RADIAL TYRES In America were not an instant hit ?

Goodyear were anti radial tyres

Ford motor company had radically changed the way that cars were to run on radial tyres. Starting off in the late sixties by putting radial tyres on their new Lincoln models had set the tone for the future of radial tyres in the American auto industry. By 1973 General motors had started to follow Ford by introducing radial tyres with improved car suspension onto some of their new models. The GM cars had about 11% of their cars fitted with radial tyres, and by now 26% of ford cars were fitted with original equipment radial tyres mainly from Michelin tyres.

By the mid seventies this figure had risen to 90% a by now most cars were equipped with new radial tyres. Not all the tyre companies were still convinced with the radial tyre, the most prominent was the Goodyear tyre and rubber company. Goodyear were reluctant to change all their factories and tooling equipment to enable them to produce the radial tyres that were now becoming very popular. This was going to cost Goodyear tyres millions of dollars and they were reluctant to change strategy. Indeed in 1967 launched a new tyre product to the World called the Polysteel bias belted tyre. I remember these tyres being introduced here in the UK, when I worked for Briggs tyres here in the UK. It was at a time when all the leading tyre makers were trying out new products and this new tyre from Goodyear was no exception.

Goodyear s main problem with the radial tyres , is that they lasted too long and would have meant a reduction in tyre sales. The new polysteel tyre was made with polyester cords and fibreglass belting instead of steel, as in Michelin tyres. Goodyear promoted this new tyre very strongly and many of the American car makers started to introduce this new tyre to their models, indeed by 1970 ,85% of American cars were made using bias belted tyres in place of radial tyres. I remember the special Goodyear promotions here in the UK, but the bottom line is that the new tyre did not take off here in the UK, and as far as I remember did not compliment the suspension of the European produced cars. It was a different situation in America with General motors buying a staggering 30 million tyres a year, meaning that for the time being bias belted tyres were back with a bang.

The Americans could not make radial tyres ?

The bottom line is that the American tyre companies could not make radial tyres, especially steel belted radial tyres. They did not have the technical knowledge and the early attempts to make steel belted radials was abysmal.

michelin racing tyres

michelin wet weather racing tyres

Michelin tyres were not prepared to share their superior knowledge about the way that steel belting was produced and how the steel was processed to stop the steel from rusting when penetrated by a puncture and eventually rusting the whole steel belt until the total tyre broke down causing a blow-out. Both Goodyear and Firestone tyre companies came a cropper trying to make steel belted radial tyres but this is for another blog.