Modern Tire Dealer - Articles

Technology. Innovation. Expertise

This special section sponsored by the Italian Trade Commission provides an up-close look at several companies that are at the vanguard of tire, retread and garage equipment technology.

Manufacturers refuse to choose

Nearly all of the tire manufacturers outside of China were non-committal while the consumer tire import controversy played itself out. Many released statements, but they said little and refused to take sides, even after the final decision was announced.

Dealers react to tariff decision

One dealer called it “bad for the United States.” Another dealer called it “anti-consumer.” Yet another said it was “politically motivated.”

Road trip!

Did you check the spare tire?” I asked the tire dealer. My wife’s 2007 Saturn Vue had undergone a “used vehicle inspection” in preparation for my trip from Akron, Ohio, to Sarasota, Fla., and back, and I was getting ready to pay the bill.

The tire/vehicle system

Tires play a vital role in vehicle operational safety. However, they have not always been viewed as products ripe for safety enhancements.

Condition: stable

With apologies to Mark Twain, it appears that the rumors of the death of the large pickup truck/SUV market have been greatly exaggerated.

Hail to the new TIA chief

What do Pepsi, women’s clothes and lumber have in common with Wayne Croswell? All three products were produced or marketed by companies looking for a business software provider in the late 1970s, and Croswell wrote the software for them.

Traverse carefully

The tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) on the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse displays both individual tire pressures and their locations on the vehicle’s Driver Information Center (DIC). The system uses several components: an Engine Control Module (ECM), Body Control Module (BCM), Instrument Panel Cluster (IPC), DIC, Remote Control Door Lock Receiver (RCDLR) and a radio frequency transmitting pressure sensor in each tire and wheel assembly.

Alignment updates

Make it fast, make it accurate, make it work in my shop layout and help me make customers happy. Alignment equipment suppliers have heard your requests and have answered them with new features to fulfill your needs.

Cultivating an online tire store

Consumer shopping behavior is changing, as I am sure you have noticed. Consumers have found the Web a better, easier and faster way of shopping for your products.

Mind-body balance

Would you sit back and twiddle your thumbs while a competitor poached your customers and employees? Would you blow off network security until a vicious virus crashed your computer system?

Rocky Mountain high

Two tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) are available for the 2009 Chrysler Aspen. The Base TPMS consists of sensors attached to each wheel through the valve stem mounting hole; a Wireless Control Module (WCM); and an indicator lamp. The Premium TPMS consists of sensors also attached to each wheel; a WCM; three wheel sensor transponders located in three of the four wheel wells; an electronic display; and an indicator lamp.

Trailer tire trends

Often overlooked and under-appreciated, trailer tires contribute a great deal to a tractor-trailer’s performance. They play a major role in a rig’s overall rolling resistance. And if a trailer tire springs a leak, it can have a detrimental effect on a rig’s basic movement.

Steady progress

Steady as she goes is one way to describe Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp.’s medium truck tire program. Seemingly content to eschew the fanfare that other manufacturers employ when promoting programs and products, the Cypress, Calif.-based company has been quietly building its truck tire dealer network, as well as its portfolio of tires.

'Revenue heals all wounds'

"I didn’t realize how good it was back then,” says John Cupedro of the early 2000s. “I don’t think anybody realized how good we had it.” The commercial truck tire business was booming at the time, according to the president of Economy Tire Service Co. Inc. (ETS) in Cleveland, Ohio. ETS, a single location dealership, was enjoying year-over-year growth.

Snider Tire opens Houston retread plant

Despite a particularly devastating recession that has forced many commercial tire dealerships to put their expansion plans on hold, Snider Tire Inc. is pressing forward. The Greensboro, N.C.-based company recently made a substantial investment by replacing its existing retread shop in Houston, Texas, with a new, 100,000-square-foot Michelin Retread Technologies Inc. (MTRI) plant.

Online, on target

For more than 50 years, tire retailers have relied on mass media such as newspapers, Yellow Pages, radio and television to reach customers. And it has worked — so well, in fact, that it managed to change media-user expectations.

Everybody's jumping on the BAN-wagon

State by state, lead wheel weights are being targeted for elimination. Vermont, Maine and Washington already have enacted bills prohibiting their use. California and Iowa have pending legislation.

How our world changed in five months

n 2000, Congress passed a China-specific addendum to the Trade Act of 1974. The statute, Section 421, gives domestic manufacturers a safeguard against an increase in Chinese imports that leads to a “market disruption.”

Museum gave Goodyear historical perspective

The World of Rubber is now closed, and Charles Goodyear (at least his statue) has left the building.