Better Understanding Your Tires

The tire. The best thing after the wheel and sliced bread. We have them on every car in America and forget that a lot goes into these marvelous rubber inventions. Whether you’re an ice road trucker whose tires need to have maximum grip with chains on them, a casual commuter, a racecar driver, or even if you’re just trailing a tire down the road with a stick because you’re bored, tires are essential and everywhere. Let’s go through some of the basics about tires, and just what are they all about. 

History of The Tire

Robert Wiliam Thomson was the first person to invent the vulcanized, inflatable, rubber tire. He patented his creation in 1845, however, it was a bit too costly to catch on until a Scottish veterinarian by the name of John Boyd Dunlop patented a pneumatic(inflatable) tire for bicycles in 1888. Later on in 1895, André Michelin(sound familiar?) and his brother Edouard first used pneumatic tires on cars, just not with success. Finally, in 1911 a man named Phillip Strauss invented a pneumatic tire that could be safely used on automobiles. And the rest, as they say, is history. 

Components

So what are tires made of? It’s just rubber, right? Wrong you fucking dipshit. It’s mostly rubber plus other shit. It’s a mix of several materials. There is authentic rubber in there, as well as synthetic rubber. The mix of the two creates a more durable product. There is also some fabric and wire on the inside, and carbon black which is a material made by the incomplete combustion of coal and coal tar. This compound is used to further strengthen the tire, color it a bit, and coat it for protection.  

Now when it comes to tires there are two main sections. The body and the tread. The tread is what you see on the outside that consists of patterned grooves to help the tire keep traction along the road. The tread area consists of those grooves, “the rib” which is the center strip, and sipes, which are smaller grooves. Varying tires from varying brands will have a myriad of different patterns along the tire. Depending on what kind of driving you’re doing, be it just commuting to work or racing in Formula 1, you’ll have different patterns or lack thereof as well. 

Master Muffler Salt Lake City deals with all sorts of brands of tires. There isn’t a tire they haven’t seen. Here are just a few of the name brands they work with every day:

• Michelin
• Pirelli
• Yokohama
• Bridgestone
• El Dorado Tire
• Hankook
• Toyo Tires
• And more 

Now, the body of the tire is what you don’t see. It contains compressed air that inflates the tire. It also contains the fabric and wire that line the inside of the tire, providing support to the tire walls. All along the inner parts and sidewall, there are nylon overlays and steel belts that keep this tire sturdy. If only when a tire does blow out it could just be blown back up. But because of all these special components, it will most likely have to be replaced. However, it is also all the tiny components and advancements in tire technology that keep people on the road safe, with fewer blowouts. We’ve come a long way since Thomson and Dunlop. 

Something you can do to ensure your tires are safe and roadworthy is to take them into Master Muffler Salt Lake City for a variety of services to keep you on the road. Just some of which include tire rotations and inspections, patches, tune-ups, and alignments. The technicians can replace and repair flats, install new tires, and more. It’s a full tire service offered at Master Muffler Salt Lake. You can guarantee you’ll be back on the road in no time.