Whether you spend a little or a lot of time in your car, tyres are big part of our lives. Some people enjoy replacing their tyres with a brand new set while others are just starting to recognise the importance of taking care of their car’s tyres. Whatever the case might be, we thought it’d be fun to share these little known facts about tyres. Who knows, they may come in handy at your next trivia night:
1. The natural colour of rubber is white, not black! Carbon black is added to rubber to increase various qualities that prolong the life of the tyre. The carbon black decreased road-wear abrasions, improves the tensile strength (the resistance to breaking under tension) and helps conduct heat away from troubled spots, such as tread and belt areas.
2. The carbon black business was invented by Crayola Crayons owners, Binney & Smith. They sold their carbon black to the Goodrich Company and soon white tyres started to fade away.
3. The World’s Largest Tyre is in Allen Park, Michigan. The tyre is a 12-ton, 80-foot-tall monstrous tower of rubber built to withstand hurricane-force winds. It served as a Ferris wheel at the 1964-1965 New York’s World Fair, it was later moved to Allen Park in 1966.
4. Early cars used “artillery wheels” that had the tyre bolted to the wheel. This would not have been an easy flat to change, since it needed hulk-like strength in order to change them.
5. Most new cars don’t come with spare tyres. It’s a way of decreasing the weight on your car, which in turn decreases fuel consumption. Instead, new cars come with a patch kit and a can of compressed air.
6. In 1914, there were some “Oreo-style” tyres. Chicago’s Vogue Tyre Company invented whitewall tyres by melding a carbon black tread with a zinc white sidewall.
7. Then, in 1961, Goodyear experimented with an illuminated tyre. They were brightly lit by bulbs mounted inside the wheel rim. They used glass incandescent bulbs and had a variety of colours too. The softly glowing tyres never left the show circuit.
8. Millions of tyres are discarded each year including passenger, truck and aircraft tyres. Recent recycling programs melt the rubber for asphalt, boat bumpers, carpet padding or shred them for garden mulch. JAX Tyres partnered with Tyre Cycle to recycle tyres in increasingly useful and creative ways.
9. Michelin is working on producing the “tweel” a one-piece airless wheel and tyre. If successful, the tweel will put an end to flat tyres.
10. Lego is one of the largest manufacturers of tyres in the world. The first LEGO wheel was included in set No.400, which launched in 1962. Yes, the toy company produces a staggering 318 million LEGO tyres each year, that’s over 870,000 each day! In 2012 they won the Guinness World Record for ‘largest tyre manufacturer per annum’.
Thanks for visiting, until next time – drive safely! JAX Tyres
