Get Longer Wear in Your Steer Tires With Decoupler Ribs

Have you heard about decoupler ribs in truck tires? This is no marketing gimmick. It’s a proven technology that reduces irregular wear and, thus, lowers one of the top operating expenses for fleets and owner operators.

So how does a decoupler grooved tire work?

The decoupler rib (sometimes known as the defense groove or sacrificial rib) is almost always used in wheel positions where free rolling (no torque or power to wheel) occurs — predominately in the steering position but  also in certain trailer tires where high lateral scrubbing is to be expected.

Steer tires are subject to the most lateral movement as they are required to experience higher slip angles due to the fact that they are a free rolling, steered axle. Consequently, if you are able to “decouple” the forces pushing down the sidewall and the lateral forces experienced during steering maneuvers from the tread in contact with the road surface (shoulder rib), you will reduce the excessive lateral movement between the road surface and the shoulder rib.  This results in less rapid and irregular shoulder wear.  If your tire is unable to do this, you will experience more rapid or irregular wear.

The image to the right is a full tire viewed by CT scan using X-rays.  Notice how the shoulders and belt edges are stressed under lateral displacement. This is why it is important that a tire have an abundance of insulation in the shoulder area and no presence of trapped air. 

So, for your next purchase of free rolling axle tires, I urge you to consider de-coupler groove product lines.  They will certainly fight off shoulder wear and help reduce rapid wear for longer road miles.

Double Coin offers a complete line of de-coupler groove tires in several styles in a multitude of sizes, such as the FR605 and RR300 steer tires, as well as the all-postion RR200L highway service tire and the TR100 trailer tire.

The Double Coin FR605 (pictured to the left), for example, is a fuel efficient, low rolling resistance steer-position truck tire built for multiple applications. An outstanding product in our OptiGreen™ series, the FR605 not only features de-coupler grooves, but also delivers fuel efficiency through its EPA SmartWay® verified technology. So you save two ways — reduced fuel costs and longer wear.  

In addition to durability, Double Coin also delivers on fuel efficiency.