BFGoodrich announces new Highway Control series tires

March 29, 2019

Tyson Fisher

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Last year at the Mid-America Trucking Show, BFGoodrich broke a dry spell in terms of the time between launching a new commercial tire. How long until the next announcement? Exactly one year, apparently.

On Thursday, March 28, BFGoodrich announced its introduction of two new commercial tires: the Highway Control S and the Highway Control T. During last year MATS, the company announced the Cross Control S and Cross Control T, the first launch of a new commercial tire in a long time.

This year, BFGoodrich’s new tire is designed for long haul, tanker, reefer and dry van truckload applications. Before getting to the technical jargon explaining the improvements, here’s the bottom line: a more efficient tire equals better fuel efficiency, less maintenance equals more money in your pocket.

Let’s get into the details.

Highway Control S

The “S” stands for steering and replaces the BFGoodrich ST 44. This tire includes new sidewall compounds, which increase fuel efficiency without sacrificing wear and tear. What is a compound? How does it do all those things?

According to Karl Remec, business model leader at BFGoodrich, reducing rolling resistance can increase fuel savings. One would think that reducing rolling resistance would also reduce friction between the tire and the road. Apparently, that’s not necessarily true. The trick is to reduce the amount of energy required to rotate the tire, he said. This can be done through the sidewall.

A thing called the “spring rate” occurs when the wheels are turning. This causes the tire to compress and subsequently come out of the state of compression.

“Our tire engineers work on changing that spring rate so less energy is required to rotate the tire down the road while keeping the properties of good adherence and long tread wear in contact with the road,” Remec said. “The compounding in the sidewall can aid in reducing that energy.”

In other words, the stuff the sidewall is made of makes the tire fuel efficient, and BFGoodrich’s new tires have improved on that stuff without increasing wear.

Serpentine, flow-through grooves allows better water evacuation. These tires also include a variable groove wall. In short, this means the tire is better at ejecting rocks out of it, which protects the casing. Casing is important since these tires are also retreadable.

Speaking of retread, BFGoodrich offers a five-year, two-retread guarantee. A one-year mileage guarantee is also included. If a trucker is not satisfied with the performance in the first year or before 50 percent of the tire’s useable life, BFGoodrich will reimburse 50 percent of the acquisition price.

The Highway Control S is available now in sizes 11R22.5 and 11R24.5 in Load Range G, 11R22.5 and 11R24.5 in Load Range H, 275/80R22.5 in Load Range G and 285/80R24.5 in Load Range G.

Highway Control T

The “T” stands for trailer and replaces the BFGoodrich TR 144 tire. BFGoodrich focused on regular tear for these tires since trailer axle tires are in free-rolling position, meaning there’s no power or steering to them.

Trailer tires are also subjected to inconsistent conditions. Sometimes they are being thrust with a full load. Other times, the trailer tires are moving a completely empty trailer. Consequently, uneven wear is common with trailer tires.

Most of the same specs of the Highway Control S apply to the Highway Control T. One difference is the guarantee offer. Instead of a one-year satisfaction guarantee, BFGoodrich offers a two-year guarantee for Highway Control T tires.

The BFGoodrich Highway Control T tire is available in sizes 11R22.5, 275/80R22.5, 11R24.5 and 285/75R24.5, all in load range