Tire Review, July 2013

Part 6 in TIRE REVIEW’S Exclusive Series Gives You a Thorough Lesson in Wheel Fitment and Tire Sizing!

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TIRE REVIEW (ISSN 0040-8085)(JULY 2013, Volume 113, Number 07. Published monthly by Babcox Media Inc., 3550 Embassy Parkway, Akron, OH 44333 U.S.A. Phone (330)670-1234, FAX (330) 670-0874. Periodical postage paid at Akron, OH 44333 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send addresschanges to Tire Review, 3550 Embassy Parkway, Akron, OH 44333. A limited number of complimentary subscriptions are available to individu-als who meet the qualification requirements. Call (330) 670-1234, ext. 242, to speak to a subscription services representative or FAX us at (330)670-5335. Paid subscriptions are available for non-qualified subscribers at the following rates: U.S.: $69 for one year. Canada: $89 for one year.Canadian rates include GST. Ohio residents add current county sales tax. Other foreign rates/via airmail: $129 for one year. Payable in ad-vance in U.S. funds. Mail payment to Tire Review, P.O. Box 75692, Cleveland, OH 44101-4755. Visa, MasterCard or American Express ac-cepted. Founded in 1901. © 2013 by Babcox Media Inc. “Tire Review” is a trademark of Babcox Media Inc., registered with the U.S. Patentand Trademark office. All rights reserved. Publisher reserves the right to reject any subscription that does not conform to his standards or buy-ing power coverage. Advertising which is below standard is refused. Opinions in signed articles and advertisements are not necessarily thoseof this magazine or its publisher. Diligent effort is made to ensure the integrity of every statement. Unsolicited manuscripts must be accompa-nied by return postage.

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■ FIRST LOOK: TireReview.comSocial Media + Employee Training + Financials | 6

■ COMMENTARY: First Off - Putting Change to Good Use | 8The Car Side - I Have Seen the Light! | 76

■ NEWSMAKERS:More Details on Apollo-Cooper Deal | 10Hercules Rolls Out Terra Trac AT II | 12TIA Sets GTE/SEMA Show Schedule | 14Goodyear Launches Newest Eagle | 16

■ BUSINESS:Market Intel - Tire & Service Pricing | 22Mobile Marketing - Mobile Ad Strategies | 24Selling Smart - Moments of Truth | 28

■ TIRES: TPMS - First and Second Generation Sensors | 58Tire Tech - Reducing Tire Noise | 62Truck Tires - Truck Tire Troubleshooting | 66

■ SOLUTIONS:Spotlights - Wiper Blades | 68Products | 70

CONTENTSJULY 2013Volume 113 | No. 07

FEATURES

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6 July 2013 | TireReview

TireReview.com Visitor Comments

FIRST LOOK ONLINE @TIREREVIEW.COM

Measuring Training Success

SafeguardingFinancialsWith hurricane season under wayand memories of tornadoes andother natural disasters fresh in ourminds, now is the time for individ-uals and businesses to safeguard

their tax records by taking a few simple steps.tirereview.com/inBusiness

How do we measure training? It’s a great question, and one that everytire dealer should consider. According to TR blogger and columnistSteve Ferrante, the best way to measure the effectiveness of sales/ser-vice employees and training on a day-to-day basis is to monitor andmanage activity at the point-of-sale. There are two key point-of-saleareas that should be measured and managed: face-to-face and tele-phone interactions. tirereview.com/blogs

inBUSINESS

MaximizingSocial EffortsWhat do you do once you’ve set upyour business page on Facebook,Twitter or Google+? You did all theright things, but if you’re still not

seeing the results you’d like, follow these tips to pave the way forthe next level of social media campaigning.tirereview.com/inBusiness

inBUSINESS

Ignorance Is Intent: Fatalities On TheRise“Your theory that this is a result of apa-thy and not the economy and gasprices does not line up with the na-tional trends. Just look at how mucholder the average age of vehicles hasrisen as a whole. This can greatly affectsafety and I seriously doubt that this is‘apathy,’ just harsh reality.”– Tire Sergeant

Rental Tires a Sad Reality in Post-CrashEconomy“Let’s hope that the parasites that feedon people making bad decisions won’t

spread further though. I’ve lived in mili-tary base cities where every corner waspopulated by parasite shops. Don’tknow how those business owners sleepat night.“– joeaverage21

“I disagree, everyone has a choice.These people CHOSE to have a Star-bucks every day, a case of beer everyfew days, take-out every Friday. Howmany of these people smoke? Tires arenot normally an emergency purchase.Any idiot can see with their own eyesthat their tires are getting worn down,they just don’t have the self control to

save up in advance. It’s too bad thereare so many people out there like thata new segment of the industry isborn.“– Rob

7 Ways to Attack a Competitor’sStrengths“Great article. This is all true. Attackinga competitor’s weaknesses won’t getyou very far today. You just have to bebetter at certain things. The customerexperience is themain factor.” – Turk

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Change is good, we are told.Change brings opportunity.And so it is in our little corner

of the world, where change has comeat a cosmic rate.

Change is never easy, as you know,but we see much opportunity in ourfuture thanks to the addition of newfaces and some new initiatives. Moreon the latter later.

Back in mid-April, David Moniz,publisher of both TIRE REVIEW and sis-ter publication FLEET EQUIPMENT, leftBabcox Media for his own new oppor-tunity. That gave us the opportunity tostrengthen our leadership with the hir-ing of two new publishers.

Randy Loeser has joined as the newpublisher of TIRE REVIEW. Loeser comesto us from LINQ2 Communications inCleveland, where he served as vicepresident of sales and operations since2010. He also has worked for severalnational business-to-business publish-ers in a variety of roles, including busi-ness development, marketing andInternet products management.

Randy brings a lot of energy andideas, and we’re excited about our ownfuture opportunities with him at thehelm. He can be reached at rloeser@ -babcox.com or 330-670-1234 ext. 285.

Across the hall, Dean Martin hasbeen named publisher of FLEET EQUIP-MENT. Many of you already knowDean; for the past 17 years, he has beena regional sales manager and associatepublisher with Babcox Media. Previ-ously, he was an executive with an-other business-to-business publisher.

Dean can be reached at dmartin@ -babcox.com or at 330-670-1234, ext. 225.

Denise Koeth, our managing editor

and the person who really makes theengine run around here, also is experi-encing some changes in her life. Sheand her husband, Ritch, anticipate thebirth of their first child in August, andit is an exciting and anxious time forthem both.

As she will return after maternityleave, Denise’s change gave us the op-portunity to add more talent to themix. Kristen Criswell has joined theTIRE REVIEW team as associate editor. Agraduate of the E.W. Scripps School ofJournalism at Ohio University, Kristenhas served as a digital media specialistand publicist at two Air Force bases –her husband is an Air Force pilot – andstarted her career with a newspaper inToledo, Ohio.

Kristen can be reached at kcriswell@ -babcox.com, or at 330-670-1234, ext. 273.

Anyone who runs a business – likeyou – knows that each day bringschange. Running a business, after all, isall about managing change. You eithermanage it, or it manages you.

We prefer to put our changes togood use.

Personally, I am very excited goingforward. We had a strong team prior toall of these changes. Once the dust set-tled, combined with our roster of con-tributing writers and other resources,TIRE REVIEW is stronger than ever.

We won’t waste that opportunity.As I mentioned, there are otherchanges in the works, some fantasticnew opportunities for our readers andbusiness partners alike in all-newrealms and platforms. Stay tuned, asthey say.

For now, please make welcome forour new team members and the latest

additions to the tire industry.

* * * * * * * Speaking of change, many details

are still to be worked out on ApolloTyre’s proposed purchased of CooperTire & Rubber Co., so I don’t want toget too far ahead of anything. Apollo’s$35 per share offer has been acceptedby the Cooper board, and shareholderswill respond as they see fit – thoughthere appears to be no real barriers.

How the enlarged Apollo Tyre willlook and act following the deal is stillto be determined – and not by analystsand lawyers and pundits like me.

But as I stated in my blog just afterthe deal was announced, the signifi-cance of this deal cannot be overstated.This is big. Truly a game-changer.

Many expected a Chinese firmwould make such a bold move – andthat may yet come – but Apollo is noThird World wanna-be. Throughoutthe last decade, Apollo has positioneditself for this moment. It modernizedsignificantly. It expanded its horizonsbeyond India, taking Dunlop in South-ern Africa and troubled Vredestein inEurope. It changed its look and feel,and reshaped itself as a major player.

And now it’s poised to be a Top 10global tire company.

Some 25 years ago, we were allstunned when Bridgestone stepped upto buy the staggering and strugglingFirestone Tire & Rubber Co. Analystspooh-poohed that deal. So did dealersand others. And you see how thatturned out.

Will Apollo-Cooper end that way?Only time will tell. Either way, it’s stilla very big deal. ■


PuttingChange toGood Use

New faces from different

places, moving forward

with new opportunities –

and you will benefit

COMMENTARY FIRST OFF

JIM SMITH

Editor

[email protected]

8 Purple_First Off 7/16/13 1:41 PM Page 8


While the June 12 announcement that India’s Apollo Tyre

Ltd. was acquiring Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. was hardly a

surprise, the backlash from Apollo shareholders and Indian

stock analysts was stunning – but seemed to have little ef-

fect on the progress of the deal.

At press time, The Economic Times reported that un-

named institutional investors were pleading with Apollo

management to pull the plug on the deal, having watched

the value of their shares fall some 40% in the weeks follow-

ing the announcement.

The Economic Times wrote on July 10 that these investors

believe Apollo is “over-pay-

ing” for synergies that will

be difficult to achieve, and

they consider the drop in

share price – the newspa-

per calculated the lost

share value to be in the

vicinity of $250 million – re-

flective of the “value-de-

structive” acquisition deal.

The publication did not

name the investors said to

be speaking with Apollo

management and stated it

was unable to verify their

identity due to alleged

“compliance issues.”

Apollo CFO Suman Sarkar responded to the report, saying

that Apollo is “in continual engagement with our sharehold-

ers at all times and has been proactively reaching out to

them post-deal announcement to explain the strategic ra-

tionale, the financing structure and the benefits to share-

holders.” Apollo is said to be aiming for cost synergies of

around $80 million to $100 million from acquiring Cooper.

At the opposite end, news of the acquisition pushed Cooper

stock values from around $22 per share to more than $33

per share, where they stayed at least through July 10.

Once completed, the $2.5 billion acquisition would create

the world’s seventh largest tire company with combined

global revenue of an estimated $6.6 billion, according to

TIRE REVIEW data. And the combined company would have

three major brands and a significant footprint in the U.S.,

Europe, South Africa, India and China.

Apollo Tyre would become the clear-cut leader of the fast-

growing Indian tire industry, overcoming such local rivals as

JK Tyre, Balkrishna Industries and others. And with the ac-

quisition, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. would be the only in-

dependent, home-grown major U.S. tiremaker.

To get there, though, Apollo will finance its acquisition al-

most entirely through debt. Some $2.1 billion, or around

85% of the total acquisition price, will be serviced by a hold-

ing entity housing Cooper and Apollo’s Netherlands-based

business – Vredestein. The remainder will be paid in cash.

The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of

2013, and Cooper will drop from the New York Stock Ex-

change as a privately held company.

Calling it a “transformational transaction,” Apollo chair-

man Onkar Kanwar said the deal “provides an unprece-

dented opportunity to serve customers across a host of

geographies in both developed and fast-growing emerging

markets around the world.

“Cooper is one of the most

respected names in the tire

industry, with an extensive

distribution network and

manufacturing infrastruc-

ture, and a particularly ro-

bust presence in North

America and China,” Kanwar

said. “The combined com-

pany will be uniquely posi-

tioned to address large,

established markets, such as

the U.S. and the European

Union, as well as the fast-

growing markets of India,

China, Africa and Latin

America, where there is sig-

nificant potential for further growth.”

“This is a compelling transaction” that “offers attractive

benefits to our customers and employees,” said Cooper

chairman and CEO Roy Armes. “We have watched Apollo’s

successful transformation into a major global tire group,

and have a great deal of respect for the company and its

leadership.

“We share a commitment to innovation, quality and cus-

tomer service, as well as to the core values of safety, envi-

ronmental sustainability, the development of our people

and giving back to our communities,” he continued. “We

look forward to working together to drive continued growth

in a dynamic global tire business where increased scale and

expanded manufacturing footprint help to ensure long-

term success.”

More Details on Apollo’sAcquisition of Cooper

INDUSTRY NEWS & EVENTS

NEWSMAKERS10-20 Red_Newsmakers 7/16/13 1:39 PM Page 10

Hercules Tire & Rubber Co. re-cently hosted a pair of driv-ing events for customers,

supporting the launch of the all-newHercules Terra Trac AT II light truck/ -SUV radial.

Separate events were hosted inMay and June in Pearsall, Texas, at atire test facility there, and in theback country around Moab, Utah.And both were held well in advanceof Hercules’ July 1 launch date forthe new tire.

The Texas event in June drew 20tire dealers, who drove the new TerraTrac AT II and competitive productsboth on the track and through the fa-cility’s off-road area. The day kickedoff with a brief educational presenta-tion on the features and benefits ofthe new tire, test results the companyhad developed, and informationabout launch and distribution plansfor the Terra Trac AT II.

Part of the event focused on thetire’s wet traction performance ver-sus a popular Tier 2 competitor. Par-ticipants went through the wet padcourse in a GMC Yukon, taking fourlaps on each tire. When not on thewet pad, dealers pulled hot laps in aBaja race truck shod with HerculesTrail Digger M/Ts.

The “all-terrain” part of the daywas spent on trails with six Jeeps fea-turing the new tire, allowing dealersto experience first-hand the tire’sabilities on dirt, rock, sand, mud anddeep water, with a challenging in-cline with rocky and polished con-crete surfaces to cap things off.

The two-day May event in Moabsaw 15 dealers go trail riding in Jeepsoutfitted with Terra Trac AT IIs andother Hercules light truck/SUV tires.A technical briefing started things offbefore guests “warmed up” on theFins n’ Things Trail, which featured“tight turns, loose rock, lots of sandand uneven, rocky terrain,” accord-ing to Hercules officials.

Day Two saw drivers tear off onthe Hell’s Revenge Trail “to get a bet-ter taste of slick rock, complete with

white-knuckle inclines, declines andoff-camber approaches,” Herculessaid.

Tire DetailsThe Hercules Terra Trac AT II is

the successor to the Terra Trac A/T,

which the company said was quitepopular during its decade-long mar-ket life. The new model features 29%more sipes than the previous tire,and a 17% improvement in treadlife,Hercules said, thanks to the Terra


■ NEWSMAKERS: NEWS & EVENTS gFollow@Tire_Review

> Hercules Tire & Rubber Co.

New Terra Trac AT II Tested in Pair of Dealer Events

Continued on

Hercules gave dealers a first-hand look at the new Terra Trac AT II in back-to-back events in Pearsall, Texas (the group is pictured below), and Moab, Utah. TheTexas event featured on- and off-road courses, while the two-day Utah ride anddrive focused solely on trail riding.

10-20 Red_Newsmakers 7/16/13 1:39 PM Page 12

It’s time once again to start plan-ning – if you haven’t already – forthe annual Global Tire Expo/SEMAShow, the tire industry’s only na-tional trade show and educationalconference.

Set for Nov. 5-8 at the Las VegasConvention Center, the annual eventpromises to be bigger and better thanever, with a wide range of educa-tional programs, special events and adedicated tire-oriented trade showarea. In all, some 200,000 people areexpected to attend the show, which ispaired with AAPEX.

TIA, which hosts the Global TireExpo, kicks off festivities with its an-nual meeting at The Cosmopolitan,the GTE’s host hotel, on Monday,Nov. 4 at noon. Later that day, at 5p.m. at The Cosmopolitan, TIA willhost guests for a wine and cheese so-cial leading up to its Tire IndustryHonors program at 6 p.m.

