WHAT'S BACK OF A LONG SAFE RIDE: THE STORY OF FEDERAL TIRES

wheels rolling over America over all kinds of roads in all kinds of weather the greatest motoring nation in the world rolling on wheels but let's be accurate rolling on tires because no car is any better any safer or more dependable than its tires to the casual eye they're not spectacular just rubber doughnuts full of air and because of their very reliability we don't think much above them yet to make them that way requires scientific research and precision manufacture just as impressive as that which produced the motor cars they carry here is a success story written on the highways and byways of all Americans a trail of proof reliability and satisfaction that began in the cool calm of the laboratory for advanced engineering is constantly directed toward improving on the past and prying into the future for real progress is rarely a pole-vaulting achievement but rather they coordinated results of patient probing on a hundred fronts of experiment here in progress are scores of projects in pure science employing such strange and wonderful tools as the electron microscope and the spectroscope and various other advanced technological devices that achieve miracles in revealing atomic structures their workings their affinities and antipathies or trade and weird design such as this x-ray pattern of rubber here in the making are improvements in rubber compounding which will be reflected in improved tire performance perhaps ten years ahead or tomorrow [Music] but this is certainly no proof government will be held back to make next year's advertising headline and none will be prematurely released to meet a new model deadline what is the cord fabric of the future well no one can say exactly but it's in progress here someplace for here in development are countless projects in cotton rayon nylon yes even experiments with cord made of spun glass and steel and believe it or not feathers fantastic well perhaps but if a hundred avenues of research produce one genuine improvement that's an accomplishment well worthwhile similarly in Trent design it would be simple to change merely to be different but real betterments come up the hard way so a dozen a score of experimental designs may be worked up before one proves itself worthy of the road how well does a certain experimental design resist side thrust as in cornering or battling crosswind these questions and many more are explored and compared in the laboratory with scientific exactness but for the acid test there's nothing to compare with driving over a smooth concrete floor liberally coated with soapstone and water a blanket of subsidence more slippery than the bottom of any bathtub just keep your eye on the car and see a miracle [Music] to fully appreciate the nonskid qualities of these advanced tires just watch them in a comparative test with tires without that gripping tread action out on the open road under actual rainy weather driving conditions there's performance that speaks louder than the cleverest headline ever written but that non-skid protection was no overnight achievement calm scientific research can also be brutal punishing here in the laboratory torture chamber appropriately located underground new experimental designs and tires from current production are literally run to death overloaded under-inflated they are put through exaggerated abuse maybe it seems like a long jump from the highway to the torture chamber but look at it this way here are being reproduced the effects of road hazards from all over America exaggerated to the nth degree yet subject to such accurate clinical control that the results shown in comparative studies of various experimental designs and compounds are scientifically certain all tires under test are treated exactly alike and far more brutally than any tire in ordinary owner service [Music] it looks like wanton destruction actually it is purposeful punishment to bring out answers answers which help to increase the lifespan and stamina of tires today and tomorrow with these ingenious facilities for fact-finding it is even possible to duplicate the action of a 40-ton super bomber landing at 200 miles per hour [Music] [Music] of course it's a far cry from a super bomber to the average family car but the know-how gained in these critical studies of rubber and fabric will pay dividends to all motor homes in finer safer Road performance at all speeds thus the never-ending search for better ways goes on with all America as a test laboratory all kinds of roads in every climate at every driving speed duplicating the conditions and the driving characteristics of mr. and mrs. motorists wherever they may live allied in this research are the proving grounds of motor makers for well they know that no car can be better than its tires and behind today's standard of tire performance lies the close collaboration with automotive engineers since the very infancy of the motor industry these are the most valuable tires in the world their tires from the torture chamber from the test cars and from the proving grounds they're the martyrs of progress revealing new avenues to improvement in design and in manufacture in this newest and most modern of tire plants advanced facilities give new precision new meaning to the craftsmanship of tire building for tire engineering does not end with development it continues through every phase of production in the form of rigorous quality control here our master batches in the making the various elements being measured for compounding it's a big volume operation yet the various ingredients are automatically weighed with an exactly reminiscent of laboratory practice down in the mixers rubber stocks and chemicals are blended in accordance with strict standards of procedure [Music] yet before any batch is released for further processing it must be tested and passed by the quality control station which functions as an independent element within the production organization [Music] and this critical system of checks and balances is apparent throughout the entire manufacturing system now the muscle and sinew of the tire begins to take form stout twisted rayon cords blowing through an intricately complex pattern every cord rigidly