Wheel Archives - Page 69 of 80 - Tyrepress

Posts

Tire Service Equipment Acquire New Product Portfolio

Phoenix-based Tire Service Equipment Mfg Co, has acquired the manufacturing and marketing rights to seven products manufactured by Safe Shop Tools Inc, according to Tire Review.

The new product portfolio includes; PakPress, portable wheel stud remover and installer; Tweel Handler, a tyre and wheel handling system; Back Buddy II Tool, a hub and drum tool; Clever Lever, a tyre and wheel caddie; Versa Vac, a radiator pressure tester and coolant dam; Striver, an S-cam bushing driver; and Stepper, a portable tyre step.

Tire Service Equipment also operates Saf-Tee Siping & Grooving Inc, which produces and markets a line of tyre sipers, as well as nitrogen inflation systems and Cheetah brand bead seaters.

15th February 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Alcoa Wins Hungarian National Excellence Award

Alcoa’s Hungarian wheel plant won the 2004 National Quality/Excellence Award, the most prestigious business excellence award in Hungary, the company has announced. Alcoa Wheel Products Europe (AWPE) was awarded the national prize by Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany during a recent ceremony.

10th February 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Accuride Acquires Transportation Technologies

Accuride Corporation has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Transportation Technologies Industries, Inc. (TTI). Accuride, already one of North America’s largest heavy and medium truck wheel suppliers, aims to become the trucking industry’s main one-stop component sourcing solution. Terry Keating, Accuride’s current president and chief executive officer, will continue to serve as president and CEO of the combined company.

Accuride also announced the completion of the amendment and restatement of its senior secured bank credit agreement. As part of the amendment, the company refinanced substantially all of its existing bank facilities. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Lehman Brothers Inc. jointly arranged for the new five-year $125 million revolving credit facility and the new seven-year $550 million term loan facility.

8th February 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Carlisle Tire & Wheel Sales up 19 per cent

Carlisle Tire & Wheel Company has reported a 19 per cent increase in 2004 net sales, compared with the previous year. According to the company, most of the increase came from sales in commercial and consumer power equipment, lawn care products and ATV wheels and tyres.

7th February 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Opens New Retread Facility and Launches New X One Tyre

Michelin Retread Technologies has announced that it is adding a new press at its Covington, Georgia facility in the US, Trucking News has reported. The new MRT press is designed to produce new high-technology treads and to take advantage of Michelin’s advanced co-extrusion technique, a process where two different rubber compounds are combined to produce cooler casing temperatures, maximising the life of the casing.

2nd February 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Work Presents Two New Alloys

Work has presented two new three piece Rezax II alloy wheels. Offering a design with ten Y-spokes, the wheel features a forged rim spider and is optionally available with a forged RoundRim (18 to 20 inch) or flat-base rim. The wheels are available for almost all standard makes of vehicle. Special runs, without minimum production numbers, are also possible. The 21 inch and 22 inch sizes are designed for high wheel loads and, as such, are also suitable for SUVs.

2nd February 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook’s Emotional Tokyo Auto Salon

As the UK tyre business was observing events at the Autosport/Aftermarket show, on the other side of the globe, the Tokyo Auto Salon was attracting some 300,000 spectators. Approximately 30,000 of these passed by the Hankook stand each day. According to Hankook, every Japanese car, wheel and tyre manufacturer was present.

Demonstrating its new corporate identity, the Korean company adopted the Hankook Emotion theme for its stand. The exhibition displayed 20 items including its range of Formula 3 racing tyres, Ventus UHP tyres, the low-noise XQ-Optimo and a number of concept products. The company also tried to charm its visitors with a racing Porsche on the company stand, with a magician providing further entertainment.

“The Hankook Tire booth was a fine chance to promote our new corporate identity program in Japan, one of the world’s most important markets for modified automobiles. We worked hard to make a venue that would give auto buffs from around the world a look at our world-class technology and tyres of the future,” commented a Hankook representative.

26th January 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Innovations Signify Long-Term Strategy

In addition to the recently publicised Tweel and Airless Wheel puncture-proof products, Michelin has unveiled a third concept aimed at pioneering the development of the tyre. As a company Michelin spends around 4.5 per cent of its turnover on research and development, the Active Wheel is just one result of this. Aimed at electric and fuel-cell cars, the Active Wheel is an integrated module, which is made up of a conventional tyre, active electric suspension, a disc brake and an electric motor, which is designed to provide traction and much of the braking power.

According to the manufacturer, the Active Wheel is the result of a total rethink of the movement transmission process. In addition to rolling and driving forward, as any wheel does, the new concept also acts as a suspension unit. The result is that the need for a gearbox, clutch, shock absorbers and transmission shaft is removed, saving considerable amounts of weight.

Michelin is shying away from whole-heartedly backing any one of its products but instead appears to be playing the opening gambit of a long-term strategy. It is conceivable that in a decade or two any one of these innovations will be accepted as standard.