Tire Industry Honors includes theinductions of the Tire Industry Hallof Fame Class of 2013, the presenta-tion of special awards such as thewinner of the TIRE REVIEW Top Shop

Award, speeches by both the outgo-ing and incoming TIA presidents,and other events.

Following Tire Industry Honors,TIA will host its annual Welcome Re-ception, also at The Cosmopolitan,from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

The GTE trade show is open Nov.5-8 in the lower South Hall of theconvention center. The trade showruns from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each dayexcept Nov. 8, when it closes at 4 p.m.

During the week, TIA has sched-uled a number of educational ses-sions, also held at the Las VegasConvention Center. Those sessionsinclude:• Nov. 5

- TPMS @ 10: Understanding andManaging the Risks of Servicing TPMS

- Truck Tires @ 10: Shoulder Re-pairs in the Field

- Tires @ 2: Successful Tire DealersShare Their Secrets• Nov. 6

- TPMS @ 10: TPMS Troubleshoot-ing

- Truck Tires @ 10: Monitoring TirePressure on Trucks

- Tires @ 2: Understanding TireBuyers in the Information Age• Nov. 7

- Special Program at 2 p.m.: Un-derstanding the Patient Protectionand Affordable Care Act.

For more information and to reg-ister for the GTE/SEMA Show, visittireindustry.org.



Trac AT II’s new silica-infused AT-Call-terrain tread compound.

The “blatantly aggressive” treaddesign improves stability over theprevious model, Hercules claimed,and “independent testing saw theHercules Terra Trac AT II out-per-form its best-selling predecessor andother popular all-terrain offerings indry handling, dry braking, wet han-dling and wet braking tests.”

The tread design features “tusk-shaped grooves” to aid both waterevacuation and all-terrain traction,stone ejectors, and beveled androunded tread elements to battle un-even wear. Enhanced tread blockbuttressing improves block stability,Hercules claimed, while a mold pro-file shape creates a more stable con-tact patch.

“The Terra Trac AT II isn’t just abetter tire – it’s an all-new tire devel-oped using everything we’ve learned

in nearly 10 successful years with theTerra Trac A/T,” said Joshua Simp-son, vice president of marketing forHercules. “Consumers want – expect,really – high performance with greatvalue.

“The Hercules Terra Trac AT IIgives our dealers an edge by enablingthem to offer exactly that – a qualitytire that offers enormous value anddelivers security, longevity, control,quiet and stability.”

The Terra Trac AT II is available in46 SKUs comprised of P- and LT-met-ric sizes. All sizes offer a 60,000-mile/100,000-km limited mileagewarranty, road hazard protection andHercules’ 30-day “Trust Our Ride”test drive, the company said. ■

At the Moab event, dealers faced tightturns, loose rock, sand and uneven,rocky terrain – in addition to slick rock,complete with white-knuckle inclines,declines and off-camber approaches.

Jim SmithEditor

[email protected]

TIA Sets GTE/SEMA Show Events,Educational Seminars


As the performance tire seg-ment grew, so did the tires.But as wide tires went from

curiosity to commonplace, automak-ers and tiremakers created and sub-divided the segment to extremes. Wewent from expensive cosmetic per-formance radials to extremely expen-sive max-performance UHP rubber.

Today, high performance andUHP tires are more often than not re-quired as replacements for similarOE tires, puttingcost pressure firmlyon the backs of un-happy drivers al-ready grumblingabout rising fuelprices.

Some tiremak-ers, includingGoodyear, haverecognized theproblem and havebegun offeringproducts to reachthe so-called “mid-tier performancesegment” – H-, V-and W-rated fit-ments that delivermore-than-ade-quate on-roadmanners at more-than-reasonable price points.

In late May, Goodyear took thewraps off its latest mid-tier offering –the Eagle Sport All-Season. An-nounced first at its dealer conferencein January, the newest Eagle replacesthe Eagle GT going forward, and isOE tunable, Goodyear officials stated.

The new Eagle is now available toGoodyear retailers, with a full lineupof 47 V and W speed-rated sizesavailable by the end of 2013.

The tire is positioned just belowthe Eagle F1 Asymmetric All-Season– which launched last spring – andcarries a 50,000-mile tread life lim-ited warranty.

The formal launch event for U.S.and Canada media and select cus-tomers (including ATD, Sears, Tire

Rack, Max Finkelstein Inc.) was heldat Bob Bondurant School of HighPerformance Driving in Phoenix.

Through 2013, the tiremaker plansa series of tire dealer ride-n-driveevents to support the product, and hasset a consumer-oriented ad campaign– tagged “Own It.” The ad effort callsto mind “generations of Eagle per-formance tires” and Goodyear’s “his-tory of innovation,” according to TaraFoote, Goodyear brand performance

marketing manager.“This tire applies innovative tech-

nology from our labs and design stu-dios to continue the Goodyear Eaglehigh-performance leadership thathelps you own the road,” she said. “Akey attraction for this tire is its appealto what some would consider ‘non-sports cars,’ thus offering the perfor -mance benefits of a Goodyear Eagleto drivers who want to maintain orupgrade the steering and handlingcharacteristics of their vehicles.”

In short, Foote said, the target forthe Eagle Sport All-Season is “dri-vers who enjoy driving,” driverswho “want to experience a “feel forthe road.”

Foote said tire competes with “allmid-tier tires,” such as lines from BF-

Goodrich, Continental, General andothers.

Goodyear said that the EagleSport All-Season is “designed for re-sponsiveness, all-season traction,and outstanding wet and dry han-dling with performance drivers inmind.” The tire features a new silica-based tread compound, an asymmet-ric tread pattern with angled treadblock edges, four circumferentialgrooves for water evacuation, and

hundreds of fulldepth sipes forwet and snowtraction.

Foote said themarketing teamset the table forthe tire, outliningan all-seasonproduct that de-livered “excellentwet/dry traction,a smooth andquiet ride and anindustry-leadingtreadwear war-ranty.” They thenpassed the ball tothe engineers anddesigners to exe-cute.

“Our engi-neers are using innovative technol-ogy to develop this new generationof products that take tire perform-ance to a higher level,” said BobToth, Goodyear’s North Americandirector of products and innovation.“The application of relevant technol-ogy allows these tires not only togain credit as true innovations, butalso to translate into the kind of driv-ing performance benefits that con-sumers really want.”

Tim Lovell, technical project man-ager, explained the technical featuresof the result. The new Eagle SportAll-Season features an asymmetricaltread design with distinct inboardand outboard patterns. The outboardside carries 7% more rubber on theroad versus the inboard side, which



> Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

Newest Eagle is for ‘Mid-Tier Performance Segment’

Goodyear’s new Eagle Sport All-Season is ideal for “non-sports cars,” offeringthe performance benefits of a Goodyear Eagle to drivers who want to maintain orupgrade the steering and handling characteristics of their vehicles.


aids its ability to maintain its foot-print on the road surface – even atlight loads.

Siping in the silica-based treadcomes in a varying pattern across thetread face, with more siping towardthe center; most sipes are full-depth,Goodyear said, to maximize tractionduring the life of the tread. Angledtread block edges help provide re-sponsive handling and grip while re-ducing road noise and promotingeven wear.

This all adds up to “outstanding

wet and dry performance with en-hanced grip in ice and snow,” and“confident grip as the tire wears as aresult of numerous full-depth treadsipes.”

Journalists and dealers tested thenewest Eagle head-to-head against theFirestone Firehawk Wide Oval AS. The18-inch tires on matching Audi A4spulled laps on a wet/dry autocrosstrack at the Bondurant facility. Later,the group did lead/follow hot laps inCadillac CTSs on the Goodyear EagleF1 Asymmetric All-Season.

“A tire is a product that can per-form in all types of weather condi-tions, carry people to appointments,and enhance the performance of thevehicle on which it’s mounted,” saidToth. “Sometimes, drivers forget thatthe only four touch-points betweenthe car and the road are the tires.”

Goodyear is certainly hoping thelatest Eagle will better remind themof that fact. ■

TireReview.com 17

■ NEWSMAKERS: NEWS & EVENTSgFollow@Tire_Review

Event attendees put Goodyear’s newest Eagle to the test in a series of track exercises at the Bob Bondurant School of HighPerformance Driving in Phoenix (left). The Eagle All-Season features an asymmetrical tread design with distinct inboard andoutboard patterns, according to Tim Lovell, technical project manager (right).

Jim SmithEditor

[email protected]

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. andpartner Industrias Negromex S.A. deC.V. claim to have “successfully eval-uated silica masterbatch technologyin full-scale production facilities anddemonstrated that tires producedwith silica masterbatch technologyoffer a range of benefits comparedwith tires produced using conven-tional dry silica mixing technology.”

“This is a first for the tire indus-try,” said Chuck Yurkovich, Coopervice president of global research anddevelopment. “It’s one thing topatent an industry-leading silica

masterbatch process, but quite an-other to successfully use it in manu-facturing and evaluate this newtechnology in tires.

“By accomplishing this, Cooperand INSA have demonstrated signifi-cant processing advantages in ourplants – including improvements inmixing efficiencies through consider-able reduction in cycle times overconventional dry mixed silica – andwe’ve been able to verify all aspectsof tire performance.”

Cooper and INSA jointly earned aU.S. patent for silica masterbatch ear-lier this year.

“It is exciting that Cooper wasable to demonstrate strong tire per-formance and value with this tech-nology,” said Felipe VarelaHernandez, general director of

INSA. “We are also equally excited tohave established a viable silica mas-terbatch manufacturing process inour Altamira (Mexico) productionplant. The joint development by ourtwo companies over several yearshas been a key driver to confirm thefuture commercialization potential ofthis technology.”

The silica masterbatch required forthese tire evaluations was producedin a full-scale production demonstra-tion line at the INSA plant in Alta -mira, Mexico, Cooper said. The silicamasterbatch from this manufacturingprocess was used to complete multi-ple tire evaluations by Cooper, andtesting consisted of “all aspects of tireperformance including traction andhandling, treadwear, all-season capa-bility and rolling resistance.”

Cooper, INSA Silica MasterbatchTesting Successful


Bound Brook, N.J.-based SomersetTire Service – STS Tire & Auto Cen-ters – plans to open a heady 25 newfull-service retail locations betweenJune 7 and Aug. 3 of this year.

Fifteen of the new stores will openin New Jersey, while five each willopen in New York and Pennsylvania,STS said.

“Especially in these trying eco-nomic times, we definitely have rea-son to celebrate our growth,” saidSTS president Bill Caulin. “As an em-ployee-owned company, we knowthat it’s imperative to provide eachand every customer with qualityservice. We are truly grateful thatwe’ve been able to serve our existingcommunities for 55 years and welook forward to servicing these newcommunities with the same level ofcare.”

The newest additions will takeSTS’s store count to 150 locations,employing some 1,000 people.

Kenda Rubber Industrial Co. saidit is increasing its global productioncapacity for passenger car tires by50%, to 38,000 units a day by the endof 2013, in order to meet rising mar-ket demand.

Kenda plans to raise its capacityin Taiwan by 4,000 units a day. Thecompany’s new plant in Tianjin,China, is expected to increase capac-ity by 5,000 tires a day by the end ofthis year, while its new factory inShanghai will increase its productionby 2,500 tires a day, according to a re-port in the Taipei Times. Currently,the tiremaker produces 22,500 tires

daily in its Kunshan, China, plantand 4,000 units a day in its Yunlin,Taiwan, facility.

In addition to the added capacity,Kenda launched a subsidiary in Eu-rope to promote its brand and con-duct marketing in a bid to enter theEuropean market in the near future,officials said.

Six months after employees ofBruce Scher’s Goodyear in Las Vegassuddenly found they no longer hadjobs, the lives of most of them are re-turning to normal.

Founder and owner Bruce Scherdied in early December 2012, and byChristmas company managementdecided to shutter its entire LasVegas business – 13 tire and servicecenters in all, employing 81 people.Scher’s Southern California opera-tions remained open.

After the initial shock wore off, anew company – Superior Tire &Service – was created, with a newmanagement group formed to buyassets, and take over many of theScher locations, reworking leases andsystematically reopening them.

As of mid-June, nine of the 13stores had been reopened, givingemployment to 35 of the previouslylaid-off employees. Two more storeswere slated to reopen in late June, ac-cording to reports. The two remain-ing closed stores are not consideredviable long-term and will stayclosed, Superior Tire officials said.

It is one thing to be well knownand respected for one’s business suc-

cess, but it is quite another to becomeeven better known as a true selflessbenefactor.

That was Olin Mott, founder ofOlin Mott Tire Co., who passed awayJuly 2 at age 92.

Over his tire career, Mott grew thebusiness to six locations in the great -er Tampa, Fla., area, all the whiletackling many philanthropic endeav-ors that were in his eyes far more im-portant.

Honored locally and nationallyfor his efforts, Mott supported thesmall – sponsoring countess youthsports teams – and the large – found-ing a residential facility for aban-doned children and young mothersand their children.

A veteran of World War II – Mottwas wounded in the Pearl Harbor at-tack in 1941 – the Georgia nativefounded his tire and service businessin 1955. He turned the business overto his son, Richard, about 10 yearsago.

Mott is survived by his wifeDoris; son Richard; daughter LindaWren; sister Vassie Sue Wadsworth;and four grandchildren.

The naming rights to the home ofthe NHL’s Ottawa Senators has chan -ged hands from one iconic Canadianbrand to another.

Canadian Tire Corp. has taken theplacard, replacing Scotiabank as thetitle holder. The now named Cana-dian Tire Centre not only hosts NHLgames throughout the October-Mayseason, it also is used for music con-certs, circus stops and other majorevents in Canada’s capital city.

The agreement took effect July 1,and arena-related signage will be inplace for the start of the 2013-14NHL season.

“Canadian Tire is an iconic brandand is one of the largest hockey retail-ers in the world,” said Senators ownerEugene Melnyk. “That represents aunique opportunity for both of our or-ganizations to work side-by-side on awide range of new marketing andcommunity initiatives that will be



Continued on

Ambitious StoreOpening PlansSet by STS Tire

Senators Turn toCanadian Tire forPartnership

Most of ClosedScher VegasStores to Reopen

Kenda AddingTire ProductionCapacity Globally

Famed FloridaTire Dealer OlinMott Dies

SCAN FOR INFOTo view additional news stories, go totirereview.com/news or scan this bar codewith your smartphone or tablet.


good for our business, our hockeyteam and most of all, our fans.”

Greenball Corp. reports it hasbrought back the Centennial brandname, launching a line of all-terraintires for light trucks and SUVs un -der the name, which originally wasan associate brand of Dunlop TireCorp. and was used by Goodyearuntil 2007.

The Long Beach, Calif.-based pri-vate and import brand marketer ap-plied for the Centennial trademarkin April 2011 and recently receivedapproval to use it. Greenball an-nounced plans to launch the brandin five sizes of its Terra Commanderline: LT245/75R16, LT265/75R16,LT235/85R16, P215/75R15 andP235/75R15. The tires will be pro-duced in China and Thailand.

TIA’s board of directors electedGlen Nicholson as the association’snew secretary, putting the TBC exec-utive in line for TIA’s presidency.

He will begin his one-year termas secretary on Nov. 4, becomingvice president the following year,and then TIA president in November2015. He was elected at the TIA bian-nual board meeting June 12-14.

Nicholson has more than 30 yearsof experience in the retail tire indus-try and has held positions rangingfrom tire technician to multi-storemanager. He is currently the directorof retail education and quality assur-ance for TBC Retail Group.

Bridgestone Americas namedGordon Knapp president of its U.S.and Canada consumer tire division,

effective June 17.Knapp succeeds Larry Magee,

who previously announced his re-tirement after 38 years with Bridge-stone Americas.

