TYPES OF TIRE TREADSFigure 3-20.—Nondirectional mud or snow tread.Figure 3-21.-Cross-country tread.by improperly balanced tires, bad front-end alignment,or operating an all-wheel drive vehicle with thefront-wheel drive engaged on hard-surfaced roads. Thiswear must be documented and turned in for repair.Tire treads are made for a specific purpose. The typeof equipment you are operating and the type of job youare performing dictates what type of tire and tread youshould use.Directional TreadThe directional mud and snow tread (fig. 3-18) is ofa V-design with large spaces between the lugs. Thespaces between the lugs are kept free from snow becauseof tire rotation and flexing, therefore improving traction.A direction tire maybe mounted on the rim only in oneway and delivers traction in one direction only. Thepoint of the V-design must contact the ground first whentraction is required. When directional tread tires aremounted on a dead or steering axle (unless theequipment is all-wheel drive), they are mounted so theopen V meets the ground first (fig. 3-19). This type oftread is commonly found on graders.Nondirectional TreadThe nondirectional mud and snow tread design (fig.3-20) also has large spaces between the lugs. The lugsare placed perpendicular to the center line of the tire.This design provides good traction in both directions.Cross-Country TreadThe cross-country tread (fig. 3-21) is the same asthe mud and snow tread, except that the cross-countrytread has rounded shoulders.Regular TreadRegular tread (fig. 3-22) consists of small spacesbetween tread patterns. This allows for a quiet ride andFigure 3-22.—Regular tread.3-11
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