The History of Tires
Four hundred years ago people only knew wooden or metal wheels. Then in the mid 1800 rubber tires were invented and came into use. These tires were able to absorb shock in accidents and resisted cutting of the tire, as vehicles were quite slow in that time so treads were not added to the wheels making it very easy for the car to slip on wet roads and quite dangerous to stop as the tires were also very thin.
In 1845 the pneumatic (air filled) tires were patented The compressed air in the tire casing withstood shocks. These tires had to be filled completely making them very hard and, as the tires were no longer solid, easy to break. Due to their high durability the plain rubber tires stayed in use until 1895 when Michelin and Cie equipped an automobile with pneumatic tires for a race and through this raised an interest of the public for the tires. It was then that the pneumatic tire took over the industry. Rubber tires were soon discouraged as they were to hard for roads.
Thanks to the pneumatic tires Michelin had become the leading tire producers in Europe. In 1948 they invented the radial tire. These tires have ply cords, made of nylon, rayon and polyester, radiating at 90 degrees from the edge of the wheel, a steel fabric belt that runs the circumference of the tire and strengthens the casing. Radial tires have longer tread lives, and less resistance when rolling allowing them to drive distances using less gas than the rubber tires. In the following years radial tires were the most commonly used tires in Europe.
In 1967 the American company Goodyear introduced their invention the Custom Superwide Polyglas. This tire added fiberglass to bias-ply tires. These tires could be used on the old bias-ply tires and used the same machines in their process of creation. This allowed even old cars to receive better and safer tires. When the 1973 Gasoline crisis hit the USA more and more cars were imported as their radial tires allowed the car to drive long distances at a cheaper price than the Custom Superwide Polyglas tires. in a time span of about ten years the 15% of cars imported to the USA rose to 28%. By 1983 all US cars were radial tire cars.
These tires have since been developed to better cope with different weather conditions and different roads.
In 1845 the pneumatic (air filled) tires were patented The compressed air in the tire casing withstood shocks. These tires had to be filled completely making them very hard and, as the tires were no longer solid, easy to break. Due to their high durability the plain rubber tires stayed in use until 1895 when Michelin and Cie equipped an automobile with pneumatic tires for a race and through this raised an interest of the public for the tires. It was then that the pneumatic tire took over the industry. Rubber tires were soon discouraged as they were to hard for roads.
Thanks to the pneumatic tires Michelin had become the leading tire producers in Europe. In 1948 they invented the radial tire. These tires have ply cords, made of nylon, rayon and polyester, radiating at 90 degrees from the edge of the wheel, a steel fabric belt that runs the circumference of the tire and strengthens the casing. Radial tires have longer tread lives, and less resistance when rolling allowing them to drive distances using less gas than the rubber tires. In the following years radial tires were the most commonly used tires in Europe.
In 1967 the American company Goodyear introduced their invention the Custom Superwide Polyglas. This tire added fiberglass to bias-ply tires. These tires could be used on the old bias-ply tires and used the same machines in their process of creation. This allowed even old cars to receive better and safer tires. When the 1973 Gasoline crisis hit the USA more and more cars were imported as their radial tires allowed the car to drive long distances at a cheaper price than the Custom Superwide Polyglas tires. in a time span of about ten years the 15% of cars imported to the USA rose to 28%. By 1983 all US cars were radial tire cars.
These tires have since been developed to better cope with different weather conditions and different roads.