“Throughout his career, Gordonhas shown commitment to deliveringvalue to consumers through innova-tion, a focus on results and a passionfor operational excellence,” said Ed-uardo Minardi, chairman, CEO andpresident of BATO.

Knapp also has held leadershippositions in the consumer productsbusinesses for Pfizer Inc. and War -ner-Lambert Inc. He earned a bache-lor’s degree in business admini- stration from Trent University and anMBA from University of Western On-tario. He will relocate to Nashvillefrom his current home in Wisconsin.

Southfield, Mich.-based R.L. Polk &Co. has been acquired by businessdata firm IHS Inc. in a $1.4 billion deal.

IHS, based in Englewood, Colo.,would pick up both R.L. Polk, the re-spected 143-year-old global automo-tive data firm, and its wholly-ownedCarfax subsidiary.

It has offices in the U.S., Canada,England, France, Spain, Italy, Ger-many, China, Japan and Australia.

The deal was announced June 9 andis expected to close later this year. ■



Data Firm R.L.Polk Sold in $1.4Billion Deal

Knapp to LeadBridgestone’sConsumer Tire Biz

TBC’s NicholsonElected TIA Secretary

A “significant milestone” was celebrated at Continental Tire the Americas’ plant

in Mt. Vernon, Ill., when its ongoing plant expansion was “topped” by an auto-

graphed steel beam.

The beam, signed by an array of company and government officials, was in-

stalled on the skeleton of the 80,000-square-foot expansion of CTA’s medium

truck tire production area at the massive plant.

“It is exciting to see such great things happening for the Continental plant, as

well as for the local community,” said Benny Harmse, Mt. Vernon plant man-

ager. “It signifies the progress and commitment of our company. This is

progress, and represents the job opportunity and economic vitality Continental

continues to bring to the Mt. Vernon area.”

The $95 million expansion project will increase production to an annual vol-

ume of more than three million truck tires, CTA said. Included is a new mixer

and equipment to build super wide radial truck tires.

Construction on the truck tire expansion is expected to be completed by the

end of 2015.

Continental Tops Truck Tire Plant Expansion

Greenball BringsCentennial BrandBack to Life

Rapid Response: 800-928-1184 ext. 52021 �


BUSINESS MARKET INTEL

Legend * = Tier 1 Brand ** = Tier 2 Brand *** = Private Brand/Other

Atlanta, GA MarketPeriod 6/10-18 Mass Mass Tire Tire Car Avg. Merch. Merch. Dealer Dealer Dealer All A B A B

Vehicle 1Oil Change/Filter $29.99 $35.99 $40.00 $24.95 $28.99 $31.98Replace All: 215/60R16 $488.00** $427.96** $387.56** $419.96* $388.00** $422.30 Vehicle 2 4 Wheel Alignment $79.99 $89.99 $65.00 $89.99 $99.95 $84.98Replace All: 225/60R16 $307.96** $455.96** $356.00** $359.80** $427.52** $381.45 Vehicle 3 Front Brakes, Turn Rotors $149.00 $179.99 $170.00 $169.00 $179.95 $169.59Replace All: 265/70R17 $684.00** $679.96** $549.76*** $556.00** $792.00* $652.34

Chicago, IL MarketPeriod 6/10-18 Mass Mass Tire Tire Car Avg. Merch. Merch. Dealer Dealer Dealer All A B A B

Vehicle 1Oil Change/Filter $35.00 $39.95 $25.00 $29.95 $34.95 $32.97Replace All: 215/60R16 $355.96** $636.00* $495.84* $599.80* $444.00* $506.32 Vehicle 2 4 Wheel Alignment $80.00 $79.99 $80.00 $79.95 $119.00 $87.79Replace All: 225/60R16 $359.96** $476.00** $500.00* $399.80** $408.00* $428.75 Vehicle 3 Front Brakes, Turn Rotors $169.99 $184.99 $230.00 $320.00 $204.95 $221.99Replace All: 265/70R17 $579.96** $716.00** $720.00** $639.80* $684.00* $667.95

Lincoln, NB MarketPeriod 6/10-18 Mass Mass Tire Tire Car Avg. Merch. Merch. Dealer Dealer Dealer All A B A B

Vehicle 1Oil Change/Filter $30.00 $33.00 $38.97 $19.00 $40.00 $32.19 Replace All: 215/60R16 $499.80* $475.96* $440.00** $420.00* $584.28* $484.01 Vehicle 2 4 Wheel Alignment $74.99 $74.95 $85.00 $69.00 $97.68 $80.32 Replace All: 225/60R16 $479.80** $495.96* $392.00** $452.00* $396.00** $443.15 Vehicle 3 Front Brakes, Turn Rotors $173.00 $200.00 $250.00 $149.00 $200.00 $194.40 Replace All: 265/70R17 $615.80** $636.00** $667.80* $592.00** $683.80* $639.08

Buffalo, NY MarketPeriod 6/10-18 Mass Mass Tire Tire Car Avg. Merch. Merch. Dealer Dealer Dealer All A B A B

Vehicle 1Oil Change/Filter $32.00 $25.00 $31.75 $21.99 $34.95 $29.14 Replace All: 215/60R16 $515.96** $611.96* $521.92** $556.00* $548.00* $550.77 Vehicle 2 4 Wheel Alignment $69.99 $84.99 $89.95 $94.00 $89.95 $85.78 Replace All: 225/60R16 $355.96** $527.96* $508.76** $512.00** $390.96** $459.13 Vehicle 3 Front Brakes, Turn Rotors $250.11 $250.00 $225.00 $109.99 $229.00 $212.82 Replace All: 265/70R17 $572.00** $775.84* $566.00** $880.00* $800.00* $718.77

Las Vegas, NV MarketPeriod 6/10-18 Mass Mass Tire Tire Car Avg. Merch. Merch. Dealer Dealer Dealer All A B A B

Vehicle 1Oil Change/Filter $28.99 $33.77 $20.00 $35.00 $29.95 $29.54Replace All: 215/60R16 $463.96** $532.00* $560.00* $500.00* $444.00* $499.99 Vehicle 2 4 Wheel Alignment $79.99 $84.99 N/A N/A $109.95 $91.64Replace All: 225/60R16 $379.60** $520.00* $640.00* $460.00* $492.00* $498.32 Vehicle 3 Front Brakes, Turn Rotors $180.00 $160.00 $170.00 $180.00 $200.00 $178.00Replace All: 265/70R17 $572.00* $611.92* $640.00* $560.00* $960.00* $668.78

Washington, DC MarketPeriod 6/10-18 Mass Mass Tire Tire Car Avg. Merch. Merch. Dealer Dealer Dealer All A B A B

Vehicle 1Oil Change/Filter $19.99 $21.66 $40.00 $49.00 $39.95 $34.12Replace All: 215/60R16 $579.96* $527.96* $416.00** $556.00* $616.00** $539.18

Vehicle 2 4 Wheel Alignment $89.99 $84.99 $85.00 $70.00 $89.95 $83.99Replace All: 225/60R16 $471.96** $503.96* $432.00** $480.00*** $381.56** $453.90 Vehicle 3 Front Brakes, Turn Rotors $220.00 $190.00 $250.00 $155.00 $350.00 $233.00Replace All: 265/70R17 $559.96*** $656.00* $740.00** $1,000.00* $684.00* $727.99

TIRE RE VIEW and InteliChek pres-ent up-to-date tire and service priceinformation from major U.S. metro-politan areas.

For this monthly feature, Inteli -Chek directly contacts a selection ofindependent tire dealers, mass mer-chants/chain stores and car dealersto obtain current pricing on replace-ment tires and vehicle services.

InteliChek requests and verifies

retail prices via phone calls, usingcommon specific vehicles, tire sizesand vehicle services. In that way, di-rect and useful comparisons can bemade by readers.

The tire prices shown in this re-port are for tires only, and do not in-clude mounting/balancing or anyadd-on warranties or other servicesor fees. To allow for a more accuratecomparison, the level of tire brand –

Tier 1, Tier 2 and Private Brand/Oth -er – recommended by the retailer isnoted. (See legend below charts.)

The services chosen for these sur-veys include a standard oil change(oil plus filter), a standard four-wheel alignment and front brakework (replace front pads and turnboth rotors).

For more information on InteliChek,visit intelichek.com. ■


22 Green_Market Intel 7/16/13 1:39 PM Page 22

As I sat in Tom’s cramped of-fice in the back of his shop, Icould see he was frustrated.

Tom had called me because heneeded some new customers and heneeded them right now.

He was getting bombarded almostdaily from salespeople offering allsorts of programs that were all aboutgetting him new customers. Therewere radio spots, TV commercials,coupons, print ads and, of course,the weekly calls from the “deal site”salesperson and the Yellow Pages.

Tom told me that those callsweren’t as bad as the others. “Whatothers?” I asked. He said he was get-ting two or three calls every dayfrom people offering him a mobileapp, a mobile website, a new web-site, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube –you name it. They all wanted to helpwith his “reputation.”

The problem, he related, was thathe was getting more of those callsthan he was from customers needingan appointment. His business wasway down and he didn’t have muchof a budget for advertising and pro-motion. But he realized he needed todo something.

So what should he do?I shared two very important

points with Tom that very few tire

and service business owners thinkabout.

Mistake 1: Get Your Name OutThere

Advertising salespeople will oftensay, “You need to get your name outthere so people will think of youwhen they need tires or a repair.”

That works if you have a multi-million dollar (at least multi-thou-sand dollar) ad budget – but that

was not Tom’s situation. He wasscraping together the money forthis promotion and if it didn’twork, he might not be able to meetpayroll.

The reason large branding adver-tising may not work for a smaller in-dependent shop is that to make itpay, you need to do it consistentlyand broadly. That means you musthave a large budget.

If you’re advertising on radio, TVor in print, you are paying based onthe number of listeners, viewers orreaders. So if your local newspaperhas 100,000 readers, how many may


Mobile AdvertisingStrategies

To make an impact while

reducing your ad spend,

consider a mobile pay-

per-click campaign

BUSINESS MOBILE MARKETING

BRIAN SACKS

Contributing Writer

[email protected]

Mobile pay-per-click ads are targeted to people who are actively searching for yourproducts and services – and are doing so on mobile devices.

THE REASON LARGE BRANDING ADVERTISING MAY

NOT WORK FOR A SMALLER INDEPENDENT SHOP

IS THAT TO MAKE IT PAY, YOU NEED TO DO IT

CONSISTENTLY AND BROADLY.

24,26 Green_Mobile Mkting 7/16/13 1:38 PM Page 24

need tires that day? Probably only10-20, but you’re paying for the full200,000 eyeballs.

Mistake 2: You Need a… Don’t get me wrong, you do need

a great website, a solid mobile web-site, even a mobile app. And youneed to be involved in social mediaby utilizing Facebook, Twitter,YouTube and more.

That’s the “Tire Dealer 101” stuffthat every dealer should be engagedwith. It will all help you generatenew customers and retain your exist-ing customers. We have numerousclients we have been assisting withthe above tools and each and everyone has shown profits and a greatROI.

But, remember, that was notTom’s immediate issue. He said heneeds customers (and their money)now – and he has a small budget towork with.

Pay-Per-Click StrategyWhat I proposed to him was a

mobile pay-per-click campaign. Letme explain why that was my sug-gestion.

There are three major ways ofgenerating pay-per-click traffic:

Google Ads: If you conduct asearch on Google for virtually anyterm, you’ll normally see three ads

on the top in a shaded area andseven to 10 more on the right handside of the page. These ads areworthwhile, but they typically pro-duce shoppers and not buyers. Thegood news is that you know some-one who typed in the product you’reselling is at least searching for thatproduct, which is better than thebrand type advertising we spokeabout earlier.

Facebook Ads: These are displayads on Facebook and you can choosewhere they appear – meaning youcan target your customer. That’s im-portant because you can better man-age your ad budget. If you knowyour typical customer is a 34-year-old woman living within 10 miles ofyour shop, you can have your ad ap-pear only to those who fit that crite-ria. Want to reach senior couplesages 54-70, living in the suburbs,driving a Lexus, and who like to va-cation in the Caribbean? Again, youcan target just those Facebook mem-bers. The problem here is that thesepeople are not specifically lookingfor you or your service, so this is yetanother version of brand advertis-ing.

Mobile Pay-Per-Click: These adsare targeted to people who are ac-tively searching for your productsand services – and are doing so on

mobile devices. According toGoogle, 81% of such searches on amobile device result in a physical in-teraction with the business, usuallywithin 24 hours. And more than 80%of those people are searching for alocal business. The people clickingon mobile ads have a five times bet-ter conversion rate than those search-ing from a desktop or laptop computer.

That means mobile searches aremostly from buyers who want aservice or product now.

Currently, mobile ads are signifi-cantly cheaper than desktop ads andare markedly more effective. Theyalso are more impactful for creatingcustomers quickly, since someonesearching on a mobile device proba-bly needs your service now and isnot just shopping or browsing.

This is the method we imple-mented for Tom and, so far, the re-sults are proving this was the correctdecision. His costs were a fraction ofa TV, radio, print or even ValPak –and certainly far, far less than a Yel-low Pages ad.

Here are the steps to implement-ing a mobile advertising campaign:

1. Assess what keywords arebeing searched and the cost perclick.

2. Create ads based on that infor-mation. It’s ideal to start with two oreven three ads to see which will per-form the best.

3. Create a daily budget. You cantell Google how much you want tospend each day and you also canturn off your ads during the hoursyour shop is closed.

4. Run the campaign. Monitoryour progress to see if it’s working –and working well.

5. Assess your ROI and decide tocontinue the campaign, grow thecampaign, or create a whole newcampaign. ■


■ BUSINESS: MOBILE MARKETING

Brian Sacks is a mobile market-ing expert with more than 26years of direct response market-ing experience. He is co-founderof Trackable Response Inc., a mo-bile marketing provider to the tireand auto service industries, basedin Catonsville, Md. Brian can bereached at [email protected] or 410-747-1100.

24,26 Green_Mobile Mkting 7/16/13 1:38 PM Page 26

There is perhaps no greater storyof the positive impact of cus-tomer service focus than the re-

markable true account of Jan Carlzonand the business turnaround that heled as the president of ScandinavianAirlines.

In 1979 and 1980, ScandinavianAirlines (SAS) was in financial tur-moil, having accumulated a loss ofnearly $30 million. When Carlzonwas appointed CEO in 1981, the fu-ture of the company looked bleak atbest. Against all odds, Carlzon wasable to return the business to prof-itability within a year – in fact, SAS’successful turnaround culminatedwith Air Transport World’s “Airlineof the Year” award in 1984.

How did Carlzon do it? And,more to the point, what does thishave to do with customer service?Everything.

Unlike the conventional “we needmore sales” approach, Carlzon’s bril-liant, yet simple plan was to refocusthe organization on its most impor-tant asset – existing customers.

Carlzon made a business case thatSAS already had 10 million passen-gers per year and, if the companydid a more effective job in managingthose existing relationships, it couldturn the airline around and prosper.

Doing the math, he reasoned that theaverage passenger came into contactwith five SAS employees during asingle transaction with the company.He called these encounters “mo-ments of truth.”

Moments of Truth DefinedAccording to Carlzon, “a moment

of truth is an episode in which thecustomer comes into contact with

any aspect of the company, howeverremote, and thereby has an opportu-nity to form an impression.”

Carlzon recognized that each cus-tomer contact is a unique, unrepeat-able opportunity for a company todifferentiate itself from the competi-

tion. In the case of SAS, he made ithis job and top priority to proactive -ly manage those 50 million uniquecustomer contact experiences.

