Our Process

Watch the Thompson Tire & Retread Process video for an up close look at the process.

Tire Retread Process

The retread process is a series of steps that improves safety by ensuring only quality tire casings are used. We follow the Goodyear retread process to identify eligible tires and turn them into retreads that cut fleet operation costs while providing quality performance.  

1. Initial Inspection: A visual and electronic inspection are performed to identify whether a tire is eligible for retreading. During the initial inspection, a technician will check to see if any repairs are necessary. If a repair is required and the casing is still eligible for retreading, the damage is marked and the casing moves to the next step. Some tires are not suitable for repair or retreading if the damage is too severe. These tires are returned to the customer.

2. Tire Repair: During this step, the casing receives the repair(s) identified during the first step. Examples of common repairs include nail holes and other road hazard punctures. As long as the casing steel and fabric are not damaged, spot repairs can be performed without limit. Section repairs can also be performed, but these have a limit. When all tire repairs are complete, the casing moves to the third step.

3. Buffing: During the buffing stage, the old tread is buffed away. At this stage, the technician might find glass shards or sharp rocks embedded deep in the casing that were missed during the first step. Foreign objects are removed and repairs are made if needed. Once the tire is buffed, it must be kept clean. For this reason, it cannot touch the ground.

4. Building: If the casing is receiving a pre-cure tread, the buffed area is coated with an extruded rubber cushion applied by a special machine before it enters the building stage. The cusion is critical since unncured rubber must be placed between a cured casing and cured tread. The tread and casing determine the type of build: pre-cure (most popular) or uni-circle.

5. Curing: Time, temperature, and pressure are crucial to the curing process. Tires are placed in a special chamber until they are ready.

6. Final Inspection: During the final inspection, a retread tire is checked for separations, repair quality, liner blisters, the splice, and tire information. A high pressure tester detects problems at different pressure levels. While the tire is checked during every part of the process, the final inspection is an important final review before it heads to the last step.

7. Finish: During this stage, the tire is made to look like a new tire.

Questions about the retread process? Wondering about retread tire benefits? Contact Thompson Tire & Retread for more information. We look forward to helping you save with retread tires for your fleet. We serve Dubuque, IA, Davenport, IA, Cedar Rapids, IA, and surrounding areas.

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