18th January 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Hayes Lemmerz Brazil Receives Supplier Award from Agrale

Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc. announced that its steel wheel manufacturing operation in Guarulhos, Brazil has received the 2003/2004 supplier award from Agrale, the Brazil-based truck, chassis, tractor, motorcycle and engine manufacturer. The award recognized Hayes Lemmerz as “The Best Supplier” of its commercial truck steel wheels. The recent quality awards received by this plant demonstrate that investment in upgrading the capabilities of the plant are paying off. “I am honored that Agrale has recognized our efforts to be an industry leader,” said Fred Bentley, President of the Company’s International Wheel Group. “The key to successful implementation of quality is having a team that truly practices Operational Excellence. Our team strives to provide our customers with the best products and service possible.”

27th December 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Titan Wheel Corporation Issues Record Winter Bonus to Employees

Titan Wheel Corporation (Quincy/Illinois), a subsidiary of Titan International, Inc. (NYSE: TWI), issued a record winter bonus to its employees. The bonus amounted to an average payout of $2,500 per employee. Each employee received $200 of their bonus in Sacajawea golden dollars. This brings the total bonus for the year to approximately $5,000 per employee.

20th December 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Alcoa Restructures Business Units

Alcoa Aerospace, Automotive, and Commercial Transportation announced that is Cast Auto Wheels business units and the wheel divisions of Alcoa Wheel Forged Products will merge to create Alcoa Wheel Products, offering both cast and forged aluminum wheels to the commercial vehicle and automotive markets.

Kevin Kramer, who has 21 years of experience gained in global marketing position at Goodyear, will lead the new division. “This reorganisation further drives our focus on markets and customers and allows up to identify and implement best manufacturing practices and process technology across our business,” said Bill Christopher, Alcoa executive vice-president.

13th December 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

New Technology Simulates Tyre Behaviour

A new supercomputer based technology has been developed in order to simulate tyre performance. The new technology, devised by Bridgestone and dubbed Comprehensive Road Surroundings Simulation (CROSS), promises to raise efficiency in developing optimal tread patterns. The system is able to simulate tyre behaviour on unpaved roads and off the road and in sunny, rainy, and snowy conditions. Bridgestone believes its new technology will help streamline work in optimising tread patterns on tyres for four-wheel-drive vehicles, earthmoving equipment, agricultural machinery, all-terrain vehicles, and other vehicles that operate on unpaved surfaces.

Bridgestone’s announcement comes after engineers from the company presented a paper on terramechanics, the behaviour of soil under loads, at a September conference of the Tyre Society in the US. Terramechanics simulation technology is the latest addition to Bridgestone’s portfolio of simulation tools. The company announced new hydroplaning simulation technology in 1999 for analysing water flow under tyre treads on wet surfaces. In 2001, it announced technology for simulating tyre performance on snow.

3rd December 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Titan Wheel Signs to Supply Deere & Company

Titan International has announced that its Titan Wheel Corporation subsidiary has signed a supply agreement with Deere & Company. According to the company, the agreement secures wheel pricing with Deere for three years. The agreement excludes raw material price increases or decreases, these will be passed on to the customer.

”This is a very beneficial contract for both companies. Deere is ensured uninterrupted wheel supply and agreed upon pricing. In exchange, Titan will receive minimum order quantities and more accurate forecasting from Deere to increase productivity,” stated Maurice Taylor Jr., Titan president and CEO. “We congratulate the Deere team led by chairman and CEO Robert Lane on their record year, and the outlook for 2005 remains positive. Titan looks forward to growing with Deere and the rest of the agricultural and construction markets.”

2nd December 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

SmarTire Gains New Patent

SmarTire Systems has announced that it has been granted a US patent protecting its multi-mount TPMS installation technology. For SmarTire, the system is of major strategic importance. The company sees the patent as a solid way of securing its competitive position.

“The multi-mount technology enables a common sensor to be used to satisfy a variety of vehicle platforms using different mounting methods such as strap, valve or bonded,” says Kian Sheikh-Bahaie, senior mechanical designer at SmarTire. “This technology offers a number of benefits including a single solution regardless of wheel design and the ability to use aftermarket wheels without disabling the original TPMS. Smaller automakers can also take advantage of the economies of scale and speed to market by enabling them to use a common sensor.”

“This patent represents a significant milestone as it expands SmarTire’s intellectual property portfolio at a critical time in the development of the TPMS industry,” says Robert Rudman, president and CEO of SmarTire. “Now that the Tread Act has been finalised in the US and the automakers are now required to install tyre monitoring in their vehicles, one crucial issue that has not been adequately addressed by the industry is the installation and servicing of TPMS. SmarTire has developed and now patented a unique sensor mounting technology that satisfies the diverse implications that arise during installation and servicing of the system over the life of the vehicle.”

30th November 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin and Sauber Fit Together

Yesterday the Swiss Sauber team tested tyres from its new supplier, Michelin. Driver, Felipe Massa used last season’s C23 and obviously succeeded in finding a good balance between the tyres and wheel suspension, at the first attempt. Bridgestone tyres had previously been fitted to the model.

25th November 2004/by Tyrepress Editors