Barry's Tire Tech

B arry's Tire Tech

This is a series of articles on the technical aspects of tires, their care and usage.

My primary purpose in these articles is to help people understand tires and thereby reduce the risks we all face every day.

..........and since tires is just about the only thing I know about..........

Please drop me a note if you have a topic you want to see:

Barry@BarrysTireTech.com

Main Page:

I hope you enjoy my website, but more importantly, I hope you learn something as well.

I am not going to pretend that this website is going to cover everything. In fact, I'm only going to cover subjects that either need clarification or have not been covered somewhere else. That means this is going to be fairly advanced - not for the beginner!

If you ARE a beginner - or don't find what you are looking for, may I suggest you visit:

Tire Rack's Tire Tech Area.

Also, the articles listed below are sorted by the last time I worked on them - that is, chronologically. If you want to learn about tires and the Tire Rack artcles are not technical enough, here's that same list, but sorted by topic, so that the more basic articles are first, with the more in-depth articles lower on the list.

But before going much further, I want to make a few things clear:

The information published here is the best information I have available. Like a great many things, it is not absolute.
Some of what is here is my opinion and I have tried to make it clear when I am expressing my opinion and when I am presenting facts.
I've tried to confine my discussions to Passenger and Light Truck Tires but most of the information applies to tires regardless of the vehicle they are designed for.
I have copied some copyrighted material onto these pages. If I understand the laws correctly, I am allowed to do this on a "Fair Use" basis - that is, I change the intent of the original. I am sure the stuff I "borrowed" is in a completely different context and I am clearly not in competition with anyone. Besides it is for educational purposes (I sure hope this is educational!!) or entertainment (That would be a plus!) and not for commercial purposes (OK, if I make a few bucks off this site, I'll share it. I doubt that will happen!!).

BTW, I want to publicly point out how much work it is to put one of these web sites together. Hats off to those of you who do this every day!!

Here is what I have posted so far:

Monthly Blog (Updated monthly)

List of Articles Grouped by Topic.

Links to Useful and Interesting Websites

Tire Warranties (New September, 2025)

TRX and PAX Tires (New August, 2025)

Radials vs Bias Tires (New July, 2025)

Other Types of Tires (New June, 2025)

Rubber Chemistry #2: Rubber Processing Machinery (New Apr, 2025)

Tire Rubber Chemistry #1 (New Mar, 2025)

EV Tires (New Feb, 2025)

Retreads (New Jan, 2025)

Serial Number / DOT Codes (Updated Dec, 2024)

Recalls (New Dec, 2024)

Directional and Asymmetrical Tires (Revised Dec, 2024

Odd Ducks (New Oct, 2024)

Analyzing Failed Tires (New Aug, 2024)

Footprint / Contact Patch (Updated Aug, 2024)

Ride and Handling (New July, 2024)

Dedication (New June, 2024)

More Tire Physics (New June, 2024)

The Physics (and Math!) behind Tires - Part 1 (New May, 2024)

Winter and All Weather Tires (Updated Apr, 2024)

Explanation of Tire Failure Returns (New Apr, 2024)

Storing Tires (New Apr, 2024)

Force and Moment (New Mar, 2024)

Repairing Tires (New Feb, 2024)

California Energy Commission: Draft Framework of California's Replacement Tire Efficiency Program published Feb 2, 2023 (Updated Jan, 2024)

Racing Tires (New Jan, 2024)

Flatspots (New Dec, 2023)

Pressure Buildup Test (New Nov, 2023)

Wheels, Rims, and Spiders! OH MY! (New Nov, 2023)

ST Tires (Revised Oct, 2023)

Uniform Tire Quality Grading (UTQG) Ratings (Update Oct, 2023)

Tire Brands (New Oct, 2023)

RunFlat Tires (New Sep, 2023)

Match Mounting (New Aug, 2023)

Misalignment (New July, 2023)

Drifts and Pulls (New July, 2023)

DOT Testing (New June, 2023)

Followup on Rolling Resistance and Fuel Economy (Revised May, 2023)

Tire Wear: Irregular and Uneven (New Mar, 2023)

Tire Wear: Normal (New Jan, 2023)

Tire Noise (New Nov 2022)

Tire Traction and Traction Testing: Dry (New Oct, 2022)

Tire Traction and Traction Testing: Wet (New Oct, 2022)

Tire Inflation Pressure (New Oct, 2022)

Ply Strength and Load Ranges (New Sep, 2022)

LL Tires (new Sep, 2022)

HL Tires (New Aug, 2022)

Tire Aging and Weather Cracking (New June, 2022)

The Ford / Firestone Controversy (Updated May, 2022)

Tire Standardizing Organizations

Dimension Tables

Rolling Resistance and Fuel Economy

Original Equipment (OE) tires

Vintage Tire Exchange

Nitrogen Inflation

Vibration: Balance, Runout, and Uniformity

Idealized Alignment Recommendation

SAE Paper 800087 - The Effect of Inflation Pressure on Bias, Bias-Belted, and Radial Tire Performance - by B. L. Collier and J. T. Warchol, B. F. Goodrich, February, 1980