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| We Retread Tires! |
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Frasier Tire’s Goodyear Authorized Retreading Center located in Sumter, SC, provides the highest quality in retreading services. Our goal is to provide complete “cradle to grave” services to achieve maximum service life from each tire in your fleet. We have the capability to retread any tire size from 16” light truck up to 17.5R25 OTR tires. While the bulk of our retreading business is medium commercial truck tires we also produce excellent retreading of OTR sizes to include, but not limited to, 1400R24, 15.5R25, 17.5R25 and 405/70R20 front industrials. Retreaded tires are safe, dependable, and cost less than comparable new tires. Retreaded tires are safely used on the drive wheels of school buses, fire trucks, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles. Using retreaded tires also conserves a valuable nonrenewable resource - oil. Each year, retreading tires saves more than 400 million gallons of oil in North America. While it takes 22 gallons of oil to make a new tire, retreading a truck tire only uses seven gallons of oil. Retreaded tires can also help divert thousands of scrap tires from disposal each year. In addition to the retreading services listed above we offer flat-proofing (foam-fill) for all tire sizes using raw material from Carpenter in partnership with Solideal. Adding value to the retreading process, we also provide at all of our locations 24/7/365 Emergency Road Service, Fleet Inspection and Analysis, Fleet Checks, Fleet Reports, Wheel and Rim Refurbishing (powder coating), Truck Tire and Wheel Balancing, Press On Tires and we do have a Mounted Wheel Program. We provide complete tire service of all passenger, truck, farm, industrial and earthmover equipment, from flat tire repair to retreads to new tires. We can take care of all your needs from the smallest to largest tire you have in your fleet. Not only, “If It Rolls…We Can Fix It” but “If It Rolls…We Can Retread It!” Read the article on our plant @ The Item
Rx for ailing tires Local company gives new life to worn wheels
By JOE PERRY Frasier Tire Service Retread Plant Manager Tripp Lee said it takes 22 gallons of oil to make one new truck tire, and seven gallons of oil to retread one tire. "So 33 percent less (oil) to retread one tire instead of making a new one," he said. "If a (trucking) fleet uses as few as 100 tires a year, you can save 1,500 gallons of oil annually. That's like 30 barrels of oil." Lee said Julian Frasier's commercial tire retread manufacturing facility stays busy. They try to retread about 70 tires every day, with a monthly goal of between 1,200 and 1,400. When you're driving down the interstate and you see tire chunks and shards strewn about, that's usually not the retread, Lee said. "Most of that stuff is off of a new tire that's being run underinflated. Some is retread, but 75 to 80 percent is from tires blowing out because they're underinflated," he said.
A BRIEF HISTORY Julian Frasier worked for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Service for more than 40 years, working as a regional manager, and eventually as a district manager in Atlanta. In 1974, he bought Hughes Tire Service on 105 North Sumter St., which used to be R.T. Brown Tire Company — which itself dates back to 1923 and was located where the XDOS building is now. In 1976, Frasier got into retreading. "At one time, going back 25 to 30 years ago, a lot of auto tires were retreads," he said. "But as radials came and people became more sophisticated and had more money, they got away from retreads. It kind of gave out in the early '80s, just kind of went its peaceful way." Retreading was born during WWII, Frasier recalled, from a government mandate, at a time when the war effort's need for new tires was deemed much more important than that for private citizens. In the postwar years, the trucking industry continued retreading, while the general public's interest waned. "As the trucking industry became bigger and bigger, it needed high quality retreads to lower its costs," he said. And there's a good chance that FedEx packages are traveling atop tires that were retreaded in Sumter. "We do tons of tires for Federal Express," he said. "They need retreads to stretch their dollar. It becomes very cost-effective. A lot of the big trucks use retreads — it's not unlike a good pair of shoes." In 1992, Frasier moved his facility to Goose Creek. About three years ago, he moved again, this time to South Harvin Street. While Frasier is independent, he is still affiliated with Goodyear, and Lee said he is Goodyear's largest dealer in the state.
SEVEN STEPS Every tire has a sticker with a bar code, so it can be tracked all the way through the process, Frasier said. After ailing tires are delivered, the first step in the process is the initial inspection, which is done to determine if the casing is capable of being retreaded or repaired. The casing is essentially the crux of the tire, and if it's too far gone — it's landfill time. During the initial inspection, a machine is used to detect nail holes or any pieces of metal in the casing. A slight electrical current running through some slender metal flanges will spark if it comes into contact with any metal. Sometimes getting the object dislodged is not easy. "Whatever it takes," Lee said. "Sometimes it takes a two-by-four with a hammer." The next step is tire repair, where patches are applied with liquid cement after an extruded rubber gun has been used to fill the hole from the outside in. The third step is buffing, which removes existing tread and some of the undertread to prepare the surface of the tire for a new tread. It also uncovers damaged areas. During this process, the tire spins at certain RPMs — the speed of which is matched by a toothy-looking contraption called a rasp that simply peels off layers of rubber, bit by bit, smoothly and gradually. Final touch-ups — known as "skiving" and "buzz-outs" — are done, which is when a worker takes a smaller air-powered handheld tool to clear any areas missed by the tire-eating rasp. The abrasive nature of the tire at this point makes it ideal for proper adhesion. Next is the automatic extruder machine, which swallows raw cushion gum rubber on one end, heats it, then lays it out in strips on the tire. This will help bond the precured tread to the casing. "Probably the most critical step in the shop," Lee said. "This is the cutting edge of retreading." The cushion gum functions like heavy duty glue — and it's not cheap, as Lee estimates he buys 5,000 to 6,000 pounds a month, which translates to about $6 a tire. The building process applies a strip of rubber that has a tread design molded into it, which is then mashed onto the tire, with the ends secured with rubber staples that will melt during the curing process. A pressurized "envelope" is then placed around the tire. The envelope is more or less a tire-shaped straitjacket with a valve. "The purpose is to create differential pressure," Lee said. By putting 110 pounds of pressure onto the tire, the components are forging a physical bond, and as long as the envelope holds a vacuum, "it's good to go," Lee said. Then it's time to cook, and achieve the chemical bond. To give rubber the proper physical characteristics, temperature and pressure must be applied for a certain amount of time to ensure proper vulcanization. As such, the precured tires are then placed in a giant oven. The big one holds 23, and the smaller one holds 11. After about four-and-a-half hours at 235 degrees with 85 pounds-per-square-inch of pressure, the cooking is complete. Then it's time for final inspection, which is the last step in quality assurance. A high-pressure tester can be used to test any defects that may not have showed up on other equipment. Separation, casing fatigue, missed nail holes and proper tread alignment inspections are thorough, Lee said, and also a crucial step that determines if anything was missed. Final finish occurs next. Minor trimming and buffing happen at this point, and the sidewalls are painted with tire paint. Once the paint dries, they are ready for stock or shipping. The job of the last guy can't be underestimated, Lee said. "He's the final set of eyes — he's going to make sure we did everything right," he said. Contact Staff Writer Joe Perry at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (803) 774-1272. |
