Free Republic

The Japanese company that owns tire maker Dunlop shuttered a century-old New York factory — and fired 1,500 workers — as it moved manufacturing overseas. Sumitomo Corp, the Tokyo-based conglomerate that boasts a market capitalization of more than $25 billion, closed down the Dunlop plant located in Tonawanda, near Buffalo, on Nov. 7. The closure is the latest blow to the Western New York area, which like much of the Rust Belt has seen its manufacturing sector decimated by companies shifting production overseas in recent decades. The company said that cost controls and investments in the aging facility were not...

0:58 VIDEO AT LINK............. AVOID CERTAIN TRUCKSTOPS...................

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s wife once admitted she kept the windows of the governor’s residence “open as long as [she] could” to smell the burning tires from the violent 2020 riots in the wake of George Floyd’s death — as her husband’s handling of the protests is back in the spotlight. Gwen Walz described her husband’s struggle to grapple with the outcry following the May 25, 2020, murder of Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in a sit-down with KTSP in June of that year. Gov. Walz’s response to the fiery Black Lives Matter riots in the Twin Cities is...

Open borders advocates on the streets and within the government itself have stepped up efforts to derail plans to finally remove some illegal migrants from the United Kingdom in the wake of the passage of legislation supposedly clearing the way for aliens to be sent to Rwanda. On Thursday morning, leftist activists clad in coronavirus-style masks surrounded a bus to prevent migrants from being removed to the Bibby Stockholm oil rig worker accommodation barge floating off the coast of Dorset, which in addition to Rwanda is being used in lieu of putting migrants up at taxpayer expense in British hotels...

Tires on electric vehicles (EVs) have less durability and wear more quickly than tires on traditional gas-powered cars, a 2024 study shows. The revelation poses another problem for President Joe Biden’s quest to force Americans into EVs. The J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study found that EV owners reported more tire wear compared to gas-powered cars, Automotive News reports: Findings from the study highlight EV owners having less satisfaction with the durability of their tires, expecting them to wear similar to gasoline-powered vehicle tires. However, EV tires naturally wear quicker because of greater vehicle weight and...

Buying an EV entails many other costs besides the vehicle. Insurance is way higher. Some companies won't insure them at all. Tires wear out quicker (20k miles) and are more expensive. Video at link....................

Progressives spent last year torturing home cooks by threatening gas stoves and dishwashers in pursuit of energy efficiency. Now the climate brigade is going after drivers. A new bill in Washington state would give regulators the ability to ban tires that create a drag on fuel efficiency. The proposal would give the state Department of Commerce authority to prevent the sale of replacement tires that the state says have too much “rolling resistance,” which decreases the fuel efficiency of the vehicles. Rolling resistance depends largely on the weight and depth of a tire tread, the grippy thick part that keeps...

The Washington Democrats’ plan to ban the most popular tires won’t advance during this legislative session. But you shouldn’t think for a moment that the plan won’t eventually come to fruition. It’s not dead — it’s just in a different form. House Bill 2262 has emerged as the latest legislative head-scratcher. It aims to steer us toward a greener horizon by mandating low-rolling resistance tires on passenger vehicles. All other tires, which include the vast majority of the ones currently used by drivers, would be banned. Violate their tire ban, and you’d be subject to a fine of up to...

It was love at first sight when Neil Semel saw the electric Mercedes EQS 450+ at a Pompano Beach dealership. The sedan was the perfect sleek black color his wife wanted, had only 2,200 miles and they both liked the idea of getting away from gasoline. “I’ve always driven combustion engines and I thought it was time to try to save the planet,” Semel said. But after less than 5,000 miles of driving around his Boca Raton neighborhood, Semel was shocked to find some essential — and very expensive — parts were already wearing out. The tires. “If somebody looked...

The 13 largest U.S. tire manufacturers are facing a lawsuit from a pair of California commercial fishing organizations that could force the companies to stop using a chemical added to almost every tire because it kills migrating salmon. Also found in footwear, synthetic turf and playground equipment, the rubber preservative 6PPD has been used in tires for 60 years. As tires wear, tiny particles of rubber are left behind on roads and parking lots, breaking down into a byproduct, 6PPD-quinone, that is deadly to salmon, steelhead trout and other aquatic wildlife when rains wash it into rivers. “This is the...

Today, you can buy tires that can carry your vehicle tens of thousands of miles. Modern tires are the results of decades of tire engineering progress. The tire compound is a versatile material that comes with a range of properties depending on the raw materials used to manufacture it. These materials allow tire manufacturers to come up with detailed tire designs that stand the test of time and driving pressure. But what are tires made of? How to make tires that are actually durable in the long run? There are some important physical and chemical properties at play that make...

