Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Company has signed an exclusive agreement with Amerityre
Corporation to jointly develop urethane tyres with the goal of eventually replacing
rubber car tyres.
Amerityre has developed what early tests show may be a viable compound for production
of urethane tyres which could potentially offer what the company terms “significant
product advantages and efficient and cost-effective manufacturing processes
requiring less capital investment than for traditional rubber tyres”.
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Tyremakers did extensive work on urethane car tyres from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Goodyear even made red coloured urethane tyres with lights inside. However,
none measured up to conventional rubber tyres for wet or dry traction or for
cut resistance, and the product was never commercialised.
Amerityre, while continuing to develop its material for auto tyres, sells puncture-free
urethane foam bicycle tyres called airriders. It has also developed puncture-free
tyres for garden tractors and wheelbarrows.
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