Closing the Retread Gap Technology Helps Today's Retreads Rival New Tires in Quality and Safety

摘要

Tire manufacturers are constantly exploring ways to make the retread process more cost effective while increasing productivity.Many retread tire manufacturers still cite long-standing quality and safety misconceptions as the retread industry's biggest hurdle,but recent advancements in manufacturing technology are helping tire dealers and fleet managers understand the benefits of retreads,specifically in the commercial trucking sector.At Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.,developing retreads that rival the performance of new tires is one of the top goals for the company's engineers,according to Dustin Lancy,Goodyear's regional/urban commercial product marketing manager.He said one way Goodyear accomplishes this is through its UniCircle technology,which gives Goodyear retread tires a seamless design that adheres closely to the tire casing to deliver a precise fit and helps expand the life of the tire casings.At Bandag,the business of Bridgestone dedicated to retreading,the retreading process starts by taking each tire casing going through a 10-step process to determine if it is even qualified for retreading,according to Clay Timmons,manager of global dealer systems for Bandag,Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations(BATO).Bandag uses a patented,solid-state,nondestructive inspection machine exclusive to Bandag dealers to expose tires to up to 50,000 volts of electricity,which checks for punctures that cannot be seen by the human eye.Bandag and other retread manufacturers are also focusing their efforts on reducing the chance a tire casing could be damaged during the buffing process,where the old tread rubber is removed from the tire casing before applying the new tread.