FINDLAY, Ohio—Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has added two new sizes to its Roadmaster RM272 commercial tire line.
The line, which Cooper said is specifically engineered to withstand the demands of drop-deck trailers, now includes sizes 11R22.5 and 295/75R22.5.
"Tires in this application are arguably the most abused of any in the trucking industry, and we designed the RM272 to withstand this harsh punishment," Gary Schroeder, director of Cooper's truck and bus tire business, said in a statement. "We looked at a variety of tread profiles that could minimize the load on the shoulder rib, and worked toward a design that distributed the load more evenly across the entire footprint so that the shoulder takes on less of the lateral forces."
RM272 is designed to ward off irregular wear and damage caused by curbing, Cooper said. It features a four-belt steel casing and has a slightly rounded tread footprint, along with a reinforced shoulder to help withstand extreme side forces. The tire's tread compound has been formulated to provide optimum balance between resistance to side forces and maximum wear.