The Rivian R1T and R1S are both super cool electric vehicles, offering huge power, impressive range and distinctive styling. They aren’t cheap, but if you can afford one, we suspect you’ll find it’s an absolute hoot to drive. Sadly, no vehicle is perfect, and apparently, one downside of owning a Rivian is that they tend to eat through tires much faster than you’d expect given that the Pirellis they come with from the factory are warrantied for up to 50,000 miles. According to The Drive, owners have been complaining on Rivian forums that their tires, specifically their front tires, haven’t...

During an interview with Milwaukee’s TMJ4 News on Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris responded to a question on President Joe Biden’s poor job approval numbers and how this reflects on Bidenomics by stating that everywhere she goes, “people are thankful” for the Biden economic policy and that thanks to the Biden administration’s infrastructure policy, people won’t have the expense of all of their tires “being flat because of those roads and bridges.” TMJ4 Chief Political Reporter Charles Benson asked, “The President’s job approval numbers in Wisconsin in a recent poll show that he still has low numbers. Does that suggest...

A far-left international group that encourages groups of people to deflate tires on parked sports utility vehicles (SUV) in an effort to combat global warming has expanded its operations to 18 countries. The group, named the Tyre Extinguishers and based in the U.K., has claimed credit for tire-deflating operations in American cities including New York City, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, and cities in England, Canada, France, Spain, Germany and Italy among others. And most recently, on Thursday, members affiliated with the Tyre Extinguishers conducted an action in Lisbon, Portugal.

Drivers of electric cars are unwittingly releasing more toxic tyre particles into the air than those driving petrol vehicles, experts have warned. Scientists, analysts and regulators are growing increasingly concerned about the amount of potentially harmful tiny particles coming off tyres, especially those from heavier cars such as electric vehicles, due to the number of toxic petrochemicals that they are made from. This comes as the Government is attempting to reduce carbon emissions under its “net zero” drive by encoruaging drivers to use electric cars. Motorists with older petrol vehicles in London also face fresh charges to enter Sadiq Khan’s...

Tyre Extinguishers, a British group whose preferred method of fighting climate change is to deflate the tires of large vehicles, says it let the air out of the tires of 43 vehicles on Beacon Hill last night. The group took this action to render the large greenhouse gas emitting vehicles unusable, directly preventing the outpouring of emission from the vehicles into our atmosphere which further contribute to climate change and air pollution. Only large, luxury, gas powered SUVs were targeted by the group; no tires were deflated on electric or hybrid vehicles nor any vehicles with handicap signage. The group...

We’ve had enough of the left’s guilt-tripping anyone who drives a gasoline-powered car. If anyone should be ashamed, it is those who are smugly plugging in their cars each night. They are the ones responsible for raping the planet, poisoning entire communities, enriching genocidal tyrants, and creating a massive hazmat problem while doing nothing to stop “climate change.” Does that sound harsh? Here’s one recent bit of evidence. A Bloomberg investigation found that the aluminum Ford is using to build its “eco-friendly” EV pickup comes from Brazil.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (7News) — Terry Robinson from Tallahassee rented a car to visit friends in D.C. He said after hanging out until about 1 a.m., he parked his car in a lot outside his friend’s building. 7News met him Thursday morning as A-1 towing was about to remove his car that fit the profile: Toyota or Honda, all four wheels were gone, the car held up by yellow soda crates and lug nuts all over the pavement. Also, no arrests were made. “I’m from Florida,” Robinson told 7News, “I come to visit and this is what happened.” He said the...

My kid had rear Tire blow up on his 96 ranger xlt in middle of nowhere, and in another state far from me today. I told him I would try to find some tires for him and would call him back. called a big wally center, and a place with discounted tires as well as a good-month place and asked for a quote on 2 tires. (I had replaced the front 2 a few months ago) each of them asked me if it was 4wd and when I said yes they told me they had to replace all 4 tires...

“ATTENTION – Your gas guzzler kills. We have deflated one or more of your tires. You’ll be angry, but don’t take it personally. It’s not you, it’s your car.” The letters placed on windshields, along with said deflated tires, are what greeted several Bay Area drivers on the morning of July 5. The letters contained a message written by an international group that deflates the tires of SUVs and other larger vehicles in the name of fighting climate change. “We did this because driving around urban areas in your massive vehicle has huge consequences for others,” the leaflet says. “We’re...