No doubt you’ve heard the phrase“You never get a second chance tomake a first impression.” That beingthe case, the first moment of truthtakes place as soon as the customerwalks in the front door of your store.This initial encounter between thecustomer and your frontline employ-ees sets the table for the rest of the


MaximizingMoments of Truth

Focus on impression-

forming moments for

customer loyalty and

increased profits

BUSINESS SELLING SMART

STEVE FERRANTE

Contributing Editor

[email protected]

The first big moment of truth is a customer’s first impression of your company.The dealership should be clean, safe and inviting – inside and out.

“A MOMENT OF TRUTH IS AN EPISODE IN WHICH THE

CUSTOMER COMES INTO CONTACT WITH ANY ASPECT

OF THE COMPANY, HOWEVER REMOTE, AND THEREBY

HAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO FORM AN IMPRESSION.”


28,30,31 Green_Selling Smart 7/16/13 1:37 PM Page 28

experience and forms a lasting im-pression of the entire company in themind of the customer. If the custo merperceives it as lousy or unwelcoming,you are failing a key mom ent of truthand leaving the door open to compet -itors who would happily invite yourcustomers in and take away yourbusiness.

Very often, it all comes down toproviding genuine hospitality. Sim-ple gestures like making eye contact,smiling and speaking in a positive, en-

thusiastic manner will normally pro-duce a feeling of customer satisfac -tion. Customers who feel valued andappreciated from the very start willhave the greatest tendency to returnfor future business.

It is vital to remember that serviceand sales go hand-in-hand. In everyservice opportunity there is a sales op-portunity, and in every sales opportu-nity there is a service opportunity.

All too often in tire and auto serv-ice businesses, marketing efforts are

focused on increasing store traffic andproducing new customers. At thehelm of Scandinavian Airlines, Carl-zon did not set out specifically to gen-erate new business, although that wasan anticipated (and welcomed) by -product of the positive word-of-mouth created by his moments oftruth campaign.

The same is true in tire/auto serv-ice: the better the job employees do inproviding superior customer care, thebetter the job those customers do atpromoting the business to others andproviding new sales opportunities.

In today’s competitive market-place, service is the most importantthing a company has to sell. It differ-entiates companies when they havethe same product – often as in thecase of tire dealerships. Every deci-sion should be made with customerfocus in mind and viewed as anotheropportunity to make a favorable im-pression.

The benefits of providing excep-tional customer service are clear. Un-fortunately, failure to satisfy a cust -omer on any moment of truth inter-action can quickly ruin the custo -mer’s memory of high quality ser-vice; even the most delicious mealisn’t very good when service is poor,because poor service leaves a badtaste in your mouth.

Your shop’s appearance can besparkly beautiful and your productdisplays perfect, but when service issubstandard, the customer experi-ence will be perceived as mediocre atbest.

Managing your moments of truthand providing exceptional customerservice is not a one-time event; youhave to be consistent. It is only asgood as your last encounter. Like aBroadway show, it is a live produc-tion, and it goes on stage every dayat the same time.

Big Three Moments of TruthThe Drive By – How’s your busi-

ness’ curbside appeal? Does the over-all appearance of the store and ex -terior landscape look inviting, wel-coming, clean, safe, etc.? Remember,the majority of tire/auto service cus-tomers are women, and many womenwill not approach the facility if it does-n’t appear clean, safe, inviting, etc.

The Phone – As I wrote in one ofmy recent TIRE REVIEW blog posts,


■ BUSINESS: SELLING SMART



“Top 3 Reasons Why Phone SkillsTraining is Most Important in Sales”(http://bit.ly/12lkcRr), phone interac-tions are the single most importantpoint-of-sale area when it comes todeveloping new business. Proper at-tention must be given to both outgo-ing, and especially incoming,

customer calls. To maximize cus-tomer engagement, employees needto sound professional, positive, car-ing and courteous, and effectivelyhumanize a business by personaliz-ing their interactions.

In the Store – This is truly wherethe rubber meets the road. Every-

thing in the store should communi-cate “winning team” and make cus-tomers feel they are in a world-class,professional environment. All em-ployee-customer encounters mustimpress with the same positive at-tributes as phone interactions, withspecial focus on body languageskills.

To secure customer loyalty and re-ferrals that boost sales and profitabil-ity, remember your moments of truthand give every customer contactpoint the special attention it de-serves! ■

TireReview.com 31

■ BUSINESS: SELLING SMART


All employee-customer encounters must offer the same positive attributes asphone interactions, with special focus on body language skills.

Steve Ferrante, CEO of Sale AwayLLC, is the producer and host of thePinnacle Performance sales and cus-tomer service training program forthe tire/auto service industry. He canbe reached at 866-721-6086 ext.701 or [email protected].



FEATURE

SEAN PHILLIPS

Contributing Editor

66

Back2Basics

BacBack2BasicsBasics

SStteepp--bbyy--SStteeppWWHHEEEELL FFIITTMMEENNTT

&& TTIIRREE SSIIZZIINNGGThis article on wheel fitment

and plus sizing is the sixth in aseries on basic tasks per-

formed in tire dealerships. The firstin the series covered Basic Tire Re-pair (February 2012), the second ad-dressed Tire Demounting andMounting (May 2012), the third dis-cussed Tire Rotation (August 2012),the fourth covered Tire/Wheel Bal-ancing (November 2012), and thefifth looked at Tire/Wheel Alignment(March 2013).

This installment reviews the ba-sics of custom wheel selection andconsidering proper plus-sizing op-tions. Even though the economicdownturn was harsh to the customwheel business, there are still a lot ofdrivers out there looking to cus-

tomize their rides or make even aseemingly minor tire and wheel sizechange for aesthetic reasons.

There is nothing “minor” aboutchanging tire and wheel sizes.

This article is intended not onlyfor newly trained tire and servicetechnicians, but also veterans whowant to brush up on their tech-niques. Background information forthis article was supplied by a varietyof industry experts and groups, in-cluding former TIRE REVIEW colum-nist and performance tire/wheelexpert Scott Blair.

One of the easiest and most effec-tive ways for an owner to change thelook and feel of a car, pickup or SUVis to change the wheels, and thatoften means changing the size.

Whether a customer is looking toupsize to larger wheels for the per-formance benefits, downsize for win-ter tires, or just going for a uniquelook for his car, there are a numberof details that a dealer, salespersonand tire tech must get right to ensureproper fitment and safety – andabove all, to make the customerhappy and keep him coming back.

According to Tire Rack, “An accu-rate fitment is the difference be-tween good, better and best. Criticalwheel dimensions such as width, di-ameter, offset, center bore, brakeclearance, as well as load factor andlug hardware, are the basics when itcomes to properly fitting aftermarketwheels.”

32-36 Black_Cover Feature 7/16/13 1:36 PM Page 32

Upsize or DownsizeThere are some very good reasons

for either upsizing or downsizingtires/wheels, depending on what thecustomer is looking to achieve. Goingto larger wheels up to 18 inches canpositively affect things like corneringgrip, braking performance, ride com-fort and steering feel, while some-what negatively impact accelerationand fuel economy due to the greaterunsprung weight of larger wheels.

At 19 inches and larger, however,the positive handling and comfort ef-fects start to go away, while accelera-tion and fuel economy get worse, sothose really big wheels are best in-stalled just for looks.

Downsizing, on the other hand,generally is a good idea for thatextra set of wheels with winter tireson them. Smaller, narrower tires per-form much better on snow and ice,and winter tires smaller than 17inches are usually quite a bit less ex-pensive.

Keep in mind that when changingthe diameter of the wheels, the widthalso usually changes, and this cancause problems if you’re not careful.In general, there will be at least ahalf-inch change in width for everyinch change in diameter, so going upan inch from a 15x6 wheel to a 16-inch wheel will generally put you at16x6.5. But if the new wheels are16x7, that might be too wide to clearthe suspension.

If you’re getting aftermarketwheels from an online distributor,they often will do most of the sizingcalculations for you to prevent po-tential problems, but if you have todo it yourself, the folks at wheelsize-calculator.com can give you an in-credible array of useful data for anymake and model, including properoffset, hub diameter, bolt pattern andwheel width for each possible tireand wheel size.

Something to watch for, especiallywhen downsizing, is the brake clear-ance on the vehicle. Some high per-formance cars have oversized brakesor aftermarket brake kits that willnot accept smaller wheels. If you’reunsure of brake clearance, test-fit thewheels before mounting tires onthem, so that the wheels can be re-turned if necessary.

You also will want to watch outfor cars with staggered setups inwhich the rear wheels are wider thanthe fronts, mostly found on BMWand Mercedes models (unless you’reseeing a lot of super cars at yourstore). In terms of wheel fitment, youusually can put the width for thenarrower front wheels on all fourpoints if you absolutely have to, butyou can’t ever put the wider rearwheel size on the front, or the wheelswill rub.

Bolt PatternGetting the proper bolt pattern

obviously is important when fittingnew wheels, since if the pattern iswrong, you’re just not going to get

very far in trying to install them.Most of the time, bolt patterns arepretty easy. Patterns are expressed bythe number of bolts and the distanceacross the center of the pattern, ei-ther in inches or millimeters, as in5x4.5 or 4x100mm.

Data generally can be found forthe year, make and model of the cus-tomer’s car in the Tire Guide, theHollander Book or in the vehicleowner’s manual. The wheel’s boltpattern is usually embossed some-where on the back of the wheel. Boltpattern gauges also are available forwhen a wheel’s particular pattern isunknown.

There is, however, one thing thatcan trip up even experienced techni-cians – the difference between 5x4.5and 5x115mm, or between 5x4.75and 5x120mm. These patterns differby less than a millimeter, littleenough that one will generally fit onthe other. But even while they willfit, they do not interchange.

Torquing the wrong pattern ontothe car will usually bend the boltsjust slightly and probably cause a vi-

TireReview.com 33

Keep in mind that when changing the diameter of the wheels, the width also usuallychanges, and this can cause problems if you’re not careful.

“AN ACCURATE FITMENT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD, BETTER AND

BEST. CRITICAL WHEEL DIMENSIONS SUCH AS WIDTH, DIAMETER, OFFSET,

CENTER BORE, BRAKE CLEARANCE, AS WELL AS LOAD FACTOR AND LUG

HARDWARE, ARE THE BASICS WHEN IT COMES TO PROPERLY FITTING

AFTERMARKET WHEELS.” – TIRE RACK

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bration that can be very difficult todiagnose. Handy rule of thumb:BMWs, unless they are really old, areall 5x120mm, and no other car usesthat pattern. Not so handy rule: 5x4.5is usually on either American orJapanese nameplates; and 5x115mmis usually on either a European orJapanese marque.

Load RatingWheels have a maximum load rat-

ing, which is generally stamped onthe back of the wheel or available inthe wheel’s literature. To determinethe proper load rating, check for theplaque usually mounted just insidethe driver’s side door or on the fueldoor. The car’s gross axle weight rat-ing will be printed on the plaque. Di-vide the GAWR by two to determineeach wheel position’s requiredweight rating.

Hub Center BoreThe hole in the center of the wheel

where the center cap goes is thewheel’s hub center. OE wheels aredesigned so the hub center borematches the diameter of the axle ex-actly to ensure a tight fit. This is criti-cally important as it is this “hub-centric” connection that centers thewheel precisely on the rotor and, inmost cases, actually carries theweight of the car, while the lug studssimply hold the wheel against therotor plate.

Most aftermarket wheels are de-signed as “lug-centric,” meaning thatthe center bore usually will beslightly wider than the car’s hub.These wheels should be installedwith centric rings, or “spacers,” thatmake up the difference between thewheel’s center bore and the vehicle’shub.

There is a longstanding – andsometimes acrimonious – debate re-garding whether installing lug-cen-tric wheels without centric rings isacceptable. Tire Rack feels that lug-centric installations are fine, as longas the wheels are correctly centered,noting that, “With these [lug-centric]wheels it is critical to torque the lughardware with the vehicle on jackstands, off the ground. This allowsthe nuts or bolts to center the wheeland torque down without the weightof the vehicle pushing them off cen-ter.”

I do not agree. While that tech-nique will probably center correctly, Ihave personally seen innumerablelug-centric installations cause vibra-tion, stud damage and even irrepara-ble damage to the center bore causedby the hub jarring against it, becausethe studs are not strong enough bythemselves to hold the wheel later-ally against the weight of the car anddeal with impacts.

This is obviously my own opinionbased on my shop experiences, but Ialso would suggest there is no realadvantage to taking the risk of a lug-centric installation when spacers areextremely inexpensive and easy toinstall. I strongly advise using hub-centric rings whenever possible.

Offset and BackspacingOffset is defined as the distance

between the back of the wheel’smounting plate and the centerline ofthe wheel, expressed in millimeters.Positive offset means that themounting plate is in the front side ofthe wheel, toward the wheel face.Most OE wheels will have a positiveoffset.

Negative offset means that theplate is on the suspension side of thewheel; this most often is seen in ex-tremely deep-dish aftermarketwheels. Thus, offset determines howthe wheel sits in the wheel well, andhow much of the wheel’s barrel ex-

tends toward the suspension compo-nents.

When interchanging wheels of thesame width, the offset should be asclose to the original as possible toavoid having the wheel rub againstthe suspension. My rule of thumbhas always been within 5mm eitherway.

Backspacing, on the other hand,while often used interchangeablywith offset, is defined as the distancebetween the mounting plate and therear flange of the wheel. Backspacingis therefore partly dependent on thewheel’s width, whereas offset is not.

When interchanging wheels thatare different widths, one should cal-culate the proper backspacing ratherthan offset to ensure proper fitment.There are several excellent backspac-ing calculators available on the webto make that job easier. The best onethat I have seen is at 1010tires.com.

FastenersIt’s also important to ensure that

you have the right fasteners – lugnuts or lug bolts – for the replace-ment wheels. Lug hardware comes inseveral different shapes, which mustbe matched to the lug holes on thewheel:

• Conical – A 60-degree taperedcone is the most common style.


As with any tire/wheel assembly replacement, proper balancing is a key part of theprocess.

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• Flat – These lugs have a shortbarrel designed to fit into the lughole itself, while the flat shouldersmate to the flat surface around thehole. Some flat lugs will have a sepa-rate washer around the barrel insteadof an integrated shoulder.

• Ball – These lugs have a roundshape rather than a tapered cone,and are common on most Mercedes,Audi, VW and many Honda vehi-cles.

• Tuner – Some aftermarketwheels come with very small lugholes, requiring extremely narrowlugs called “tuner lugs.” Rather thanhaving a hex shape to accept aratchet head, these lugs have manynarrow grooves on the head, called aspline drive, which accept a speciallow-profile key that can fit into thelug holes.

Old-style tuner lugs known as“socket lugs” used a hex-shaped keythat would be inserted into the insideof the lug. This poor design led torounded off keys and lugs rusted tothe lug studs, since the bolt threadswere left open to the elements. Re-move and replace any of these thatare still found on vehicles and up-grade to spline drive lugs.

In addition, installers shouldmake sure that if lug bolts are to beused, they are the proper length, asthe original hardware may not insertto the proper depth into the rotorplate with an aftermarket wheel. Ifnew hardware is necessary, the cus-

tomer should always keep the oldhardware in case it is needed to in-stall an OE spare.

Tire SizingFinally, when the wheels are

properly fitted, it’s time to get theright size tires on them. This is an im-portant and somewhat tricky processcalled plus sizing.

The odometer and speedometersettings of all consumer vehicles areset in terms of the overall diameter ofthe wheel and tire assembly, alsoknown as the “standing height,” sowhen upsizing or downsizing thewheels, an installer must match thestanding height of the new tire andwheel assembly to the standingheight of the old one, and also mustmatch the width of the tire to thewider wheel. The industry standardis to maintain +/- 3% of the OE tireheight when replacing the tires.

