Conserving Our Natural Resources
Seemingly on any media outlet, we hear about environmental issues, conserving our natural resources and reducing our carbon footprint. Any small thing we can do will have an impact to our future and our children’s future.
Retreads are environmentally friendly. Every year in the United States, the use of retread tires saves over 400 million gallons of oil. Tires are basically petrochemical products. It takes 22 gallons of oil to manufacture one new tire. The majority of that oil is found in the tire casing which is reused in the retreading process. Only 7 gallons of oil are needed to retread that same tire. As a result, up to 15 gallons of oil are saved each time a tire is retreaded. For every 100 retread tires sold, 1500 gallons of oil can be saved.
A second environmental advantage is realized at overcrowded landfills throughout the world. Each time a tire is retread, the disposal option is avoided. Because each casing can be retread an average of three times, the tire disposal problem can be reduced by up to 75 percent.
For more information on how to keep our environment green with retread tires, please review the Tire Retread Information Bureau
A Wealth of Experience
Tire Recappers of Nashville, Inc. was founded by Mr. C.E. Ford in the summer of 1960 in Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. C.E. Ford quickly formed a reputation of producing a quality long lasting tire. That quality along with its modest price made the tire an exceptional value. In the early years of production, the focus of the business was namely consumers and dealers of light passenger vehicles across middle Tennessee. As Mr. Ford’s reputation for making a sound, quality product grew, it wasn’t long before the federal government began to take notice. By the late 1960s, Mr. Ford was teaching others how to retread with success. He was conducting evening classes three nights a week in Nashville and surrounding counties.
By the time Mr. Ford’s son Tommy joined his father in 1974, the retread industry was beginning to change. In 1976 the new word in tires was “Radial”. For the first few years of its life, the radial tire did not allow for a quality retread tire. Tommy spent years experimenting and leaning. By 1986 Tommy and the team at Tire Recappers had mastered the art by knowing best casings and processes to put a quality retread radial tire back on the road.
Since the 1980s, consolidation of independent retread facilities across the United States has occurred due to market conditions and key players exiting. Thus a higher demand is now placed for retread tires.
Today, the third generation is working at Nashville Recappers. Tommy works with his three sons producing the highest quality of retread tires available. The focus hasn’t wavered since day one; produce a quality, long lasting tire at an exceptional value. Over the last five year, Tommy has invested in the production facility to grow production capacity from 80 to 450 tires a day. Soon more investment will take capacity to a record high 550 tires a day. Additional manufacturing equipment, facilities and buildings have been added since June 2006 to meet customer demand.
In November of 2007, Tommy partnered with StoneTire as the affiliate Internet arm of Tire Recappers. The team at StoneTire, Bryan, Jeff and Randy, believe this high quality product can provide significant value and cost savings while “greening” our planet. Tommy and the team at StoneTire hope this partnership further grows the business, helps to save the environment and provide a quality retread tire at an exceptional value to anyone on the road.
Our Process
High Quality Materials and Machines
Tire Casings - The casing serves as the main body of a tire. It includes the sidewall, steel belts (if applicable), and surface beneath the tread of a tire. Only the best tire casings are approved for production.
Rubber - Only premium light truck compound are used for StoneTire retreading. The rubber is comprised of 10% natural rubber and 90% synthetic with the highest grade of carbon black compound available.
Studs - After press mold, a manual hand process is used to place each stud into the tire. The stud is made of aluminum and tungsten made to wear down with the tread.
Step 1 - Choosing a Tire
Tire casings are the reusable portion of a tire and are only selected from licensed and Stonetire-approved tire recycling centers in the Southeast. These centers pre-grade the tires based on general wear. This allows them to sort out the tires that might not meet our aggressive standards.
Step 2 - Primary Inspection
Because quality and safety are vital to our customers, each tire is subjected to a thorough visual inspection for holes, metal and defects of any kind prior to production. During the inspection process, an average of 85% of tires are rejected. Inspectors are trained professionals, subjected to a 6-8 week training period to insure only quality casings are used.
Step 3 - Buffing
Following inspection, we remove the old tread using high-speed buffers. These buffers are highly accurate and reduce the tire down to an exact specified diameter and radius, leaving only the tire casing for production use. After buffing, the tire is measured for roundness to ensure an exact mold fit and is once more inspected to ensure premium quality.
Step 4 - Balance and Build
The casing is pre-balanced before new tread is applied. High quality tread rubber is applied to the buffed tire casing using one of 5 computerized orbit-tread applicators. This applicator makes certain the correct amount of rubber is applied to the tire. Another benefit is that itcreates a splice-free tire.
Step 5 - Press Molding
The tire is placed into a rigid mold which contains the tread design. Then, the mold is heated and the rubber in the tread area vulcanizes and adheres to the tire with the new tread design. This vulcanization process is very similar to that used in new tire construction. Over 400 quality molds are made in the United States, Mexico and Italy.
Step 6 - Final Finish and Inspection
The tire is inspected while still hot to verify the tire is free of any separations. After cured, it is again checked for roundness and straight tread before shipping.
Our Products
StoneTire is a company based out of Franklin, Tennessee that sells retread tires. We are committed to excellence and bring to you a product that puts even the best of new production tires to the test. Because a worn tire still has plenty of life left in it, we are able to rewrap them with a brand new tread, giving you the quality of a brand new tire at 20-50% of the cost.
According to the International Tire and Rubber Association, the aircraft industry (military and commercial) saves $80 million a year using retread tires. The trucking industry saves $2 billion each year. The Tire Retread Information Bureau documented approximately 18.6 million retreaded tires were sold in North America in 2006, with sales in excess of $3 billion. The majority of these were medium truck tires. There are approximately 900 retreading plants in North America owned and operated by independent small businesses and by new tire manufacturers and a major tread rubber supplier.
StoneTire provides a safe, quality long lasting tire at an exceptional value whether you are:
- Running around town in your light passenger vehicle
- Hauling hay in your dually
- Discovering the great outdoors in your 4 Wheel Drive
- Delivering products in a commercial vehicle
- Harvesting the crop in your farm implement
- Or delivering the mail in a government issued automobile
To learn more about retread tires, please check out the Tire Retread Information Bureau website.