SALT LAKE CITY (July 29, 2003)—After several years of testing, Goodyear is officially making available commercially its two-piece, off-the-road tire, a product the Akron-based tire maker hopes will solve many challenges facing mining companies.
Comparing the introduction of the two-piece assembly—featuring a replaceable treadbelt package—to the advent of radial and all-season tires, Goodyear said the tire offers reduced downtime for tire changeovers, higher payload capabilities, improved traction, handling, stability and ride on haul trucks. It also improves productivity and provides a cost-per-ton savings.
The company will offer the assembly initially in size 45R57 for large haulage trucks.
The two-piece tire includes a casing and a treadbelt package, each with corresponding grooves that interlock during assembly. Once assembled, the two pieces are held together by air pressure, Goodyear said.
Damage to either the tread or the sidewall would not doom the entire tire, Goodyear said. For example, a tread damaged by a rock cut can be changed in a shorter time than demounting and mounting the entire tire would take, the tire maker claimed.
“Normally, tire changes on a large mining truck can take as much as eight to nine hours,” said Tom Walker, general manager of off-the-road tires. “With the two-piece assembly, you can change a treadbelt package in a fraction of the time.”
Goodyear is building the two-piece assembly tire at its off-the-road/truck tire factory in Topeka, Kan.
The tire maker selected that plant for investment in its medium radial truck tire line in 2002. The investment from that project and the two-piece assembly is estimated at more than $100 million over five years, Goodyear said.