Amerityre to Develop Polyurethane Retreads

Amerityre Corporation has begun the development of a polyurethane tyre compound and manufacturing process for retreading medium commercial truck tyres.

Amerityre believes the retreading process, which has been successfully developed and tested in passenger car tyre applications, is a natural fit for the medium commercial truck tyre used by tens of thousands of over-the-road truck fleets worldwide.

“The benefits of polyurethane elastomer as a tyre compound are evident,” said Richard Steinke, president and CEO of Amerityre. “In both endurance and high speed testing our polyurethane compounds have run substantially cooler than rubber. In addition, these compounds have outperformed comparable rubber compounds in both accelerated heat aging and ozone testing,” he added.

All tests have been conducted by an independent laboratory in accordance with applicable FMVSS or ASTM test standards. The retreading process developed by Amerityre involves applying the polyurethane tread compound to the rubber tyre casing so that the tread locks “seamlessly” to the tyre casing without pressure or vulcanisation.

“Retreading has historically been an effective way for the trucking industry to save money. We believe that using our revolutionary retreading process is going to provide additional money saving advantages to both the trucking and tyre retread industry,” Steinke said.

The retread development is expected to be completed by the end of the year and another three months have been allocated for industry testing and feedback. Following successful completion of industry testing, Amerityre will look to market the manufacturing technology directly to the retreading industry, the company said in a statement outlining the new technology.