To explain this, I’ll start with abasic 185/65R15 tire size. 185 is thesection width of the tire expressed inmillimeters. The 65 is the aspect ratioof the tire, meaning that the aspectheight of the sidewall is 65% of the185mm width, or 120.25mm. The 15is the wheel diameter of the tire ininches (bead to bead), which corre-sponds to the outside diameter of thewheel.

So, for example, if you are upsiz-ing from a set of 15x6 wheels with185/65R15 tires to 16x6.5 wheels, thenew tire must lose an inch in aspectheight to keep the same overall di-ameter, and gain about half an inch

in width. That means the new tirewould have to be 195/55R16.

This is called a “plus one” sizing.Going the other way from 16 inchesto 15 inches would be a “minus one”sizing.

Got a headache yet? Don’t worry.You really don’t want to do the mathfor this every time you try to size atire, and you don’t have to. Numer-ous calculators exist to do that foryou.

My favorite is the one atmiata.net, which lets you plug in tiresizes and gives you the difference inoverall diameter as a percentage,(again, less than 3% is best) as well asshowing what the speedometer dif-ferential would be and giving you ahandy graphic to visualize the differ-ence between the sizes.

Always Use (Torque) Protection

Always use torque sticks on yourair tools, and use a well-calibratedhand torque wrench to finish the jobon any expensive wheels, splinedrive tuner lugs or any lug hardwarethat looks hinky. Never use torquesticks to remove lug hardware.

Every so often, I hear from a tech-nician who insists he can achieveproper torque by “feathering the trig-ger” of an impact wrench. I laughsadly, because I am convinced this isthe reason I used to get so many cus-tomers with wildly overtorqued lughardware or worse, a lug bolt thathad been cross-threaded and blindlydriven in anyway. Use the righttorque tools for the job. ■

DisclaimerChanging the dimensions of vehicle

tires and wheels from OE dimensions isserious business. The preceding articlewas researched and written using mate-rial furnished by industry sources, in-cluding tire dealers, Scott Blair, the TireRack, and other resources. This informa-tion is not meant as a substitute forproper training by tire and wheel compa-nies, TIA or torque tool providers. Rec-ommendations made here are consistentwith the basic practices used in the in-dustry. This article is meant purely foreducational purposes and those who usethe methods recommended are solely re-sponsible for any injuries or losses re-sulting from their application.


Always use a well-calibrated hand torque wrench to finish the job on any ex-pensive wheels or spline drive tuner lugs.

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� Rapid Response: 800-928-1184 ext. 52121

Tim Bailey had only owned Jop -lin Tire Center for two monthsbefore a catastrophic F5 tor-

nado ripped through Joplin, Mo., onMay 22, 2011.

The store was previously operatedunder another name for 25 years be-fore Bailey bought it from a friend.

“He was retiring and wantedout,” explains Bailey. “I owned thebusiness across the street, so I justbought this one, too.”

Bailey had previously worked inthe tire business in college and wasjust getting back into the swing ofthings when the tornado hit thesmall town. Thousands of homesand businesses were torn to shreds,totaling nearly $3 billion in damage.

Bailey’s tire shop, along with thevending shop he owned across thestreet, were among the businessesleveled.

“I didn’t know the building wasdemolished until I got to it,” explains

Bailey. “It took me two hours to getto it because of all the debris in theway and everything was blocked off.They wouldn’t let anybody go in.”

Thankfully, he says no one was at

the shop and none of his employeeswere hurt.

“It was just a building and youcan rebuild it, and that’s what wedid.”


TOPSHOP

After a devastating tornado, Missouri dealer rebuilds with help from loyal employees, customers

Joplin TireCenter

FEATURESHANA O’MALLEY

Contributing Editor

In May 2011, an F5 tornado tore through Joplin, Mo., leveling Joplin Tire Centerand thousands of homes. Six months later, the new store (top photo) opened.


40-42 Black_TS Feature 7/16/13 1:36 PM Page 40

Picking up the PiecesLess than a week after the storm,

Bailey was able to move what hecould into a small temporary locationand get back to work. He says thedealership fixed a lot of flats causedby debris.

“It was big enough for one car at atime and a couple of tires and a tiremachine,” he says. “The first day wemade $65. That was the first day andafter that, it went right back up. Wewere busy from seven in the morninguntil five at night.”

Bailey says his main focus wasmaking sure his employees had a jobto come back to.

“The guys I have in the shop nowstuck with me through the tornadoand didn’t go anywhere. They nevermissed a paycheck,” says Bailey.“They stayed here everyday. Theytake care of stuff.”

Despite the adversity, Bailey sayshe feels more fortunate than manyothers who were affected by the tor-nado.

“I had insurance. A lot of people inthis town didn’t have it; a lot of busi-nesses didn’t have it,” he says.

New BeginningsBy November 2011, a new shop

was constructed where the old oneonce stood.

The modest garage houses fourcars at a time, as well as a few Coatstire changers and Hunter balancers.The waiting room includes a few seatsfor customers, a TV and a table withmagazines.

Two years after the storm, Baileysays things are finally starting to getback to normal.

“Everything slowed down, butwe’re steady now,” he says. “It’s goingto take years to fully recover. We’renot way up and we’re not down,we’re just right where we should be. Ittook time for us to get from where wewere, in a little temporary building, tothe new building.”

He adds what really makes theshop run smoothly are his three em-ployees.

“I don’t have any problems in theshop,” says Bailey. “I’ve got goodguys in the shop who take care ofeverything. I’ve got a good manager.My business is made up of these guysright here; they are what make this agood shop.”

Business StrategiesUnlike many shops that offer both

tires and service, Joplin Tire Center re-mains a tires-only store. Bailey says italso is one of the few that still offersused tires for sale.

“We’re known for our used tires,”he says. “We sell a ton of new, butwe’ve also got a quantity of used.”

Bailey says many people simplycan’t afford a set of new tires and buy-ing used can save customers 50% or

more on the total cost. He’s says he’sglad to be getting customers intosomething a little safer than trying tostretch their tires past 2/32nds-inchtread depth.

“If you get a used tire on therethat’s good, they’re better off thenwhat they were using,” he says.

Bailey adds that the shop checkseach used tire by looking for wear andtear and filling it with air to check forpunctures.

“And, if something is even re-

TireReview.com 41

■ FEATURE: TOP SHOP

Rapid Response: 800-928-1184 ext. 52041� Rapid Response: 800-928-1184 ext. 52123


motely a problem, it’s gone, we throwit out,” he says.

Some of the main tire brands JoplinTire Center sells include Kumho,Nexen, Eldorado, Yokohama and Pe-gasus.

Rather than using a big marketingcampaign, Bailey prefers to attract

customers by word of mouth. In thepast, the dealership has tried couponsand radio advertisements, but Baileysays any extra effort would take awaytime from work at the shop, which ishis main focus.

“We stick to doing business andtaking care of customers. That’s our

main thing,” says Bailey. “We get a lotof customers that are ‘rediscoveringus.’ They didn’t know where we werewhen we were at the temporary loca-tion. They are all coming back andthey like to see us back.”

When he’s not at the shop, Baileyenjoys spending time at the local dragstrip, where he does some sponsoring.

“Since the tornado we haven’t re-ally been able to do a whole lot,” hesays. “We support the local racetrack;I do a lot there.”

He says the shop’s biggest compe-tition is other small local shops, aswell as large discount stores such asWalmart.

While the whole town continues torecover and rebuild after the storm,Bailey says he’s started looking to-ward the future.

“I’d like to expand to another shopsomewhere else, I just don’t knowwhere yet. I’ve got a real good crewhere,” he says.

He added there also are plans toadd an alignment rack to the shop inthe near future. ■


■ FEATURE: TOP SHOP


“I’ve got good guys in the shop who take care of everything.” Bailey says, “My businessis made up of these guys right here; they are what make this a good shop.”


Now that the economy is roll -ing again, so are forklifts,graders, backhoes and com-

pactors. Small construction equip-ment and other tire-using contrap- tions are getting back to work, so thesmall OTR tire industry is, as well.

“The U.S. economy is on the mendand housing and construction mar-kets are showing signs of life,” saysMinoo Mehta, director of commercialtire marketing for Hercules Tire &Rubber Co. “We expect steady growthfor small OTR tires from 2012 to 2014.If the economy stays healthy, tire saleswill do the same.”

“Most small OTR tires are used inconstruction, earthmoving and someaggregate mining,” adds Aaron Mur-phy, vice president of China Manu-facturers Alliance/Double Coin. “Ifthese specific industries are affectedby economic factors, we can see anincrease or decrease in usage. Theconstruction market, when heating

up, can create shortages in certain-size tires in the small OTR segment.We feel that the market will mimiceconomic growth and have small in-creases in the small OTR segment. Ifthere are increases in construction,this would assist growth.”

So, which small OTR tires are cur-rently most popular?

“For Double Coin products,”Murphy says, “we see sizes used onloaders and small earthmoving ma-chines as most popular. In addition,our radial grader tire is a very popu-lar sales item.” The radial productsare in the sizes of E3/L3; the loaderand earthmoving tires are 20.5R25and 23.5R25; and the radial grader is14.00R25 G2.

Meanwhile, Mehta says tires forbackhoes, implements, graders, skid-

steers, forklifts, compactors and portsare Hercules’ most popular smallOTR tires. (See sidebar on page 46 forsizes.)

“There was no shortage of smallOTR tires in 2012,” he says. “Thereare now more players from China,India, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lankaand Taiwan in this field, in additionto the majors.”

Murphy details last year’s salesprogression. “In 2012, the market wasvery strong early in the year, withcertain sizes being in high demand,”he says. “Our sales of 29.5R25 E3/L3tires were at an all-time high throughthe first six months.

“In the second half, demand wan -ed a bit and, while we finished upwith record sales in units, the lastquarter of 2012 was much less vib -


TIRES

Linked to economic health, small OTR tire market growth has returned

BBaacckk ttooBBuuiillddiinngg

FEATUREJOANNE DRAUS KLEIN

Contributing Editor

End-users of small OTR tires seek a variety of features, including quality, price,availability, brand name, cost-per-hour and durability, among others.

44,46 Black_Tires Feature 7/16/13 1:35 PM Page 44

rant than the first quarter. It felt like,after mid-year, demand decreasedand production was steady, whichcreated a very full supply chain.”

Market Factors, TrendsSeveral global factors have af-

fected the small OTR market in bothpositive and negative ways, accord-ing to Mehta. Differing anti-dumpingduties on China-produced OTR tireshave hurt business, he says, while theU.S. economy’s sluggishness has re-sulted in slow-moving housing mar-kets and construction activities, andtherefore slow-moving sales of thetires they require.

Meanwhile, the poorly performingEuropean market has had its own im-pact, along with a growing global in-crease in production capacities.

Nevertheless, Mehta says he ex-pects the market to hold steadythrough 2016, “as additional capacitywill balance the growth in demand.”Murphy agrees, saying that steadygrowth “will be realized, especiallywith global economies slowly streng -thening.”

As workers get back to starting uptheir forklifts and backhoes, whatwill those end-users be consideringwhen they purchase tires for theirequipment?

Mehta lists those factors, in orderof importance, as availability, quality,credit, price, brand name, appearanceand country of manufacture. Murphyadds an improved cost-per-hour

ratio, as well as matters of endurance,to the list.

“The most important thing is tohave stock, because these customerscannot wait when their vehicles aredown,” Mehta says.

“Availability of product locally,and recommending the correct prod-uct for the application, are two veryimportant things necessary for adealership to remain ahead of itscom petition,” Murphy agrees. “Offer-ing the ability to support the tire afterthe initial sale, for retreading or war-ranty work, also is valuable to theend-user.”

“Offering customers a choice ofgood, better and best – with reason-able, competitive pricing – creates abig advantage in retaining custo -mers,” Mehta adds. “Dealers whofulfill the demands of availability,quality, brand name, credit, price andappearance of the tires will rate betterwith customers.”

Changing trends within the indus-try, however, continue to change ex-pectations, as well as other aspects ofsmall OTR tire use and manufacture.

“A few clear trends are emerging,”Mehta says. “One is the conversion ofthe lower-cost bias market to higher-cost radials. Bias still ranges from30% to 70% of market share, depend-ing on the segment and category oftire.

“It also is evident that many tirecompanies are making the transitionto lower-aspect ratio tires and biggersizes as vehicles become more tech-

nologically savvy. Andpneumatics are con-verting to solids forlesser down-time,” hesays.

“The market’s ra-dial conversion contin-ues, for sure,” Murphyagrees. “And equip-ment is getting larger,placing additionalstress on the tire andrequiring enhancedperformance.

“Every customer isa bit different,” Mur-phy says. But they dohave one thing in com-mon: They’re all roll -ing back to work onsmall OTR tires. ■


■ FEATURE: TIRES

CMA/Double Coin vice presidentAaron Murphy says the company seessizes used on loaders and smallearthmoving machines as being mostpopular, in addition to the tiremaker’sradial grader tire.


POPULAR SMALL OTR TIRE SIZES

BACKHOE (FRONT): 11L15, 11L16

BACKHOE (REAR): 19.5L24, 21L24

IMPLEMENT: 12.5/80-18, 10.5/80-18

GRADER: 13.00-24, 14.00-24

SKID STEER: 12-16.5, 10-16.5

FORKLIFT: 7.00-12, 6.00-9, 6.50-10, 7.50-15, 2.50-15

COMPACTOR: 7.50-15, 9.00-20, 11.00-20

PORT: 18.00-25 (SMOOTH TREAD)

SMALL OTR: 20.5-25, 23.5-25, 26.5-25

44,46 Black_Tires Feature 7/16/13 1:35 PM Page 46

TR House Spread 2_Layout 1 7/15/13 11:04 AM Page 48

- Howard Fleischmann Sr.,

co-owner, Community Tire Pros

& Auto Repair, Phoenix

Having accessto the most reliable data andmarket feedback

“

”

More. Delivered.

is incredibly vital to our success. Especially in

the fall when we start planning for the next year. Tire

Review’s annual Sourcebook distills

it all down for us, with industry stats,

dealer outlook, and consumer feedback – alongwith a huge Buyer’s Guide – all inone issue. If it’s not there, it’s not important.

TR House Spread 2_Layout 1 7/15/13 11:05 AM Page 49

Here is a scenario: A shop buys aset of pads and rotors and per-forms a brake job on a vehicle

(nothing special about the vehicle). Thefront pads and rotors are replaced. Onthe test drive, the vehicle had zero signsof pulsation, even after an aggressivebreak-in procedure.

Six months and 6,000 miles later, thecustomer is back complaining of a pul-sation in the pedal. So, what happenedin 6,000 miles?

Did the customer tow a boat? Drivethe entire Rocky Mountains? Partici-pate in a high-speed police chase? Evenif the customer answered yes to one ofthese events, chances are this did notcause the pulsation they are now expe-riencing.

When the wheels are removed,there are no visual indications the vehi-cle has a pulsation problem. The padsare worn evenly. The rotors look fine,with very little visible wear, corrosionor excessive heat.

So what next? The technician couldmachine the rotors on a lathe and putthem back on the vehicle. On the testdrive, the pulsation will be gone, for atleast another 6,000 miles.

The next time the customer is backat the shop with the same pulsationproblem, the shop could go all out andinstall new pads and rotors. They couldeven search the repair information forTSBs related to pulsation. Surely theycould not be alone! When the vehicle isgiven back to the customer, chances arethere will not be any pulsation, at leastfor the next 6,000 miles.

If you were reading the above sce-nario and wondered, “What was therunout and disc thickness variation(DTV) measurement?” you are ahead

of the game. If you did not think aboutthis and wanted to know what brandof pad or rotor the technician installed,you need a little help.

Chances are the fictional shop inthis example lost a lot of money on thisbrake job – along with the customer’strust. And the poor parts store had todeal with a return. But, it did not haveto happen like this.