controlled as detention of course rayon cord is better it's stronger more flexible and less affected by heat but rayon is also tricky to handle and to take full advantage of all its superior qualities required the development of a new monstrous and ingenious machine from the creel the cord starts a one-way continuous journey in a form of a flat rhythm free from any cross thread into the latex dip where every strand of every cord is thoroughly impregnated with live rubber compound providing a natural adhesive base while the heavier rubber coating to come them into the giant drying of a net within that tightly enclosed chamber temperature and humidity are rigidly and automatically controlled one of the most vital secrets and processing which retains all the inherent strength to petroi emerging the cord is drawn in festoons and finally through a tension adjusting control and a precise pacing bar which exactly positions the individual quartz then into the formal calendar and innovation in itself which simultaneously coats both sides of the solution coordinate with compounded rubber start volumes might be written about the advantages of progressive fabrication symbolized in this straight-line process which requires less than four minutes but it all adds up to the single goal of controlled uniformity another machine with almost human intelligence is the so-called jeweled tuber here the base stock in the sidewall stock is especially compounded to withstand flexing then the machine is smart enough to lay a tough long wearing tread Stockman exactly centered between the side walls these emerge as a single strip precisely formed and measured here as everywhere uniformity is paramount from the chill where the stock goes through a cooling bath which gradually reduces the temperature over a 200-foot cooling process there is further evidence of quality mindedness even in such seeming trifles as the method of cutting the tread to properly adjust the angle of the Sciver is important why well look here's a trend sliced in the ordinary way see how much or rather how little splicing area there is but look at the contact area of this splice giving assurance of better balanced more uniform construction as the final check every section of tread stock is carefully weighed wire for beads is first given a bonding coat of rubber formed in two coils the exact size required then wrapped with fabric of special adhesive properties they call this the flipper strip actually it ties the bead securely into the tire carcass in the critical job of ply cutting modern electronics science comes to the aid of expert fingers an electric eye speeds up production and also doubles the accuracy of the work tires for the biggest and heaviest of passenger cars are built on these semi-automatic machines it is in the production of these tires with relatively small rim size and large air volume that perfect balance and uniformity are of paramount importance [Music] and here the machine automatically controls all the factors which contribute to that critical exactness [Music] each court fly is precisely positioned and laid on snugly yet free from tension [Music] similarly in all functions in which human judgment might vary from one operation to another the machine does the job consistently throughout the tire and the hundreds to follow crossroads of production of the popular sized tires is the merry-go-round at first it looks like a frenzy of confusion but look closer observe how advanced technology has sharpened and simplified tire building through the delivery and precise positioning of materials [Music] of course the tire still bears only a slight resemblance to its finished form perhaps you wonder how it will ever fit into the mold well watch as the lid closes the bag o matic inflates forcing the tire into its conventional shape and fitting it exactly to the vulcanizing chamber now the tire will receive its tread imprint and be vulcanized on the conditions of temperature time and pressure which must be exact to ensure proper Road performance yet so completely have advanced methods replaced old-fashioned practice that the curing machines are practically independent sensitive instruments far surpassing any degree of human expertness control all the factors of curing while we're waiting for the tire to cure let's look behind the scenes at one of the most significant synthetic rubber developments of all time this is an all-american synthetic achievement butyl rubber it is a rubber of many uses most important of which right now is inert use tubes that hold air ten times better than natural rubber are far longer lived and infinitely safer on the road and together with this new wonder rubber there's an exclusive new process for producing tubes a process that gives you butyl tubes at their best from the extruding machine the endless butyl tubing is drawn over a series of cones gradually so gradually that you can scarcely see it happen the tubing is given a curved shape in working process perhaps that doesn't mean much to you but in the finished tube now you see it this tube as it is inflated in the tire stretches uniformly and maintains full strength than gauge to fully appreciate what that means compare this ultra-modern tube with an inflated tube of ordinary production methods unevenly stretched on the outside and with a thinnest side next to the road which do you want in your tires no argument of course this tube costs more to build but it's worth it many thousands of miles over now back to the curing room and with the regularity of Big Bend the lives of the curing machines yawn open [Music] and there's our tire looking like a tire ought to look engraved with a trendy distinguished all over America all ready for the road oh no not yet again it must face the critical inspectors one for Trend one for sidewalls and one for inner carcass you'd never guess it but in those few practice motions the inspectors talented fingers and trained eyes cover more than 40 points finally the tire is balanced and marked for the valve stem positioning and then here it is ready for the big parade the tires of proved improvements built better in the plant to give better performance on the road engineered for satisfaction always and in all ways [Music]