Opinion?

YOUR IMPACT WRENCH
by Glenn Kinyon
Contributing Editor

It is only a small fraction of the population who know the feeling of removing a new one-inch drive impact wrench from its box and using it for the first time. How can I describe it? If you have ever water-skied across choppy water for awhile, then glided into a windless cove where the water surface was smooth as glass, you’ve enjoyed that same feeling. Of course, it’s probably only a small segment of the population who know that feeling as well (surely we are few who have experienced both). I suppose, then, that if I had to describe it in one word, the 15th letter of the alphabet would be helpful – upper case.

Also in this issue:
• New Technology May Mean Safer Roads
• Certified Tire Service Technicians
• Training Quiz
• What’s Your Opinion?

OSHA NEVER LOOKED
SO GOOD
by Glenn Kinyon
Contributing Editor

Welcome folks, to another segment of the “Tire Talk” radio show. We’re coming to you today from the Midwestern command of the Me I Be network and, ladies and gentlemen, me is all I can be but that should be enough for most of you. I sit behind the plastic Me I Be microphone on a stack of pallets on loan from Rod. He’s my neighbor...

Also in this issue:
• New Fasteners for Hub-Piloted Wheels
• Yeats, Joyce, and Now I
• Certified Tire Service Technicians
• Training Quiz
• What’s Your Opinion?

A CONCRETE EDUCATION
by Glenn Kinyon
Contributing Editor

In 1913, the first load of ready-mix concrete was delivered to a jobsite in Baltimore, Maryland. How it got there, I don’t know, because the first patent for a truck mixer wasn’t applied for until 1916. In 1927, the first horizontal drum mixer, the “Paris Transit Mixer,” made its debut in Seattle,
Washington. Three years later, three American manufacturers introduced horizontal-axis, revolving-drum mixer trucks like the ones we are familiar with today. Which one of these experienced the first flat tire is anyone’s guess...

Also in this issue:
• Couples Counseling – On-Site
• Certified Tire Service Technicians
• Training Quiz
• What’s Your Opinion?

Jacks of Haul Trades: Part II
by Glenn Kinyon
Contributing Editor

Take a plastic syringe, the kind
that comes with a child’s bottle
of liquid antibiotics, dip it in a
container of vinegar, draw the plunger back until it is full, and squirt it in my neighbor’s yapping dog’s face. Not only will you then understand how a hydraulic
jack works, but I’ll laugh and owe you $20. Hydraulics is simply a matter of forcing fluid through a conduit which creates a desired result on the other end...

Also in this issue:
• …But Then I’d Have to Kill You
• Certified Tire Service
• Technicians
• Training Quiz
• What’s Your Opinion?

Jacks of Haul Trades
by Glenn Kinyon
Contributing Editor

Bottle jacks tend to bring out the
pack rat in all of us truck tire
people. Take a glance around
just about any tire shop and you’ll find a group of bottle jacks sitting in a corner or in a tool bin collecting dust. Underneath the dust will be a layer of
black gunk that you can draw pictures in with your finger. The extension screws
will be frozen in position, hinge pieces
will be missing (or replaced with valve

Also in this issue:
• Compressed Air Systems
• Certified Tire Service
• Technicians
• Training Quiz
• What’s Your Opinion?

Any Questions?
by Glenn Kinyon

I don’t know if this is true in
general or not, but my own not always-reliable observations have moved me to conclude that when women are introduced, they tend to ask questions of each other about family and home life. With men on the other hand, it’s always “what do you do?” Male small talk gets right to the respective professions. When I’m introduced to someone outside of my line of work, it’s usually only a matter of a few seconds before my new acquaintance has heard that I’m in the commercial tire business. It’s usually only a few seconds after that that they’re telling me about a problem they’re having with their brakes or their transmission. Then I try to elaborate a little more about my job without sounding too snippy, at which point I can count on hearing about a vibration in the wife’s steering wheel...

Also in this issue:
• A Hose By Any Other Name
• Certified Tire Service Technicians
• Training Quiz
• What’s Your Opinion?

In Memory of Stud Pilot
Dearly beloved: We are gathered here today not to mourn the death, but to celebrate the death, of a long-time acquaintance and unforgiving nemesis, Budd “Stud Pilot” Wheel. Few remain who were around when Stud Pilot arrived on the scene lo these many decades past. Those not here at the time might be surprised to learn that Stud Pilot’s first appearance was a much celebrated event. For Stud Pilot brought
forth manifestations of great new ideas and exciting
new possibilities...

Also in this issue:
• Increasing Our Value
• Certified Tire Service Technicians
• Training Quiz
• What’s Your Opinion?

Wheel Alignment
With few exceptions, truck mechanics shy away from tire work in much the same way that they shy away from scheduling a vacation during a week when they can’t hunt deer or attend a NASCAR race. Likewise, tire techs tend to avoid mechanical endeavors...

Also in this issue:
• Back on the Hill
• Certified Tire Service Instructors
• Certified Tire Service Technicians
• Training Quiz
• What’s Your Opinion?

Through the Eyes of Others
In ancient Greece, in the province of Lacedaemonia on the Peloponnesian peninsula, there lived the Spartans. The Spartans were well known for, among other things, their ability to say much with few words. In today’s English, that ability is defined by the word laconic, the root of which comes from the Spartan’s home province of Lacedaemonia. (Never let it be said you don’t learn anything by reading these articles.) Of course, the head coach of an NFL team doesn’t have the luxury of being laconic. He has to fill airtime with detailed explanations and insights during pre-game and post-game interviews. Ditto for the on-air personalities; they have no choice. Consider the following exchange...


• Service Lite: Part II
• Certified Tire ServiceTechnicians
• Training Quiz
• What’s Your Opinion?

It’s a Wheel Bad Bummer
Since practically all fatal accidents result in some type of legal action, this case was probably no different...

Experts from both sides will study the wheels, fasteners, studs, pilot pads (if applicable), drums, hubs, impact wrench or torque wrench, torque sticks and socket to search for a cause. The plaintiff’s lawyers will determine where the money is and name those parties in the suit. If the company hasn’t incorporated, anything the owners possess is up for grabs. Of course, the insurance company likely holds the keys to the mythical money tree that will be sought after by the lawyers, which means the tire company’s training program, with its required records, will be gone over with a fine-tooth comb...

• Service Lite
• Certified Tire ServiceTechnicians
• Training Quiz
• What’s Your Opinion?