QUINCY, Ill. (Aug. 26, 2009)—Titan International Inc., responding to reports of premature failures affecting its 63-inch radial OTR tires operating in severe conditions in Canada, will start equipping these tires with pressure and temperature sensors.
The sensors will allow mine operators to monitor tire pressures and temperatures in real time, according to Maurice Taylor Jr., Titan chairman and CEO, who issued a statement to respond to a Bloomberg News report that Titan's 63-inch OTR radials were failing prematurely in oil sands mining operations in Calgary.
Taylor acknowledged some failures—in particular in cases where they were being run at high speed over long distances and with heavy loads—but disputed the impression that failures were occurring on a widespread basis.
“This scenario is beyond the rated conditions of any tire this size,” Taylor said. “Our competitors' tires don't hold up to these excessive conditions, either. In these tests, Titan's tires were getting too hot in the steel belt, which was melting the rubber, resulting in a failure.”
Taylor said the Bloomberg report didn't mention that the “other hundred” Titan OTR tires in use haven't failed.