Measuring runout and DTV wouldhave taken 20 to 25 minutes during theinitial brake job. Also, the shop couldhave sold the customer the services orparts to correct the problem. These“preemptive” diagnostics can preventpulsation comebacks and false returnsto shops.

What Really Happened?Let’s say the vehicle had .003-inch of

lateral runout when measured at theoutside face of the rotor. If this vehicleis riding on 205/55R16 tires, in onemile, the high spot with .003-inch ofrunout goes past the caliper approxi-mately 836 times. During 6,000 milesthat spot on the rotor will go past thepads more than five million times!

Every time this spot passes thepads, a little bit of the rotor’s materialis removed. At more than five millionrevolutions, enough material is re-moved to create a thickness variationthat can be felt by the driver.

The rotor is not warped. In the sce-nario, we never used the word“warped.” The words “warped” and“warping” should never be applied tobrake systems.

In this scenario, there is no twistingor bending. There is only wear andchanges in the dimensions of the rotor.Heat was not a force distorting the

rotor by softening the metal. The heatused to cast the rotor is three to fivetimes greater than the heat produced inthe most aggressive braking down amountain road. Most engineers will tellyou that rotors will crack long beforethey are distorted by heat.

Sure, a customer can experience apulsation or judder after higher-than-normal brake temperatures are experi-enced. About 99% of the time, it is notthe fault of the rotor; it is the pads. Thepad’s friction material has been un-evenly deposited around the face of therotor. This creates uneven brakingforces as the dissimilar sections pass bythe pads. These types of pulsations or“judders” will typically go away after afew hundred miles.

ParallelismThe main culprit of the chronic pul-

sation was variations in disc thickness,or parallelism. The two friction sur-faces of a rotor are designed to be par-allel to one another within a certainspecification. The allowable tolerance isknown as ‘parallelism.’ It is alsoknown as the rotor’s disc thicknessvariation, or DTV. In order for the padto stay in contact with the rotor, the pis-ton must extend or be pushed backinto the housing as force is applied.This creates the pulsation in the pedalthat is most noticeable to the driver.

Every time the low spot passes bythe caliper, hydraulic pressure at thecaliper drops. This produces less brak-ing force as this area passes by thepads. This also can affect braking dis-tances.

RunoutRunout is defined as the amount of


SERVICEDon’t blame the pads or rotor – runout causes thicknessvariation that leads to pulsation problems

Brake Pulsation Returns

FEATUREANDREW MARKEL

Contributing Editor

50,52,56 Black_Service Feature 7/16/13 1:34 PM Page 50

lateral (side-to-side) movement ofthe rotor as it rotates 360 degrees.The specification is usually providedas TIR or ‘total indicated runout.’TIR is defined as the runout meas-ured on the vehicle or installedrunout. TIR includes all factors thatcan influence the amount of runout.Runout can be in the hub’s flange,the rotor, or it can be caused by im-proper lug torque.

You also could call TIR the stackedrunout of the hub/rotor/ wheel as-sembly. All of the above factors addup to give the rotor’s TIR. This bringsup an important point. The averageallowable TIR specification for late-model vehicles is between .001-inchand .003-inch. This is the maximumallowed. Some manufacturers havespecified .000-inch of runout.

Runout will not cause pedal pul-sation on vehicles with floating orsliding calipers, and when thecaliper housing is free to move andthe runout is not excessive.

Under these conditions, the cal -iper will follow the runout. Thecaliper housing will move in and outin relation to the runout. This move-ment will not cause the caliper pis-ton to move. This is a key point tounderstand. No piston movementresults in a lack of fluid movement inthe hydraulic system. If there is nofluid movement, the brake pedalwon’t move or pulsate.

So, a key point to understand isrunout generally does not cause pul-sation. Runout causes thickness vari-ation that leads to pulsation prob -lems.

SolutionsThe first solution to solve pulsa-

tion problems is to prevent themfrom happening in the first place. Forevery brake job, runout and DTVshould be measured and docu-mented. This includes pad slaps, ma-chining rotors and installing newrotors.

Second, pay special attention tothe mounting flange. Taking time toclean the mounting flange on thehub can remove corrosion and debristhat can cause runout. Also, pay at-tention to lug nut torque.

Third, the shop should take timeto service the caliper, slides andhardware. If a caliper cannot float orretract the piston, it can result in in-creased wear that could lead to DTVand pulsation. Some new vehiclesuse new abutment clips that help to

push the pads back from the rotor toreduce drag and allow for less wearon the pads and rotors. Failing torenew these components as part of abrake job could reduce the life of thebrake job and increase comebacks.

Fourth, using an on-the-car lathecan help to reduce runout. The mainadvantage of these lathes is that theyare able to cut a rotor in its operatingplane. This means the rotor is ma-chined to match the hub.

Fifth, flange runout can be cor-rected with tapered shims that areavailable to correct a runout of 0.003-inch (0.075 mm) to 0.009-inch (0.230mm). A runout of more than 0.005-inch (0.125 mm) at the bearing flangecannot be corrected by the use of ashim. The combination of rotor andbearing flange could prevent therotor from being turned.

Checking bearing flange runoutshould be performed after frictionsurface runout. Changing the rotorposition 180 degrees on the bearingcan check flange runout. If the highspot changes 180 degrees, the rotorcould be OK or ready to turn afterthe bearing is shimmed.

Components should be markedas you perform an inspection of theassembly. Check the bearing end-play. Mark the relation of the rotor tothe bearing flange. Mark the rotorhigh and low runout spots on therotor friction surface; the low spotmarked as zero and the high spot asthe maximum value. Mark the highand low runout spots on the bearingflange with the same method andthe rotor friction surface.

Once a technician has collectedthe data, the following comparisonsshould be made:

• Compare bearing flange to rotorrunout position. If the shim cannotcorrect the runout, the bearingshould be replaced.

• Check the rotor thickness. Theminimum dimension should bestamped or cast into the rotor. Therehas to be enough thickness to coverthe runout without going below theminimum thickness.

Pulsation comebacks cost techni-cians and shops parts and lost labor.Rolling the dice every brake job bynot eliminating runout or trusting innew rotors will cost you more thanthe time spent measuring with a dialgauge and micrometer. ■



The overall response to ourEight Brake Myths Busted arti-cle was huge. A few techs took

umbrage, but at least there was dis-cussion. Too often, technicians getstuck in a mindset that leads to falsediagnoses. The point of the articlewas to shake things up in your diag-nostic thinking.

A large number of complaintswere in response to the section onbrake hose restrictions. In this myth,I made the statement that manybrake hose restrictions were misdiag-nosed. Some readers felt compelledto write in explaining their own ex-periences.

The number one reason a lot ofreaders brought it up was corrosion’srole in causing restrictions. Manycited brackets and collars that cor-rode to the point that they reduce thediameter of the hose. One reader inthe Rust Belt even said that it is fartoo common an occurrence. He saidthe crimps on some fittings on after-market hose assemblies are startingto corrode due to the thin coating ofplating on the lines.

Another cause of restrictionsbrought up by readers was damageby clamps and pliers. Some techni-cians clamp lines and force the fluidout of the bleeder when the piston ispushed back, while others do notlike to put any clamps on the hose,except for diagnostic purposes.

It is a fact that the most contami-nated brake fluid is at the wheels,and removing the contaminatedfluid through the bleeder screw is agood idea. But, where did this prac-tice start? Looking at OE service in-formation, we could not find thisprocedure outlined in any currentservice procedure.

Maybe OEMs do not want to pay

the warranty time or they do not seecars in the state independent shopsdo. But, we suspect that they areafraid of damage to the lines. Look-ing back, this practice went main-stream when ABS systems werestarting to find their way onto cars inthe late 1980s.

Could technicians be doing moreharm than good by clamping lines?The jury is still out. But, chances areif the boot and seals on the caliperhave perished to the point where de-bris is large enough to block or getjammed in a valve, the calipershould be replaced. This goes back tothe myth about rotor discard dimen-sions.

Brake Hose ConstructionWith all of the discussion about

hoses, we did some more research tofind out if things are changing withhoses.

FMVSS 106 addresses brake linestandards for the U.S. Department ofTransportation, but it does not ad-dress corrosion.

Most hydraulic brake hoses havefour layers of synthetic rubber andfabric. FMVSS tests resistance to col-lapsing, chemicals and other extremeconditions.

The DOT standard, in a nutshell,says brake hoses must be flexible in awide range of temperatures whilehaving a predictable expansion rateso the pedal feel and ABS response isthe same in winter and summer. Italso specifies that hoses must be ableto bend and twist at certain angleswithout collapsing or kinking.

One engineer, speaking off therecord, said that most restriction andfailures of hoses occur at the ends ofthe hose where it connects to thecaliper banjo bolt or hard line. Hesaid this is where layers can breakfree and cause restrictions. Also, henoted the worst thing for a hose is ifit accidentally supports the weight ofthe caliper.

When should a brake hose be re-placed? Any time there is a sign ofcracking or deformation like bubblesor indentations. Don’t take anychances.

What is in the future for brakehoses? With efficiency of the enginebecoming more important, the effi-ciency of the hydraulic brake systemis coming into question.

Engineers see the vacuum brakebooster as a controlled vacuum leakthat throws off the stoichiometricratio that has been tamed with directfuel injection and advanced enginecontrols. Without a booster, thetransfer of force from the pedal to thecaliper has to become more efficient.This could mean even stiffer andmaybe smaller diameter brake hosesin the future. ■


SERVICEFEATURE

Many OEMs and hose manufacturersare using CT and MRI imaging to testbrake hoses.

Brake Myths Revisited

ANDREW MARKEL

Contributing Editor


If you’ve done any tire and wheelinstallation in the last six years,you probably know quite a bit

about TPMS – which became manda-tory in 2007 on all passenger carsand light trucks thanks to the TREADAct, signed into law in 2000.

But one thing you may not know ishow effective TPMS has been in theaggregate. According to NHTSA’s No-vember 2012 TPMS Effectiveness Re-port:

• Safety studies have shown thatthe presence of TPMS resulted in a55.6% reduction in the likelihood thatthe vehicle would have one or more se-verely underinflated tires.

• An estimated 250,000 vehiclecrashes are caused by underinflatedtires each year. Vehicles with properlyinflated tires experience optimum rideand handling, shorter braking dis-tances, longer tire life and improvedfuel economy.

• Properly inflated tires save thetypical passenger car 9.32 gallons offuel, and over an entire year, TPMSsaved some $511 million for the TPMS-equipped vehicle population.

But the clear advantages and effi-ciencies of TPMS don’t mean therehaven’t been a lot of problems alongthe way. Many dealers and tire techsview TPMS as just one giant headache,or even the perfect example of the gov-ernment trying to solve a problem bycreating a catastrophe.

Six years into the great TPMS exper-iment, as first-generation sensors arebeginning to reach the end of their use-ful lifetimes, it seems like a good timeto take a look back and review themany problems involved in TPMS and

take a look forward, as well, to see howthose problems are being solved in thesecond generation of sensors.

One of the most frustrating initialproblems installers encountered withTPMS was the incredibly wide varietyof OEM sensor types, to the point that

not only does just about every make ofcar use a different style of sensor, but itsometimes seems as if each car modelcarries a different sensor. Barry Stein-berg, CEO of Direct Tire and AutoService in Boston, notes, “It’s painful,it’s just painful. Every car has differentsensors. BMW just changed to anothersensor, so they’ve got, like, four differ-ent sensors now.”

Fortunately, in recent years, after -mar ket companies such as Schrader,Dill Air Controls, Oro-Tek and manyothers have stepped up and providedprogrammable multi-vehicle sensorsthat can be used across make and model

lines. Most dealers can now cover 80%to 90% of all vehicles while stockingonly three or four sensor types.

Paul Wise, director of product man-agement and marketing at Schrader,says, “With our patented EZ-sensor op-tion, a service and repair facility can

stock just two sensors (315 and 433Mhz) and program them to over 85%of TPMS-equipped vehicles that theymay see come into their shop. Thiseliminates the need to stock hundredsof the original replacement sensors.”

Sensor Damage and CorrosionThis is a good thing, because it turns

out sensors need replacing quite a lot.Most OE sensors are extremely fragile,requiring tire techs to take great carewhen mounting or dismounting tiresto avoid breaking the monitor off thevalve stem. The best method to avoiddamage to the stem usually involves


The End of the Beginning

As TPMS grows up, let’s

recap the shortcomings of

first-gen sensors and take

a look at what’s ahead

TIRES TPMS

SEAN PHILLIPS

Contributing Editor

When dismounting a tire, care must be taken when the wheel goes onto the tire ma-chine to place the valve stem at “11 o’clock” or just to the left of the mounting head.

58-61 Blue_TPMS 7/16/13 1:30 PM Page 58

removing the valve core to deflate thetire, then removing the nut that holdsthe valve stem to the wheel, thus al-lowing the stem and sensor to simplydrop inside the tire to be retrieved afterdismounting.

The second best technique is to en-sure the tire-changing machine’sshovel is placed to break the bead at180 degrees opposite the valve stem, sothat neither the shovel nor the tire beadcan put pressure on the sensor. Caremust then be taken when the wheelgoes onto the tire machine to place thevalve stem at “11 o’clock” or just to theleft of the mounting head, so that thetire bead does not contact the sensorwhen it moves downward into thewheel’s drop center.

By far, the most prevalent reasontoday for sensors needing replacementis simple corrosion. The metal valvestems on most first-gen OE sensorshave shown a spectacular ability to cor-rode at the least provocation. Horrorstories abound, even to the point ofhaving stems snap off vehicles while inmotion, leading to catastrophic pres-sure loss situations.

Sensor corrosion tends to be at itsworst in high-salt areas, either near theocean or where road salt is used duringthe winter, but most nickel-plated sen-sor stems will corrode in nearly anyconditions. And some vehicle makers –we’re looking at you Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep – come up quite often in drivercomplaints about sensor corrosion.

Almost as bad has been the tendencyfor corroded stems to make it difficult orimpossible for a technician to removethe retaining nut from the valve stemwithout damaging or destroying thestem. When the nut freezes to the stemdue to corrosion, turning the nut will ei-ther snap the stem off entirely or causethe stem to turn instead of the nut.

A few first-gen sensors were built astwo pieces so that a corroded or dam-aged stem can be removed from themuch more expensive sensor, but mostOE sensors are designed as one inte-grated piece, such that the stem cannotbe removed from the sensor withoutdestroying the entire assembly.

Nearly all aftermarket sensors arenow a two-piece design with a snap-inrubber valve stem rather than the ear-

lier one-piece designs with metalstems. This solves one of the most glar-ing design flaws involved in making asimple, inexpensive valve stem into acomplex, expensive piece of electron-ics.

Additionally, the problem was mademuch worse by early sensors usingmetal valve caps that very quicklywelded themselves to the stem. Stein-berg says, “Initially, they were puttingout a lot of metal caps on these metalvalve stems and they were seizing andcracking and breaking. But ever sincethey’ve all gone to plastic valve caps,we’ve seen a lot less of that.”

The only real defense against corro-sion is proper maintenance. This iswhy it is so important to employ theservice packs on TPMS sensors everytime the tires are serviced. Replacingthe nut on the sensor stem often pre-vents corrosion from having enoughtime to take hold and weld the nut andstem together. Replacing the rubber O-rings eliminates problems from driedout O-rings leaking air. Replacing thevalve core also is necessary, as thenickel plating will wear off over time.


■ TIRES: TPMS


58-61 Blue_TPMS 7/16/13 1:30 PM Page 60

It’s also important to ensure all tech-nicians who perform TPMS serviceknow the inflexible rule of valve cores.Never ever put anything other than theproper nickel-plated valve core into aTPMS valve stem. Brass valve coreswill galvanically weld themselves intothe stem in a very short time, becomingimpossible to remove. It can be just thateasy to destroy an expensive sensorwith a 50-cent mistake.

