We have come a long way since tyres were bands of steel placed over a wooden wheel. This was the first type of tyre and an ironmonger would have made this type of tyre. The process of construction is obviously wildly different now and is always evolving.
Even when rubber tyres were fitted to cars there have been several important changes over the years. The first people to start the rubber design process are now the some of largest names in the business! Charles Goodyear and John Dunlop were influential in the initial designs of tyres. Obviously, Dunlop & Goodyear are both very much well-regarded brands all over the world even now.
If you are looking for the Dunlop tyres, then you can browse https://www.tyreandwheel.com.au/tyres/passenger/.
So how are tyres made? The process is virtually the same in all of the factories across the world. The tyre is made up using as many as two hundred different materials. So if you were to cut one in half what would you see? Well to start with cutting a tyre in half is a lot harder than you would imagine.
This is because of the steel bands running through the tyre – but we will come back to that. From the wheel itself upwards the first part that you would see is an abrasion-resistant rubber trim strip. This part stops the wheel just spinning inside the tyre.
The next section is the inside liner of the tyre. This is made of synthetic rubber and can best be described as the inner tube. You would then see a case of fibre cords that run across the tyre to support the weight of the vehicle. These cords are designed to move and flex so the vehicle can handle corners at speed, there can be 1,400 cords in each tyre! The hard rubber apex forms part of the side wall of the tyre to give the tyre strength. A tyre's sidewall is one of the most important parts of the tyre as it forms the strength of the tyre.