Bridgestone reveals latest tire line, rubber tracks

VersaBuilt tire

Bridgestone Americas Inc. showcased its new Firestone VersaBuilt tire line at ConExpo-Con/Agg, where it discussed the concept and how the tires are designed to perform across a variety of environments, applications and equipment.

“With more radial tires entering the off-the-road market, we saw a need to introduce a dependable product at an affordable price that is backed by a trusted brand,” says Taylor Cole, president, off-the-road, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations. “Our construction customers are looking for a versatile line of tires that they can rely on to get the job done, and that’s exactly what they get with Firestone VersaBuilt.”

According to Bridgestone, Firestone VersaBuilt tires provide solid traction for loaders, graders and earthmovers, ensuring these machines perform at their best in a variety of conditions, ranging from muddy to rocky surfaces. Customers also can maximize their tire purchase by choosing Firestone VersaBuilt tires because the full line is engineered for wear life, durability and affordability.

Key features of the tires are a steel casing and SideArmor sidewalls to protect against cuts and punctures by deflecting stones and debris; a non-directional, self-cleaning tread for added traction and a tough tread compound to promote wear life; three different tread patterns optimized for general use across environments, including the Firestone VersaBuilt All Traction (G2/L2), the Firestone VersaBuilt All Purpose (E3/L3) and the Firestone VersaBuilt Deep Tread (E4/L4); and 11 different size offerings to meet the demands of different applications.

“We started pushing it out to dealers in November 2016,” Cole says. “These are for the person who doesn’t want to change tires. These are designed for general-purpose use. They’re highly valuable from a durability standpoint yet they are not specialized.”

In addition to the Firestone VersaBuilt launch, Bridgestone unveiled its new Vortech line rubber tracks at ConExpo-Con/Agg.

Designed specifically for compact tracked loaders, Vortech rubber tracks feature a responsive track design and powerful H-shape tread pattern to deliver both workability and a smooth driving experience, the company says. The all-new system reflects customer desire for improved driver efficiency and workability in compact tracked loader applications.

By optimizing the internal structure and tread pattern, Vortech lowers the bending resistance that occurs when rubber tracks rotate, enabling more fluid vehicle movement, Bridgestone adds. As a result of the design, Vortech rubber tracks reduce engine power loss during vehicle driving by 26 percent, contributing to improved driving efficiency and subsequently more fluid vehicle movement, the company says.

The rubber tracks also employ a new H-shaped tread pattern to expand the edge portion of the tracks, which grips the ground and provide higher levels of traction for powerful performance. Vortech tracks help improve driving performance in compact tracked loaders in a variety of environments ranging from gravel to sediment, and other ground types, the company says.

At ConExpo-Con/Agg, Bridgestone representatives also provided an update on TreadStat, the company’s off-the-road (OTR) tire and rim management software.

“We completely redesigned the software and put it on a more modern platform,” says Grok Gates, a product manager at Bridgestone. “It allows us to integrate better with some of the open data out there.”

As an example, the updated TreadStat integrates nicely with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems operations may currently use, Grok says.

“Companies don’t always want to enter all of their inventory into financial software and then turn around and enter it into asset software,” he says. “So this cuts down on some of the redundancies of entering data.”