PAGE FOUR
ssiwi
JUNE 10, 1955
What You Should Know About Fire*
THE 500—The Firestone “500,” first nylon tubeless tire to be
developed by the tire industry, is exhibited by Lee R. Jackson (left).
President, and Raymond C. Firestone, Executive Vice-President. The
tire was engineered to incorporate new rubber compounds and race
tire construction principles. It became available to motorists in the
spring of 1954.
MM'
SUPREME TEST—Roaring along at 80 miles an hour on the
Indianapolis Speedway, the late Wilbur Shaw, world famous auto
mobile driver, retained perfect control of his car after purposely
blowing out the Firestone blowout-safe, puncture-proof and tubeless
Supreme tire on the left front wheel. A large group of newspaper,
magazine, radio and television representatives witnessed the Indian
apolis demonstration in 1950, “The car remained under perfect con
trol at the time of the blowout and afterwards,” said Mr. Shaw.
COMPLETE LINE OF TUBELESS TIRES—A tubless tire for
every form of transportation, postwar goal of the rubber industry,
became a reality with Firestone’s development of tires without tubes
for all types of vehicles including farm and giant earth-moving equip
ment. The picture above illustrates the wide range of Firestone
tubeless tires for automobiles, small trucks, large trucks, taxis,
jeeps, farm tractors, farm implements, airplanes, rock quarry, log
ging equipment and earth haulers.
“In order to sell a product you must
know your product.”
That’s how Isadore Gold of Plant 2, in
Akron, sums up a simple truth he learned the
hard way.
Mr. Gold’s job is curing Firestone tube
less tires. Just recently, his brother-in-law
decided to trade in the tires and tubes on his
automobile for a set of tubeless tires. He’d
heard a lot about tubeless tires; he wanted to
know what company’s are best. So he asked
Mr. Gold.
And Mr, Gold found he couldn’t answer
all the questions. To be sure, he advised buy
ing Firestone tires. But he couldn’t tell his
brother-in-law details of the background,
construction and operating advantages of
Firestone tubeless tires.
By talking with his foreman, Mr. Gold
corrected his lack of knowledge and learned
the full story of Firestone tubeless tires.
Mr. Gold isn’t the only Firestone em
ployee who has wanted to know more about
the Company’s leadership in developing tube
less tires and about the tubeless tires that
Firestone is now producing. Every day
friends and relatives ask employees about
the new tubeless tires. It’s natural for people
seeking information about a product to ask
the men and women who make it. If Fire
stone employees know the answers, they can
help to sell more Firestone products.
* :i5 :i!
HERE, THEN, is a digest of information
about Firestone tubeless tires. The facts have
been published before in the Company’s news
releases and advertising. By reviewing them,
Firestone employees can help their Company
and themselves.
In hundreds of ways the 1955 model
automobiles are distinctive from those of
earlier years, but none of the improvements
is more important to the safety and comfort
of the American motorists than tubeless
tires, standard equipment on all makes and
models of new cars.
History And Development
Behind the development of tubeless tires
are years of work by Firestone. More than 20
years ago, the Company began testing tires
without inner tubes. During World War II,
when the shortage of rubber was critical,
many military vehicles rolled on tire casings
made airtight without tubes. The recent de
velopment of new synthetic rubbers with
the highest degree of air retention and of
new and stronger synthetic tire cord made
volume production of tubeless tires practical.
Firestone engineers discovered how these
new rubbers and cord fabrics could be used
to make a completely airtight casing.
The research and development work was
directed toward two types of tubeless tires.
One was the 100-level tubeless tire, a tire
comparable to the tire used for original
equipment on new automobiles. The other
was a premium tire that would have not only
the advantages of tubeless construction, but
be puncture-sealing and blowout-safe, the
first tire of its kind and the safest ever to be
made.
This tire, the Firestone Supreme, was
introduced during 1950 at the Indianapolis
Speedway. The secret of its blowout safety
was an inner diaphragm of rubber and fabric
constructed so that if the tire wall blows out
the diaphragm automatically retains the
great bulk of air, enough to support the car
and make it controllable at any speed.
Soon, the Company perfected the first
De Luxe Champion tubeless tire. This too
was introduced and made available to the
public through the Company’s retail stores
and franchised independent dealers.
Major automobile manufacturers were
looking closely at the performance of the new
Firestone tubeless tires. A milestone was
reached when Packard Motor Company of
fered Firestone De Luxe Champion tubeless
tires as optional equipment on its 1954
models.
Next to be introduced was the Firestone
“500,” the strongest tire ever made. The all
nylon “500,” named after the race where it
was developed, became available in the spring
of 1954. At that time, the extra protection
tubeless tires give against blowouts and punc
tures had been proved to the American pub
lic. One question about them remained:
Would tubeless tires stay on the rim under
the most punishing conditions? Firestone
men found out in tests on an abrasive aban
doned airstrip at Palatka, Florida, and at
Akron Airport that spring, when Irish
Horan’s Hell Drivers put the tires through
the most brutal torture tests. The tubeless
tires passed the tests—stayed on the rims
at extremely low pressures—and did not lose
air—while conventional tire and tube com
binations buckled and blew out under condi
tions no normal driver could duplicate.
Automobile manufacturers were con
vinced too. They too had put Firestone tube
less tires through punishing tests. For 1955.
the manufacturers of America’s leading
motor cars decided, Firestone tubeless tires
would be standard original equipment on all
new models.
And Firestone, which had pioneered
tubeless tires, had a brand new tubeless tire
for_ these cars, the new De Luxe Champion,
which, in addition to the advantages of tube
less construction, has a radically improved
tread design. This design increases both for
ward traction and protection against side
skids,^ makes the tire glide over rough roads,
run silently and without squealing on turns.
In all domestic tire factories, Firestone
was improving production facilities and con
verting them for the production of tubeless
tires. A giant tire cord treating plant to make
tubeless tire bodies even stronger and safer
was installed at Firestone Textiles, Gastonia,
North Carolina. Demands from auto manu
facturers were heavy and Firestone Dealers
and Stores needed thousands of tubeless tires
to supply motorists who wanted to switch to
tubeless tires.
In February, the Company produced its
6,000,000th tubeless tire. Present production
is at a rate exceeding 1,000,000 tubeless tires
a month. Seventy-five per cent of all pas
senger car tires coming from domestic plants
of the Company are tubeless.
WHAT MAKES TUBELESS
TIRES BETTER?
They're Safer
1. Greatly increased protection against blow
outs. No_ tube to rupture or otherwise fail
with rapid escape of air which makes blow
out dangerous.
2. Stronger, greater resistance to impact
iDreaks with new synthetic tire cord that
is stretched and Gum-Dipped.
3. Puncture resistant because of air-impervi
ous safety liner—and integral part of the
tire, replacing tube as air container. Liner
prevents loss of air.
4. Because inner tube is eliminated, flat tires
due to tube pinching, foreign matter
tube and other tube failures cannot occur-
5. Run at cooler temperatures because light
er and stronger and have no tube to hold
heat.
They Last Longer
1. Greater mileage because they run cooler*
2. Proper balance, therefore more even wear>
easier to obtain with single unit than wi^l^
two-piece tire and tube.