MOUNTING HEAVY-DUTY TIRES AND RIMS

Increasing size and use of rubber-tired mining equipment, plus the constant need for replacing
tires in rugged, mining terrain, all combine to increase tire handling hazards and the number of
miners exposed to hazards.

A. General Safety Awareness

1. All persons who work with tires and rims must fully understand the potential
hazards. Also, they must be taught:
a. which rims, flags, and tires to mount together, and
b. how to spot defects, and what the safe procedure is for each part of the job.
2. Tires, rims, and lock flags should be inspected frequently while in service. Any
suspect part should be checked.
3. Tires should be completely depressurized before any attempt is made to remove
the wheel from the vehicle.
4. Before work of any type is attempted on large tires, every precaution should be
taken to see that the area is free of water, grease, mud, pebbles, or any other
material that would prevent a secure footing.
5. No work should be performed on a tire unless there is sufficient space to permit a
miner to jump clear if the tire should accidentally fall over.
6. No attempt should ever be made to roll or guide a tire while standing beside the
tire. The repair person should stand directly behind the tire and roll it. This
position minimizes the hazard of the tire falling on the person.

B. Inflating and Deflating Tires

1. Eye protection is essential during tire inflation. Also, a person’s face should be
turned away from the tire while it is being filled with air.
2. Restraining devices and limit gauges must be considered as additional safeguards.
An effort must be made to prevent blowoffs, not only to contain them.
3. Even though a tire appears to be flat, it may still contain enough air to be
dangerous. Therefore, before a heavy-duty tire is removed from a rim, the valve
core should be removed from the valve stem. Persons doing this work must wear
eye or face protection, or both, and be positioned out of the direct line of escaping
air.

Changing Tires

1. If tires must be changed on the roadway, all trucks should be supplied with wheel
chocks, jacks, tools, and gauges as well as flags, flares, and warning devices. The
drivers should park the truck on level ground where there is solid footing for
jacking up the truck and ample clearance for moving traffic.
2. The driver should park the vehicle, turn off the engine, and set the parking brake.
If the vehicle is equipped with a blade or bucket, it should be lowered to the
ground.
3. Wheels, tires, and rims should not be thrown, dropped, or otherwise roughly
handled. The vehicle’s wheels should be chocked with blocks. Flares or flasher
barricades should be set out at night. Red fluorescent flags should be set out in the
daytime.
4. In cases where large mining vehicles are inoperative and cannot be removed from
steep inclines, another large truck or heavy vehicle may have to be positioned
against the inoperative vehicle to assist in keeping it from rolling. After the assist
vehicle is positioned, the driver should park the vehicle, turn off the engine, and
set the parking brake. If the assist vehicle is equipped with a blade or bucket, it
should be lowered to the ground.
5. Lug nuts or bolts should be loosened before the vehicle is raised.
6. Jacks used to raise the vehicle must be perpendicular to the ground. All jacks
operated by compressed air should have hoses and attachments tested and
serviced at least once a week.
7. Some wheels are secured to the hubs with heavy steel wedges held in place by lug
bolts. Foot and leg injuries result from the accidental falling of these wedges.
Sometimes it is necessary to loosen these with a hammer. The person using the
hammer should take a position to the side of the tire and away from the direct line
of failing wedges. Safety shoes must be worn.
8. When the wheel is picked up to be placed on the wheel hub, all mine employees
must stay out from between the oncoming wheel and the hub. It is recommended
that a cable hook or probe be used to help position the dangling tire.
9. Dual wheels should be installed so that the valve on the inside wheel can be easily
reached for inflation and checking. Also, the nuts on the inside wheels should be
checked to see that they are securely tightened before outside wheels are mounted.
10. Finally, the lug bolts should be tightened and the jack removed from under the
vehicle; the vehicle should be driven about 500 feet after the lug bolts are tightened; the wheel should be examined for proper alignment of rims, rings, and flanges; and if the wheel is in good order, the lug bolts should be retightened. If alignment is improper, the tire should be deflated and the wheel reassembled correctly.