I recently ran across this article while perusing the CarTalk website. It struck me as oddly familiar and then I remembered that these tires, or something very similar, was featured in a Popular Mechanics (?) magazine over 30 years ago. If anyone knows where this article is then I would like to read it again. I used to have many magazine subscriptions so I’m not really sure that Popular Mechanics was the right magazine or not. In any case…something old can be new again…many times over.
I don’t know about that version, but a while ago we talked about the Tweel by Michelin:
Thanks. I’ve heard of the Tweel but it was the Hankook version that spurred my interest in that old article. I think they called them “plastic tires” back then.
Goodyear had a version, Michelin, now Hankook. Airless tires have made the rounds for many, many years. They are sort of the battery-electric cars of the tire world. They just haven’t been good enough to replace pneumatic tires yet.
They might have a searchable index of Popular Mechanics magazine going back that far on their website. A couple years ago I was searching for an article I’d read in Scientific American published in the 1970’s, one by Martin Gardner. I found what issue it was in by searching the index on their website. But I’d have to pay for internet subscription for access to the article My public library doesn’t keep the hard copy magazines from that long ago, but they do have micro-film of magazines from that era. Bingo.
At high speeds and heavy loads they get hot, hot enough to self-destruct…They work fine on low-speed vehicles operating in puncture-prone areas…
Airless tires can’t happen soon enough for me. I’ve had more rim leaks and punctures in the past two years than in the previous ten I think.
Thanks George.
Hope that puncturesistant or airless tires soon become practical.
Though I watch what I am driving over, I have had several punctures, one during an emergency blood platelet transport. Seeing the low pressure indicator, the police were going to meet me and take the platelets the rest of the way to the hospital. But the tire remained inflated enough to get to the hospital.
Discount Tires removed what appeared to be a piece of plastic hub cap.
Thrown up by the frontire and punctured the rear.
Today our inflation indicator illuminated 100 miles out en route on a STATransport!
RR tire was down to 32 psi. All were 42 psi. (44 Max on the tire.)
Discount Tire will examine the tire on Monday.
Still keeping the tires at an unsafe pressure and driving at reckless speeds?
"Still keeping the tires at an unsafe pressure and driving at reckless speeds?Discount Tire manager says 42 psi is perfectly fine, especially at highway speeds or greater. Harder means less flexion and less heat from flexion. Also better fuel mileage.
I have taken pressureadings after long hot runs. Nothing above 44 psi.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Robert Gift you were not absent long enough.
Discount Tire manager says 42 psi is perfectly fine, especially at highway speeds or greater. Harder means less flexion and less heat from flexion.
HMM…Discount Tire Manager with a High School Diploma vs a slew of engineers and physicists.
I think you picked the wrong one. Personally I’d go with the engineers who designed the tires and vehicles instead of a Tire Manager. But that’s just me.
^ I’d rather save the gasoline and air pollution even though it means a slightly stiffer ride.
^ I'd rather save the gasoline and air pollution even though it means a slightly stiffer ride.
Slight increase in gas mileage…and extremely slight decrease in pollution vs Significantly decrease in handling. Again…talk with real engineers and scientists before you start spouting things scientific which you don’t know anything about.
I gotta agree with Mike. “Discount tire manager” says its OK? How about the Walmart greeter?
Hope they get them acceptable before too long,they have one customer waiting(by the way all tires are generally made of thermosetting “plastic” material,except if they are made of metal etc.)
Volvo, that was just plain nasty. And uncalled for. IMHO you owe Robert an apology.
Robert, I seem to recall that you drive a large SUV, like a Suburban. Is my memory correct?
I’m only wondering because truck tires can have different pressure recommendations than car tires.
If your vehicle has the usual 30+/- pressure recommendations that we’re all used to, 42 psi might be considered too high. However I do have a close friend that runs her tires at 40psi on a Corolla. She suffers from fibromyalgia, and cannot drive the car without pain if the tires are at 32 psi. It really does make a difference in the steering.
To those who will jump up & down saying she should buy another car, that is not an option. I personally helped her search for more than a year for a car that she could drive. Every single “American” car had doors far too heavily sprung and/or with far too heavy a detent for her to open & close. “American” manufacturers design their cars with very heavily sprung doors, much more heavily sprung than many foreign cars that pass the same crash tests. Of the very few that had light enough doors for her to use, the only two with light enough steering were a Kia and her current Corolla. This was some years ago, when Kia was still making pretty tinny and unreliable cars. In all other respects the Corolla has worked perfectly for her. We (I’m guilty too) sometimes too easily type in “you need to look for a different car”, but in truth it isn’t always that simple.
The old fashioned power steering like my '64 Fairlane had would be perfect for her. It’s super easy to steer. But they don’t make it any more.
If your vehicle has the usual 30+/- pressure recommendations that we're all used to, 42 psi might be considered too high.
I distinctly remember him telling us the recommended psi was 32psi. And having MANY discussions with him on why it was unsafe. He has refused to listen.
I’m still not convinced about the blood delivery and that they allow someone to travel at 100+mph to make the delivery on time. That’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Mike, I tip my hat to your better memory. Mine’s pretty poor.
100 miles an hour is endangering not only himself, but everyone else on the road. Combine overinflation with 100 mph speeds and it’s a recipe for disaster.
Robert, I sincerely hope you slow down and drive more safely. I can (with reservations) support some overinflation in some circumstances, but I cannot in good conscience support 100 mph speeds on public roads under any circumstances.