Firestone reenters truck market with radial line

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Firestone dropped the curtain on three new truck tires designed to offer drivers and small fleets a fuel-efficient replacement option, the company announced this week at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., marking its return to the trucking industry.

Matt Frank, head of product marketing for Firestone, said the company’s new goal with reentry into the commercial vehicle market is to offer a tire for the small fleet and owner-operator market. Parent company Bridgestone is geared more toward original equipment manufacturers and national fleets, but the Firestone brand’s new line will offer a fuel-efficient yet fully durable and affordable tire for buyers who don’t buy mass quantities.

All three tires are Smartway verified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and are approved for use by the California Air Resources Board.

Additionally, each tire has the company’s proprietary NanoPro-Tech polymer technology that helps mitigate energy loss for boost rolling resistance.

Here are breakdowns of each tire:

FS591 Steer Radial: The FS591 has a wide, deep tread that helps extend the life of tire and avoid irregular wear. It has a low rolling resistance and a casing designed to boost fuel economy.

FD691 Drive Radial: The FD691 offers a high-rigidity tread pattern to help the tire wear evenly, increase tread life and lower rolling resistance. It has a flow-through design that pushes water away to help tire traction.

FT491 All-Position Radial: The FT491 has a sidewall protector ribs to reduce damage from run-ins with curbs and other abrasion-producing objects. It has Firestone’s ULTI-Rib and Defense Groove to help prevent irregular wear.

Firestone also at the show introduced an on-off highway tire — the FS820 — designed to prevent stone retention to help improve tire life and retreadability. It has an all-steel casing and cap/base compounding to battle cuts and boost durability.

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