AUGUST, 1956
®3HWi
PAGE 5
Firestone Tubeless Tires For Trucks
WEIGHT SAVINGS-DISC WHEEL MOUNTING
TUBELESS Vs. CONVENTIONAL TRUCK
TIRE RUNNING TEMPERATURE
225
CONVENTIONAL
, TIRE 131.0 LBS. TIRE 118.5 LBS.
WHEEL 100.0 " WHEEL 73.5 ■■
TOTAL 231.0 " TOTAL 192.0 "
TUBElfSS SAVES 39.0 LBS. PER WHEEL
156.0 " ■' AXLE
NEW FIRESTONE TUBELESS
TRUCK TIRE SIZES
200
175
150
125
100
10.00-20 CONVENTION
11-22.5 T
AL 207 °F.
JBELESS 182 "F.
LOAD-5000*
SPEED 60 M.P.H.
2 3 4 5
TIME-HOURS
SIZE
PRESENT
TUBELESS
6.50-16
6.50-16
7.00-15
15" H.D.
7-17.5
7.00-16
7.50-15
7.50-16
8-17.5
7.00-17
7.50-17
8-19.5
6.50-20
7.00-20
7-22.5
7.50-20
8-22.5
SIZE
PRESENT
TUBELESS
8.25-20
9-22.5
9.00-20
10-22.5
10.00-20
‘11-22.5
10.00-22
11-24.5
11.00-20
12-22.5
11.00-22
12-24.5
★ ★ ★ ★
Tests Prove Money Saved ...
The owners of fleets of various types of
trucks asked for proof that tubeless truck
tires are more economical for their par
ticular operations. To answer these truck
owners with facts, W. E. Lyon, Director of
Tire Engineering and Development for Fire
stone, released the reports his engineers
compiled from the experience of 18 trucking
companies. Some have been using tubeless
truck tires for more than a year.
“Results obtained by truckers in all parts
of the country who have carried practically
all types of solid and liquid cargo prove be
yond any reasonable doubt that the use of
tubeless tires saves money and time,” ac
cording to Mr. Lyon.
A digest of the reports of 18 companies
follows:
A company in South Dakota using fuel
tankers on long hauls has 375 tires, size
10-22.5, which have not had any road delays
in their first 40,000 miles of service. These
tubeless tires and rims, as compared with
Conventional tire and tube assemblies, give
a 750-pound per vehicle weight saving,
^hich means a corresponding increase in
payload.
Two Indiana companies with long-haul
general freight runs with 131 10-22.5 size
tires already have exceeded 87,000 miles of
Service on original treads.
Six general freight haulers, using 4,587
tubeless truck tires of the 11-22.5 size re
port excellent service. One company sub
mitted data from which the following two-
^onth road delay comparison table was
Computed:
MATES WITH TUBED-TYPE RIM
ON DUAL WHEELS
The above illustration shows how the com
bination dual mounting is accomplished. This
complete interchangeability provides for rapid
conversion to tubeless truck tires and rims for
the eventual elimination of the tubed-type tires.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Tires
with Tubes Tubeless
Number of tires
running (average) 1,195 3,857
Number of punctures 110 36
Road delays due
to punctures 27 7
These figures reveal that by using tube
less tires, punctures and road delays for this
one company have been reduced by 90 per
cent and service per tire on drive wheels has
increased to more than 55,000 miles as com
pared with 45,000 miles for tire and tube
combinations. Drivers also are reporting an
easier ride with the tubeless tires.
Seven companies using 248 11-24.5 size
tubeless tires report high mileage figures
and such statements as “specifying tubeless
on new equipment ... no road delays . . .
service satisfactory with many tires running
at 100,000 miles on original treads . . . easier
ride ... air loss equal to conventional tires
and tubes.”
A car haul-away company in Michigan re
moved its tractor tires for the first time at
62,000 miles for retreading, a very high
mileage report for this type of trucking
operation.
A general-freight, long-haul company in
Colorado, plagued by tube pinching, now is
free of all tube problems.
All reports emphasized that tubeless tire
mileage was better or as satisfactory as mile
age of conventional tires and tubes; road de
lays and punctures were greatly reduced or
practically eliminated, riding qualities of
trucks were improved, payloads were in
creased, and all were placing or had placed
orders for tubeless tires on their new equip
ment.
1
RECORD MILEAGE—Accurate records of tubeless tire mile
age are kept by major truck operators to prove the advantages of
the new Firestone-developed assemblies. Above, personnel of an
Akron fleet measure and record tread wear.
sit-
EASIER TO MOUNT—A serviceman applies tire mounting
compound to a tubeless truck tire before mounting it on a one-piece
rim. Special tools have been developed that make tubeless tires
easier to mount, demount and repair than tires with lubes.
RIMS PRODUCED HERE—The newly developed one-piece
truck rims are being mass-produced at Steel Products. They make
possible the use of tubeless tires on 1956 model highway trucks.
Above, after being welded, the rims are expanded and rounded by
a 750-ton hydraulic press.