Battery Life IssuesThe last major problem with first-

generation sensors is still somewhat onthe horizon, but coming quickly: bat-teries.

Battery life for TPMS sensors is gen-erally projected to be in the range of sixto eight years at best, which means thatwith major sensor use starting in 2007,you can expect to start seeing substan-tial battery failures starting about now,with a major wave of failures comingin the next two to three years and con-tinuing into the next decade. Unfortu-nately, the vast majority of sensorswere designed as sealed units and it isimpossible to simply replace a battery.

So, in essence, you will need to beready to replace a whole lot of sensorsin the coming years, and, in general,your customers are not going to likehearing that. However, having theproper tools and equipment in place tomake the process as easy and economi-cal as possible will go a long way notonly toward easing that blow for yourcustomers, but decreasing the head -ache for your shop.

• Possibly the most useful tool youwill need for TPMS is a good sensorscan tool. Actually, if you’ve been deal-ing with TPMS at all over the past sixyears you probably already have one,but now may be a very good time tolook at upgrading to the newest mod -el. Today’s scan tools not only performthe essential “test before touch” job toverify that sensors are working andperform sensor relearn and ODBCprogramming tasks, but also can printreports that will both show your cus-tomers what’s going on with their sen-sors and provide an audit trail, ifnecessary, to verify that you are fol-lowing NHTSA regulations.

• It’s also best to have torque-pro-

tected hand tools designed to avoidover-torquing sensitive TPMS compo-nents like the nut and the rubber o-rings.

• Finally, of course, you will need tohave a good stock of replacement sen-sors that fit your business and theneeds of your customers. Keeping asmaller stock of programmable ormulti-vehicle aftermarket sensors doesseem to just make more business senseand will probably cost your customersquite a bit less than keeping hundredsof OE sensors to be able to cover everypossibility, or having to search for justthe right sensor when you need it.

So, in general, the second genera-tion of TPMS seems to be maturingjust in time for the first to step aside. Itmay even be that the automotive af-termarket really can manage to take acatastrophe and reduce it to a mereproblem.

As Winston Churchill once said ofthe Allied invasion of North Africa,“Now this is not the end. It is not eventhe beginning of the end. But it is, per-haps, the end of the beginning.”

Here’s to the next generation. ■

TireReview.com 61

■ TIRES: TPMS


58-61 Blue_TPMS 7/16/13 1:30 PM Page 61

Motor vehicle noise has been aproblem since the first at-tempts to produce a “horse-

less carriage.” Because all tires areinevitably a compromise to meetwidely differing conditions (tempera-ture, weather, road surfaces, ride andhandling requirements), reducing tirenoise has always been difficult.

Despite these modern challenges,major reductions in noise have beenachieved. By some estimates, improve-ments in materials, construction, con-tours and, above all, tread patterns,have made today’s passenger cars lessthan 20% as noisy as those produced 30years ago.

Commercial trucks have improvedeven more dramatically, producing lessthan 10% of the noise of their 1980spredecessors.

There are two types of noise pro-duced by a moving vehicle: “interiornoise” heard by the driver and passen-gers, and “exterior noise” affecting

people outside the vehicle. Althoughsome level of noise from the engine isoften considered desirable (especiallyfor high performance vehicles), tirenoise isn’t on anybody’s list of favoritesounds.

Interior noise is an important issuefor both tire and vehicle manufactur-ers. Tire noise intrudes on the luxuri-ous environment vehicle manufac -turers strive for in many of their offer-ings. High levels of tire noise can makeconversation in the vehicle difficult.Also, with many of today’s drivers pre-occupied with switching betweenaudio sources, making phone calls,checking out the GPS and eating, itmakes sense to reduce distractions asmuch as possible.

Engines, powertrains, tires rollingover the road surface and air passingaround moving vehicles all contributeto exterior noise. At low speeds, espe-cially in urban areas, engine and pow-ertrain noise, caused largely by

acceleration from a stop, is the domi-nant noise source. Above 30 mph, noisefrom the interaction of tires with theroad surface plays the larger role.

The most common noise producedby tires is tire pattern noise. Patternnoise is what people usually are refer-ring to when talking about tire noise; itoccurs because air is trapped in thetread pattern and is suddenly releasedas the tire rolls along the road surface.Tread elements successively hitting theroad surface can create what’s knownas a “rhythmic percussion.” Tread de-signs made up of short, repetitive pat-terns often generate a whine. Usually, atire with a rib tread pattern is muchquieter than a tire with a lug or blocktread pattern.

Tires with the same size tread seg-ments all around the circumference ofthe tire (a single pitch pattern) tend tocreate significantly higher noise levelsthan tires with tread blocks of varyingsizes and shapes (a multiple pitch pat-

tern). While the multiple pitch pat-terns each produce different patternnoises, the overall noise level ismuch lower.

Reducing tire noise by varyingthe tread pitch pattern is a compli-cated process. At a minimum, theremust be several different pitchesplaced around the circumference ofthe tire. But it requires more thansimply making several differenttread pitches.

Tiremakers continue to look for aformula for variable pitched treadsthat will produce the least noise. Noone claims to have discovered theexact pitch sequence that consistentlyproduces the best noise characteris-

The Fight Against Tire Noise

Noisy tires suck, but

why does this happen?

Is it really all the tire’s

fault?

TIRES TIRE TECH

RICH ASHLEY

Contributing Editor

Rapid Response: 800-928-1184 ext. 5206262 July 2013 | TireReview

62-64 Blue_Tire Tech 7/16/13 1:28 PM Page 62

tics, but engineers have been able to re-duce noise significantly. Undoubtedly,improvements will continue to evolve.

Other Noise SourcesNot all tire noise is due to the design

of the tread pattern. Tires also makenoise because the tread elementssquirm under the weight of the car andslip over the pavement. At low speeds,some of the easiest places to observethis type of noise are parking garageswith polished concrete floors.

The squealing noise that occurs dur-ing rapid acceleration, hard brakingand high speed cornering is a result ofsignificant slippage of the rubber onthe road surface. This slippage createsan intense self-induced vibration of thetread that produces the sounds TV andmovie producers are so enamoredwith. Similarly, the combination ofpoor tire uniformity and a rough roadsurface can result in what is known as“elastic vibration noise.”

In general, vehicles carrying a lightload produce lower tire noise thanthose with heavy loads. Tires runninghigher inflation pressures generatelower noise levels compared to thosewith lower inflation levels. Radials aremuch quieter than bias tires, and highspeeds result in more noise than lowerspeeds.

Government InterventionTire noise has not escaped the atten-

tion of government regulators. So far,the U.S. Department of Transportationand NHTSA, responsible for develop-ing many of the standards for vehicles

and automotive components sold here,have not developed anything like thetough noise standards mandated inEurope. Nonetheless, motorists herewill still benefit from this research, ac-cording to tire industry experts.

The United Nations EconomicCommission for Europe (ECE), whichestablishes standards for passengerand commercial vehicles, has long reg-ulated the physical dimensions, side-wall branding, durability andhigh-speed endurance requirements oftires sold there. More recent ECE stan-dards have extended to wet tractionand tire noise. The ECE noise stan-dards were first applied to OE tires onnew vehicles beginning in 2004 andhave expanded to all tires sold in Eu-rope.

The ECE symbol on the sidewall in-cludes the letter “e” or “E” and numbercode in a circle or rectangle. It repre-sents the tiremaker’s certification thatthe manufacturer certifies the tire meetsall regulations, including the load indexand speed symbol that appear in itsservice description.

The first number identifies the coun-try where a tire was originally regis-tered (such as E2 for France or E4 forthe Netherlands), followed by two dig-its indicating the regulations underwhich the tire was approved (“02” forpassenger tires and “00” for commer-cial vehicle tires). The final four or fivedigits represent the tire size and type.

Tires that meet the “pass-by” noiselimits and wet traction standards mayhave a second ECE symbol with an “s”(for sound) and “w” (for wet traction).

TireReview.com 63

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s ECE symbol on a tire’s side-wall includes the letter “e” or “E” and number code in a circle or rectangle (right).The first number identifies the country where a tire was originally registered (a listof country codes is presented on the left), followed by two digits indicating the reg-ulations under which the tire was approved. The final four or five digits representthe tire size and type.



In addition to the ECE branding, be-ginning on Nov. 1, 2012, labels indicat-ing fuel efficiency (rolling resistance),wet grip and noise became mandatoryon all replacement passenger tires soldin the European Union. The new EUlabel grades tires on “A” to “G” scalesfor fuel efficiency and wet stopping dis-tance. The external noise generated bythe tire is indicated both in decibels(dBs) and by black sound waves thatindicate the noise class of the tire, from1 (quiet) to 3 (loud).

• 1 black sound wave: Already 3dBbelow the 2016 European limit

• 2 black sound waves: Alreadycom pliant with the 2016 European limit

• 3 black sound waves: Compliantwith the 2012 European limit

“Pass-by” noise is measured fromthe sides of the road with a vehicle trav-eling 50 mph with the engine switchedoff. A tire rated “one wave” is half asnoisy as a tire rated with “two waves.”Ratings are established by size, withnarrower tires having to meet lower dBrequirements than wider tires. As a re-sult, while the dB level can readily becompared to all other passenger tires, a

particular tire’s number of soundwaves is only measured among tires ofthe same size.

Tire Noise ExpectationsFor practical purposes, the noise re-

duction available from the tires alonemay have reached the limits of the cur-rent state of the art. Although improvements to a particular tire or line of tirescertainly are available, any significantreductions in overall tire levels may notbe possible without affecting desirableperformance characteristics.

If the weather was always dry andwarm, it might be possible to build per-fectly smooth roads and tires withouttread designs. Slick tires on pool table-smooth roads would produce a lot lessnoise. Unfortunately, the need for wetweather traction requires coarse roadsurfaces and tread patterns that drainaway water. And roads are made up ofa variety of materials that inevitably in-clude bumps, manhole covers, pave-ment joints and other obstacles.

So significant additional reductionsin tire noise are likely to require that tireand vehicle manufacturers, road

builders and urban planners all worktogether to evaluate new types of roadsurfaces and materials.

Tires that were quiet when first in-stalled but become much louder as theywear are still with us. Tires get noisieras they wear because of their construc-tion, tread design and uneven wear. Asa tire wears and the thickness of thetread and its sound insulating proper-ties are reduced, it gets closer to its beltsand reinforcements – this can increasetire noise.

Directional tires often get louder asthey wear; much more than non-direc-tional tread designs. Tires that are al-lowed to wear in an uneven mannerproduce more noise and even steering-wheel vibration. Proper tire rotationand wheel alignment are critical toavoiding such problems, especiallywith directional tires.

Like so many other aspects of thetire business, managing customers’ ex-pectations is important. Help them un-derstand the performance characteristics of different types of tires. Find outhow important a quiet ride is comparedto handling, wear and value. Empha-size the need for regular rotation andalignment checks to promote evenwear.

Although there are no guaranteesthat they will never get noisy, helpingyour customer choose the best tire fortheir needs and giving them an under-standing of how to care for them can goa long way toward ensuring a gooddriving experience. ■


■ TIRES: TIRE TECH

Rapid Response: 800-928-1184 ext.52064

On the new EU tire label, externalnoise generated by the tire is indicatedboth in decibels and by black soundwaves that indicate the noise class ofthe tire, from 1 (quiet) to 3 (loud).


Ihave the opportunity to speak atseveral truck fleet seminars, andmost of the questions raised focus

on tire issues that can develop andaffect removal mileage. Fleet man-agers are looking for answers onwhy such tire conditions are occur-ring, what tire pressures should givethem the best overall performance,how they can improve fuel economywith their tires, and the secret tomaximizing the number of retreadsper casing.

These are complicated topics that re-quire some explanation in order to beable to fully communicate with yourfleet customers.

Understanding the reasons whytires come out of service is the first or -der of business. If the tire was not wornsmooth when it was removed from thetractor or trailer, the objective is to de-termine what caused the early removal.

It also is possible that a casing condi-tion developed that may have had noeffect on the original mileage, but mayhave an adverse impact on the ability toretread the casing. Tires are an expen-sive investment and fleet managerswant to maximize removal miles andretread at least once – and hopefullytwo or more times.

When analyzing tires that come outof service, it is important to analyzethem by wheel position. Was the tirerunning on a steer, drive or trailer posi-tion?

Steer tires in slow-wearing line-hauloperations may develop shoulder stepor chamfer wear on one tire shoulder.This is a common condition and usu-ally has little or no effect on tire re-moval miles.

If the steer tire has full wear on oneor both shoulders, this will lead toearly removal miles. Most of the time,this is a sign of side scrubbing due tovehicle misalignment. The misalign-

ment could be generated by a simplesteer axle toe condition, or it may havebeen initiated by drive axle misalign-ment or even trailer axle misalignment.

If there was too much toe-in, the re-sult is both shoulders will develop fastwear. Drive axle misalignment resultsin fast inside shoulder wear on onesteer tire and fast outside shoulderwear on the other.

Another common alignment prob-lem is improper camber. Excessivecamber leads to steer tires with exces-sive wear on one side extending fromthe shoulder to the center of the tread.

Steer tires with cupping wear that cre-ates a scalloped appearance are toughto troubleshoot. This can be due to thetire/wheel assembly being out of bal-ance, improper wheel bearing adjust-

ment and even underinflation. If steer tires develop inner ribs that

are depressed in relationship to theouter ribs, it is primarily caused by lowpressure. This should not be very com-mon, since steer tire inflation pressuresusually are monitored very closely bythe driver.

Drive and Trailer TiresWhen it comes to drive tires, there

are different conditions that can de-velop. Heel/toe wear is a commoncondition, which is easily identifiedwhen each lug is worn heavily from


TroubleshootTruck Tire Issues

Optimize a fleet’s tire

program with proper

inflation pressure, tread

wear education

TIRES TRUCK

AL COHN

Contributing Editor

[email protected]

While the simple approach for fleets is to have one pressure spec for steer, driveand trailer tires, that is not necessarily the correct and best way.

66-67 Blue_Truck 7/16/13 1:26 PM Page 66

the front to back edge of a tread element. This is caused bymismatched inflation pressures on dual tires. It also is ag-gravated by high torque operations.

Mismatched pressures on dual tires is quite common.Nobody likes to bend down, get dirty and measure pres-sures on those inside duals.

If you run into a flat spot on a drive tire, it typically is

due to a brake skid. Driver training can help significantlyreduce this issue.

Free rolling trailer tires tend to have the most issues be-cause of driver neglect. Industry surveys always show thatthe trailer tires have the poorest air pressure maintenance,and low air pressures always lead to issues.

It is even worse when the outside dual is running at thecorrect 100 psi inflation pressure and the inside dual is onlyat 70 psi. Revolutions per mile change significantly whenthe tire is running at 100 psi and the tire next to it is only 70psi. This will lead to significant uneven wear, likecupping and depressed wear.

Most fleets are not checking trailers for alignmentand the results are irregular conditions like fast shoul-der wear on one or both shoulders, depressed ribsand cupping.

Tire footprints change dramatically when thetrailer is running fully loaded versus empty. Fullyloaded trailer tires have footprints that are evenlyspread across the tread, while unloaded trailer tireshave very small footprints; the result is the shouldersmay not even be touching the ground. This will resultin shoulder cupping and early tire removals.

Optimizing PressureFleet managers need to understand how to choose

the best pressure for their tires. The education processhere is very simple. If you know the worst-case loadthe tire will encounter, then load-inflation tables willidentify the correct and optimum tire pressure. Load-inflation tables are readily available on all of the tirecompany websites.

The simple approach for fleets is to have one pres-sure spec for steer, drive and trailer tires. But that isnot necessarily the correct and best way. In manycases, based on the worst-case load, you may find thatsteer tires need to be running at 110 psi, drives at 95psi, and trailers at 90 psi.

