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Bandag® Retread Tour

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These are casings being staged to enter the recap facility. At this point these casings have been visually inspected when they were picked up, and also when entering the staging area.

This is an NDT-II machine. It checks for and locates any nail holes or exposed radial cords so that they can be repaired. At this point casings may be rejected for excessive damage.

The 7400 Insight™ Casing Analyzer inspects the casing from bead to bead. It checks for separations in the casings by taking 28 photographs of the casing while in a vacuum. If there is a separation, any air caught in the separation will expand and become visible.

The buffing machine removes the old tread from the casing creating a new surface for the Bandag® tread to adhere to. Once the casing leaves this station, it is transported through the shop on a monorail system. This prevents the newly buffed surface from becoming contaminated.

After any damaged areas are scived and any rust or contaminants are removed from casing injuries the casing is brought to the repair station. Here the scived injuries are patched and repaired.

This is where the new Bandag® tread is applied to the prepared casing. The casing is placed on an expandable hub, while the tread and an adhesive cushion are rolled on to the rotating casing.

The enveloper is used to place the newly capped casing into a specially designed rubber envelope that is checked for a vacuum seal.

The Chamber takes the newly treaded casing in the envelope, creates a vacuum in the envelope, then 'cooks' the tread onto the casing at 210 degrees for 4 hours.

Tires are removed from the chamber and the envelope is removed from the tire. There is a final inspection before the tires are painted and branded. The branding tells where and when the tire was recapped. The tires are now ready for delivery to the customer.

For more information about Bandag Retreads, contact the TBA Division directly.