Testing Times

Need the services of an independent tyre testing laboratory? There are several big names in the business (TUV SUD and Smithers Rapra immediately spring to mind), but Standards Testing Laboratories (STL) claims it operates as the world’s largest independent testing facility for tyres, wheels and related automotive components. Through its four divisions, STL provides the rubber and automotive industries with dynamic laboratory testing, static and physical testing, fleet testing, test machines, specialized photographic and video services and consulting services.

Founded by R.L. Fuller in 1971, the company began as an independent laboratory with one roadwheel machine, operating from a trailer office adjacent to the Fabricated Machines Company. Today, STL runs more than 100 test positions 24 hours a day, 365 days a year through its four testing divisions:

• Trans Tech investigates all aspects of product performance for individuals and companies in the transportation arena, including tyres, wheels, automotive and aerospace.

• The Machinery Division of Standards Testing Labs designs and produces machinery, instrumentation and computerised controls for testing tyres and wheels.

• Dynamic and Static Testing Laboratory provides complete evaluation of tyres, wheels and vehicle components through a variety of durability and performance tests.

• The TTI/STL transportation testing division is involved in vehicle dynamics and fleet testing.

Each of the company’s facilities has the approval of the US Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for the testing of tyres, wheels and related components. STL’s laboratory testing procedures are approved by most of the domestic automotive manufacturers and their original equipment manufacturer (OEM) component suppliers. Methods used by STL are those specified by ASTM, DOT, ECE, SAE, SEMA, SASO and PAI.

STL is committed to offering the latest testing and evaluation services to meet customer demands and increasingly rigorous industry and government standards.

Don’t blow a valve

One of their latest testing procedures is for rubber snap-in tubeless tyre valves. Testing in accordance with SAE J1205 and J1206 specifications – which states that a rubber snap-in valve is a tyre valve having a rigid housing adhered to a resilient body designed to retain and seal the valve in the rim hole – STL evaluates the performance and quality of rubber snap-in tubeless tire valves. These requirements are intended for, but not limited to, highway applications, and STL conducts more than a dozen tests over a period of one week to determine the properties of manufactured tyre valves.

“Although they are a relatively small component in tyres, rubber snap-in tubeless valves must operate properly or else risk damage to the whole tyre,” said Cheryl Schnuth, vice president, marketing, Standards Testing Laboratories. “Recent recalls of millions of rubber snap-in tire valves demonstrate the crucial need to inspect these components for surface cracks or other types of malfunction. As an independent test facility, STL has the experience and resources to determine if tyre valve properties meet the necessary safety requirements established by engineering experts.”

Bead Unseat testing is also available, utilizing the company’s Bead Unseat machine on passenger and light truck tires up to 30 inches in diameter. The machine, which tests in accordance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 139, analyzes how much force it takes to remove the tyre’s bead (the ring of steel wires shaped to fit the rim) from its wheel flange.

Standards Testing Laboratories, Inc. operates a dynamic testing laboratory and a physical testing laboratory at its 10-acre headquarters in Massillon, Ohio. The company also runs a tyre vehicle durability testing facility in San Angelo, Texas, as well as proving grounds in Uvalde, Texas and at its Transportation Research Center in Columbus, Ohio.