Maximizing vehicle fuel economy significantly im-pacts the fleet’s bottom line. Even a 1% or 2% im-provement in fuel economy can save a mid-size fleethundreds of thousands of dollars annually in fuelcosts. The secret of good fuel economy is for fleets to

spec fuel-efficient tires, which virtually every tire manufac-turer has in its portfolio. These tires may have a price pre-mium, but the benefits and payback to the fleet’s tire budgetare quick and significant.

Keep in mind, however, maintaining proper air pressureis very important to the success of those fuel-efficient tires.Running tires underinflated will generate excessive heat, in-crease early tire removals due to irregular wear, and will re-duce retreadability.

Every fleet needs a serious tire inflation program andshould check tires for air pressure on a regular basis. If a fleetsees primarily line haul service and is running coast-to-coast,the industry practice is to check tire pressures at least onceper week. If the tires see a lot of mixed service and travel onunpaved roads, then tire pressure checks should be morefrequent.

Technician and driver training is a key component ofevery successful tire program. “Tires 101” needs to be an on-going process and not just taught quickly on the first day ofa new person’s employment at your dealership. Drivers andtechs can and should be the early warning system for anytire issues. If you can identify a specific tire wear issue earlyon in the process, the problem can usually be fixed with littleor no tire damage – be it either a vehicle- or inflation-relatedproblem.

When tire dealers work with fleets to help them make im-provements to their tire programs and reduce costs in thelong term, the business relationship will last a very long timeand will be a win-win for everyone. ■

TireReview.com 67

■ TIRES: TRUCK


>TAKEAWAYS

• EXAMINE REMOVED TIRES FOR MISALIGNMENT

AND WEAR CLUES

• CALCULATE PROPER LOAD

• MAINTAIN CORRECT INFLATION PRESSURE

66-67 Blue_Truck 7/16/13 1:26 PM Page 67

Good wiper blades are essential for clear visibility when driving through wet weather condi-tions. The latest wipers on the market can endure a mix of heat, rain and snow, as well assalt, oil, mud and other materials that can break down blades quickly. Advanced wiper tech-nology also helps to maximize contact between the blade and the glass for excellent visibil-ity in any driving condition.


Product Spotlight

SOLUTIONS SPOTLIGHT

Wiper Blades

BOSCHPremium Bosch Icon wiper blades are de-signed to handle all weather conditionsfrom extreme heat to cold, sleet, snow,strong winds or heavy rain. A flexible dualrubber-wiping element resists heat andozone deterioration to help maintain flex-ibility all year around, according to Bosch.Dual tension springs are housed in a flexi-ble, asymmetrical aerodynamic spoilerthat creates down force to keep the bladehugging the windshield even at highwayspeeds. With no external steel brackets,springs or partitioned plastic spoilers, Bosch Icon blades do not clog with ice and snow in winter, the maker added. www.boschautoparts.com Rapid Response: www.TRRapidResponse.com/52150Or call 800-928-1184 – Ext. 52150

ANCOAnco said its Transform hybrid wiperblades integrate the aerodynamic featuresand all-weather efficiency of beam styleblades with the precisely positioned pres-sure points of bridge blades for excep-tional wiping performance. Transformwipers are equipped with an integralspoiler that helps maximize down forceand a unique secondary linkage withbowed flexor for firm, consistent blade-to-glass contact for optimized wipe perform-ance at high speeds, according to the manufacturer. They are available for a vast majority of North American passengervehicles, with blade lengths ranging from 16 to 28 inches. For non direct-replacement applications, Transform wipers utilizeFederal-Mogul’s fast, easy Anco KwikConnect installation system, the company added.www.ancowipers.com Rapid Response: www.TRRapidResponse.com/52151Or call 800-928-1184 – Ext. 52151

68-70 Yellow_Solutions 7/16/13 1:26 PM Page 68

TireReview.com 69

VALEO Valeo said it is nowoffering the UltimateMasterConnect lineof wiper blades, anoptimized range thatcontains 15 sizesranging from 15 to28 inches, includingfour with reversedspoiler for butterflysystems. The uniqueconnection adapterallows for one solu-tion to three types oforiginal beam bladearms, the companyadded. More than120 vehicle makesare covered. Thewipers’ convenientblister packaging is made of recycled and recyclable material. www.valeoserviceusa.com Rapid Response: www.TRRapidResponse.com/52152Or call 800-928-1184 – Ext. 52152

TRICO Trico Force is an all-new high-performance beam blade engineered with apowerful combination of advanced wiper technologies designed for maximiz-ing safety in today’s extreme driving environment, the company said. Avail-able now, Trico Force features the patented VorTec aerofoil that controlsairflow and transfers wind force downward to provide maximum contact be-tween the wiper blade and windshield, according to the manufacturer. With arobust superstructure for durable, all-weather performance, this swept-wingspoiler slices through turbulence to deliver a flawless wipe and excellent visi-bility in all driving situations. www.tricoproducts.com Rapid Response: www.TRRapidResponse.com/52154Or call 800-928-1184 – Ext. 52154


DENSO Denso Products and Services Americas has launched a new marketing cam-paign to raise awareness that wiper blades should be replaced on a regularbasis to ensure best performance when needed. The multi-faceted program in-cludes print advertisements and consumer brochures, as well as various promo-tional and incentive elements, Denso said. The campaign is designed tocommunicate with various audiences, including retail customers, auto shopcounterpersons, installers and warehouse distributors. Denso added that driversneed to be aware that virtually everything around them can affect the wear andperformance of wiper blades – including sunlight, oil, car wax, sand, mud, dust,snow, acid rain and salt water. Depending on the area and climate, wiper bladesshould be replaced every six months to a year, or as soon as the driver notices achange in visibility, the company added.www.globaldenso.com Rapid Response: www.TRRapidResponse.com/52153Or call 800-928-1184 – Ext. 52153



SOLUTIONS PRODUCTS

Durable Lift Pads BendPak said its new ToughPads fitlater year BendPak two-post lifts andoffer the grip of natural rubber com-bined with the ultimate in abrasion andtear resistance of polyurethane. The

durable,wear-resis-tant poly-mer compound ex-

tends the life of the contact pads,which helps increase workplace safetyand reduce operating costs, the makersaid. Additionally, the round slip-overdesign makes installation quick andeasy. ToughPads, which replace earlierBendPak contact pads made of naturalrubber, offer resistance to abrasion, oiland solvents, tears, heat and cold.They also feature a higher load bearing

capacity, the company added. bendpak.comRapid Response:www.TRRapidResponse.com/52155 Or call 800-928-1184 – Ext. 52155

Mobile-Friendly Dealer Websites MoFuse Local, a provider of mobileWeb content, said that based on re-cent Google keyword search analysis,approximately 823,000 local Googlesearches for “auto repair” are done onmobile devices each month – yet morethan 90% of small business websitesdo not display properly on smart-phones. The company added it has anaffordable solution to help tire dealersreach these mobile customers. Forbusinesses with a standard website,MoFuse Local provides a re-directcode that detects when a visitor is on aphone and automatically serves themobile-friendly site to maximize theshop’s opportunity for new business. Ifa business does not have a website,the MoFuse Local site can work as aprimary website, the company added.mofuselocal.com/deal/tireRapid Response:www.TRRapidResponse.com/52156 Or call 800-928-1184 – Ext. 52156

Tool Application Guide AME International said its new Tool Ap-plication Guide showcases the mostcommon uses for AME tools and allowsusers to reference the most up-to-datetool pairings. The free chart for com-mercial tire dealers features some ofthe company’s best-selling items, rang-ing from wheels and pumps to jackplates and cribbing. It includes populartire sizes and tire changing tools (bro-ken down by both three- and five-piecerim sizes) and is designed to hang onthe shop wall or be folded and carriedon the service truck, AME added. ameintl.netRapid Response:www.TRRapidResponse.com/52157 Or call 800-928-1184 – Ext. 52157

Long-Life Tire, Retread Michelin North America has launched theMichelin X One Line Energy D tire andprecure retread. According to the manu-

facturer, the Michelin X One Line EnergyD tire features a 15% improvement intread life versusthe Michelin XDAenergy tire. Addi-tionally, the XOne Line EnergyD tire is engi-neered with dualenergy com-pounds that pro-vide a top layer oftread rubber forincreased fuel ef-ficiency. michelintruck.comRapid Response:www.TRRapidResponse.com/52158 Or call 800-928-1184 – Ext. 52158

Corrosion-Resistant Wheels Alcoa recently introduced its new M-Se-ries line of wheels, designed for medi -um- duty truck segments, Classes 3-6.According to Aloca, M-Series wheels re-sist corrosion and maintain the clean

bright look that fleets deserve. Addition-ally, the wheels improve fuel economy,reduce carbon emissions and are infi-nitely recyclable, the maker added. alcoawheels.comRapid Response:www.TRRapidResponse.com/52159 Or call 800-928-1184 – Ext. 52159

Compatible TPMS Sensor Package Dill Air Controls recently launched the1305B sensor package. According toDill, shops will be able to simplify theTPMS process by installing sensorsthat work with all TPMS scan tools andrequire no extra programming steps.The 1305B package comes with foursensors in each part number, includingthe rubber stem version (7001HP,7002, 7004, 7001HP-R).dillvalves.comRapid Response:www.TRRapidResponse.com/52160 Or call 800-928-1184 – Ext. 52160

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“Why indeed.” Basil shook hishead. “Quigley, why don’t you showMr. Bailey here some wiring diagramsfor that vehicle. I suspect there is afaulty ground somewhere that needsto be specified and rectified.”

“Splendid!” Righteous rubbed hishands together with obvious pleasure.Being a small operation, he didn’t in-vest much in expensive equipment ormonthly subscription fees. He preferredto bum the use of those costly thingsfrom his “unenlightened” colleagues.

Quigley led Righteous off to ourdatabase computer in the parts roomwhile the rest of us tried to forget he’dever been there. By the afternoon cof-fee break things had returned to nor-mal. “I’ll raise ya three grapes and apeanut butter sandwich,” said Tooner,holding his cards tight to his chest.

Suddenly the front door burst open– Righteous was back in the building.

Tooner threw down his empty handand sagged in his chair. “Now what!?”

Righteous Bailey ignored the angryglares coming from all corners of the

room. “Well, I’ve checked and cleanedevery ground connection I can find inthe diagrams – behind the driver’sside kick panel, and on the left frontfender – but when I plugged in an-other new module and turned on theheadlights…” He spread his hands.“Well, that was the end of the mod-ule.” He shook his head sadly in dis-appointment. “Obviously, yourprevious advice lacked credibility.However, if you’d like to try again…”

Tooner stood up and pointed a fin-ger in Bailey’s surprised face. “Listenup, buddy, ‘cause I’m only gonna sayit once. Forget about the factorygrounds. Run some new grounds di-rectly from the DRL module to thedashboard metal. That way you ain’ttakin’ no chances.”

Righteous was aghast at thethought. “What? And not locate the ac-tual source of the original problem?”He put one hand over his heart andstruck a patriotic pose. “Never! I shallseek this out; I shall track it down; Ishall never give up…”

“You’d better give it up,” interrupted

Tooner with a sneer. “How many mod-ules d’ya plan on payin’ for?”

Righteous paused, “Hmm, he doeshave a point…”

With his tail between his ratherwide legs, he went back to his Prizmand ran dedicated ground wires be-tween the chassis and the DRL mod-ule. And to no one’s surprise (excepthis own), the daytime running lightsworked perfectly from then on.

They say that people don’t change,but Righteous Bailey had. He had cutcorners, so to speak, and had still ob-tained a satisfactory repair.

I guess you could say he’d finallyseen the light. ■

TireReview.com 75

■ COMMENTARY: THE CAR SIDE

Continued from page 76

Rick Cogbill, a freelance writerand former shop owner in Sum-merland, B.C., has written TheCar Side for a variety of trademagazines for the past 15 years.“A Fine Day for a Drive,” his firstbook based on the charactersfrom this column, is now availablefor order at thecarside.com.

75-76 Purple_The Car Side 7/16/13 1:23 PM Page 75

Uh-oh.” Quigley looked outthe window with a frown onhis face. “Here comes trou-

ble.”Four necks swiveled in unison to

see what our salesman and servicewriter was referring to. The answercame sauntering across the parking lot,heading toward our front door.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” saidRighteous Bailey a minute later, as heeased his pot-bellied form into a va-cant coffee room chair. “I trust I’m notinterrupting anything worthwhile.”

Tooner rolled his eyes, laying downhis playing cards. “Not that it makesno difference to you, but yes – you are.What’s it this time, Righteous?”

Righteous feigned a look of fake in-dignation. “Do I detect a hint of hostil-ity in your voice, Mr. Tooner? Really,that’s no way to treat a fellow col-league. We’re all fighting the same bat-tle, you know.”

Tooner’s ears began to smolder ashe rolled up his sleeves. “If it’s a battleyer wantin’, then let’s step outside!”

“Relax, boys,” I said quickly. A scuf-fle in the parking lot would not lookgood to the clientele. “What can we dofor you today, Righteous?”

Normally we keep pretty good rela-tionships going with the other shopsin town. But Righteous Bailey was theexception, and to be honest, it wasfully self-inflicted. For starters, therewas the sign over his little one-manshop down the street. It read “Right-eous Repairs – Only We Can Fix itRight(eous).” By implication, the restof the shops in town were nothing lessthan crooks and charlatans.

And to make matters worse, Right-

eous was also a purist. Now, takingpride in your work was one thing, butRighteous took it to the extreme. Everyoil change meant sending off oil sam-ples for lab analysis – at his customer’sexpense – and a new set of brake padscame with an intimidating cross-exam-ination about your driving habits.

Even with something as simple as aflat tire, Righteous would want toknow the rate of air loss, the contami-

nation factor of the rusty nail, and,above all, the penetration angle relativeto the estimated rate of entry speed ofthe foreign object.

His passion for knowing howthings worked was not only an obses-sion, it was also a point of self-right-eous pride. In his view, the rest of uswere “the unenlightened ones.”

But while his insistence on detaildrove us nuts, for some reason hisflock of faithful customers loved him.Though we hated to admit it, the facthe was still in business bewildered us.

Righteous looked around for a

spare coffee mug, but there wasn’t any– Quigley had quietly hidden themaway. He sighed. “Gentlemen, I’mhaving this reoccurring problem withthe daytime running lights on a 2001Chevrolet Prizm, and…”

“A Prizm?” interrupted Beanie.“Never seen one of those in this town.Do they even make those anymore?”

Our unwelcome guest gasped,clearly at a loss to explain Beanie’s ig-norance. “Young man, the Prizm is acompact sedan manufactured by asmall auto manufacturing plant in Fre-mont, Calif., called New United MotorManufacturing. A joint venture be-tween both Chevy and Toyota, thePrizm is…”

“It’s basically an American-builtToyota Corolla with the Chevy name-plate on it,” interjected Basil. “Right-eous, could you move things along?You’re interrupting our card game andI happen to be winning.”

“Fine!” Righteous folded his armsover his ample belly and continued.“As I was saying, there’s this reoccur-ring problem with the daytime run-ning lights. The headlamps werestaying on, so I knew the daytime run-ning light module behind the glovebox was defective. But when I replacedthe module, an interesting phenome-non occurred.”

“Lemme guess,” chuckled Tooner.“Ya let the smoke out?”

Righteous glared at him. “In a man-ner of speaking, yes. Whereas initiallythe headlights would not turn off, I nowhave the problem of the running lightsstaying on. Obviously the DRL modulesare burning out; the question is why.”


I Have Seen theLight!

A shortcut repair

for daytime running

light issues brings

enlightenment

COMMENTARY THE CAR SIDE

RICK COGBILL

aka Slim Shambles

Contributing Writer

Continued on page 75

75-76 Purple_The Car Side 7/16/13 1:23 PM Page 76

Tire Review, July 2013

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