Procedure and Techniques of Truck Tyres Retreading

Truck Tyres Retreading is a procedure offering tyres a second life, supplying a new tread to a worn our tyre. This occurs by means of six essential passages:

Truck Tyres Retreading Procedure:

1.      INSPECTION: it consists of an inside and outside analysis of the tyre in the aim to find aspect and structural faults, executed both by expert technicians and by the support of equipment technologically in the van.

2.      BUFFING: it is the operation by which the residual tread is eliminated from the casing.

3.      REPAIRING: in this phase eventual structural damages of the casing are considered and repaired, restoring the optimal conditions of the casing.

4.      BUILDING: by different treatments and the aid of automatic machines, the new material is applied onto the casing (rubber compound) to retread the new tread.

5.      CURING: the casing, complete with new materials, is submitted to the curing procedure to obtain the tread profile desired.

6.      FINAL CONTROL: this phase represents the last ring of the continuous chain of quality controls executed during the whole retreading procedure and OTR Tyre Retreaders has the aim to check that the finished tyre responds to all technical and aesthetical specifications foreseen in our quality standards. Only when it got the corresponding approval, the tyre is given back to the Customer.

Truck Tyres Retreading Techniques

“HOT” retreading:

Hot retreading involves the vulcanisation of a tyre in a mould at a temperature of around 150 °C. The tread and the sidewall veneer of the tyre are made up of non-vulcanised rubber compounds. The shape and tread of the tyre are created in the heating press.

Arguments in favour of hot retreading:

·         Suitable for all tyre applications, including car and aircraft tyres.

·         Material costs are lower than the more complex products required for precure retreading.

·         Hot retreading also allows extensive repairs to be carried out on the tyre carcass (e.g. belt replacement).

·         Even bias-ply carcasses can undergo hot retreading without any problems.

  A separate mould is required for each tread and size. This requires a high level of investment in a range of moulds, which will be needed to be regularly updated.

·         The production process needs to be designed for large numbers of tyres. This calls for a central production workshop, an extended customer area and therefore brings with it relatively high logistics costs.

 “COLD”  Retreading:

Precure or “cold” retreading involves vulcanisation without a mould at a temperature of between 95 °C and 110 °C. The tyre is put together using a pre-vulcanised tread liner (= new tread) and a non-vulcanised bonding gum layer. The bond between the carcass, the bondung gum and the precured tread is created in an autoclave. Precure retreading has become fully established in the Tyre Retreading in India sector since the introduction of radial tyres in the mid-1960s.