HOT SPRINGS, S.D.—Light truck tire retreading specialist TreadWright Inc. has installed capacity at its Hot Springs plant for bead-to-bead remolding of tires for light trucks and SUVs that bear the TreadWright brand name.
“The new bead-to-bead product offers our customers a tire that has a new look and feel,” said Joel Hawkins, vice president for TreadWright.
The company, he noted, uses only premium casings, which when coupled with the bead-to-bead technology, yield remolded tires that look and perform like new.
“Our tires provide superior value because, without sacrificing safety or handling, the cost can be as much as 60 percent less than a comparable brand name tire,” Mr. Hawkins said.
TreadWright said using a premium sidewall veneer provides the additional benefit of improving the tire's air retention, thereby extending durability.
TreadWright began branding retreads with its own name in 2008.
The company invested roughly $145,000 in the expansion—presses from SIO A.p.S. and molds/endplates from Cima Impianti S.p.A.—and plans to invest $60,000 more in expanding further, Mr. Hawkins said.
Initially, TreadWright will offer bead-to-bead tires in six sizes—31/10.50R15 Guard Dog; 265/75R16 Sentinel; 265/70R17 Sentinel; 285/75R16 Warden and Guard Dog; 285/65R18 Guard Dog; and 315/70R17 Guard Dog—with plans to expand to other sizes in the future.
Now in its 32nd year in business, TreadWright—originally called High-Tec Retreading—is owned and operated by Joel and Rick Hawkins Jr., grandsons of company founder Joe Hawkins.
The Hawkins brothers have specialized in retreads for off-roading and have developed a brisk on-line business, selling directly to customers around the country through the treadwright.com website.
With daily production of about 180 light truck retreads, TreadWright ranks among the five largest passenger and light truck tire retreaders in North America.
Among the features TreadWright uses in its specialty retreads is Kedge Grip, a traction additive consisting of crushed walnut shells and crushed glass particles that provide additional traction edges by creating voids or providing surface grit.
The company also tells customers it strives to supply matching sets of tires built on the same brand of tire casing.
Hot Springs is a town of about 3,700 that is the county seat of Fall River County in southwest South Dakota.