FINDLAY, Ohio—Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is adding a mixed service wide-base all-position tire for construction site applications to its Severe Series truck tire lineup.
The Severe Series WBA is designed to provide long miles to removal while handling the harsh operating conditions found in construction truck applications—especially mixers and dump trucks, Cooper said.
The tire is available in 385/65R22.5 and 425/65R22.5 sizes, in load range L.
The Severe Series is one of three application-specific Cooper-brand medium truck tire lines the company launched in March 2018. The others are the Pro Series for long-haul and Work Series for regional-haul, pick-up and delivery.
Gary Schroeder, executive director of Cooper's global truck and bus tire business, said Cooper is promoting the Severe Series line as providing "exceptional" performance while offering users a low cost-of-ownership product.
"The WBA," he said in a statement, "is a premium tire engineered to give those running mixers and dump trucks a tire with the power to outperform others at its price point."
The WBA features a five-rib design with 23/32nds-inch of tread depth and a zigzag center rib designed to enhance traction and cornering in slippery construction site conditions. Cut-, chip- and chunk-resistant compounds, plus Cooper's "Scrub Guard" technology, help the tire withstand scrubbing, curbs, and other obstacles typically encountered during operations to ensure longer tire life while maintaining casing integrity.
"Since many of our customers run 80 to 90 percent on-road, with the other duty cycles off-road in quarries and on gravel roads, the tire must give optimal performance in both driving conditions," Schroeder said.
Other features include:
- notched circumferential ribs;
- stone ejector ledges to help reduce and prevent the penetration of sharp rocks and stones;
- grooved tread channel walls that provide a dual "shelf" to aid in tread stability—minimizing squirm when cornering—while providing additional stone protection;
- a tie-bar-stabilized center rib to enhance driving performance;
- a five-inch steel band reinforcement in the lower sidewall for reinforcement and casing durability; and
- a four-belt casing design to help ensure multiple retreads.
Cooper is backing the WBA with a seven-year, two-retread warranty.
Cooper sources its medium truck tires from plants in China. Pricing information was not disclosed.