We all know we have to have car tyres and that they have to be fitted and maintained specifically; it’s not just good advice to keep your car performing to the peak of it’s abilities. Such is the danger of low tread or poor infrequent maintenance that the legal limit for tyres is 1.6mm and failure to adhere to this is punishable by a three point penalty and up to £2500 fine per tyre.
An Essential Element
In a relatively short space of time tyres have become essential to our transportation needs. Prior to the use of rubber an extremely simple system of a band of steel used to tie the spokes of a wooden wheel was the first tyre and it was only in the early 1800’s that more flexible and durable products were experimented with. Untreated latex was the first product used and as it was adversely affected by extreme weather conditions it wasn’t until Charles Goodyear vulcanised melted latex by adding sulphur to it that it became a viable prospect.
The pneumatic tyres was first invented in the late 1880’s largely by accident by John Boyd Dunlop, a Scot who sought to make a bicycle journey more comfortable. The first detachable pneumatic tyres quickly followed as invented and then marketed by the Brothers Michelin in France in 1891.
For the next sixty years experimentation continued throughout the industry to search for an alternative which would match the increasing need for durable roadworthy alternatives. The Radial Tyre which is the closest relative to that which is still used today was pioneered in 1947 and although technology has been advancing the resilience and performance ability of tyres since the industry still uses the Radial Tyre as a base.
Since our use of vehicles is now as diverse as the vehicles themselves the search for tyres which can take us off road, be used in adverse weather such as heavy snow or particularly hot weather is increasingly important. Whether it’s the load the vehicle is to carry or the surface it carries on there is a tyres solution and an industry full of experts to guide even the most uneducated.
