 | rad Train is the General Manager overseeing day-to-day operations of Saturn West & Saturn East for the owner Scott Davies. He joined the Wichita Saturn team in 1994 as a Sales Consultant, after 3 years he entered the Saturn Management Team. Brad is a graduate of Southeast High and Butler Community College. He and his wife Michelle have 3 children; Shelby, Andrew and Jacob. You can contact Brad at (316)219-5500, or by e-mail at bradtrain@saturnwichita.com |
Car Salespersons Are People Too
2003-08-01 11:28:00
All about tires
ANSWER: The Bead, Filler, Sidewall and Plies form the Casing of a tire. The Bead is composed of a stranded cable of high-strength steel coated with rubber. It provides the strength needed to keep the tire on the rim under varied conditions. It also serves to handle the forces applied when mounting the tire on the rim. The Sidewall adds lateral stability for the tire with the help of the Filler. It also protects the underlying Plies while contributing to airtight integrity. Individual cords of fabric run from one Bead to the other to form a Ply. The arrangement of the Plies determines the tire type, i.e., bias or radial. The Plies are also coated with rubber to help them bond with other components and to seal-in the air. A Belt is typically made of fabric and reinforces the area under the Tread. The Belt provides puncture resistance and helps the tire maintain its shape at high speeds, improving handling and ride comfort. The Tread provides contact with the pavement. It's made from a mixture of natural and synthetic rubbers for specific applications. Sport tires for example place an emphasis on traction over mileage. The tread pattern is designed to channel water away from the contact area. All current tires are based on two basic types, bias-ply and radial-ply. In a bias-ply tire, the cords in a single ply run diagonally from the bead on one side of the tire to the bead on the other side. Orientations of the cords are reversed from one ply to the next so that cords crisscross each other. Under normal driving conditions, crisscrossed plies generate friction increasing tire temperature and tread wear. To improve tread life, a belt (red/white) is added between the plies and the tread. The belt also improves the tire ride and handling characteristics. In a radial-ply tire, the plies run from side-to-side (bead-to-bead) at 90 degrees. Because the plies do not crisscross each other, radial-ply tires generate less friction and a lower rolling resistance. The result is longer tread life and better fuel economy. A more recent design of the radial-ply utilizes a zero degree ply. In this design, the plies wrap around the inner circumference of the tire. The zero degree design offers lighter weight construction and helps the tire maintain it shape at higher speeds. Due to differences in the construction described, bias-ply and radial-ply tires exhibit dramatically different behavior under the same driving conditions.
