Global tire manufacturer Ralson is entering the U.S. commercial tire market with a new medium/heavy truck tire manufacturing facility and a team of veteran American sales and marketing tire professionals. Ralson debuted its products for the US with its American team at the 2022 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.
The company says it is supplying two TBR brands to the U.S. – the Ralson brand will be sold through larger full-service commercial tire dealers who buy direct from the company and the Accelus brand will be sold through distributors to smaller tire dealers. In the first phase, the product line-ups for both brands will focus on regional, pickup and delivery,and waste haul/construction applications.
“We are committed to supplying fleets and owner-operators with TBR tires that deliver outstanding performance and a low total cost of ownership to help them thrive in the ultra-competitive US trucking industry,” said Ralson CEO Manjul Pahwa. “Tire dealers who join the Ralson team will benefit from repeat customers and positive word-of-mouth due to our unbeatable combination of acquisition price and performance.”
Ralson and Accelus tires will be available for purchase early in the first quarter of 2023, the company says.
Ralson also announced that longtime tire industry executive Jim Mayfield has been named executive vice president of Ralson Tire North America.
“We are very excited to get our tires in operation on the roads and highways of America,” Mayfield said. “Their performance will be our best advertisement. Ralson has assembled a team of R&D engineers and rubber technologists previously responsible for some of the industry’s most renowned commercial tire tread patterns. They have developed tread patterns and casing designs ideally suited to operate efficiently on America’s highways and roads.
“In addition to R&D, the manufacturing process at Ralson’s highly advanced plant is the other key ingredient. From best-in-class extrusion equipment to RFID-enabled bead preparation, the facility is rolling out TBR tires of superior quality.”
Ralson Product Offering
The Ralson product offering includes the RAR51 all-position tire, available in seven sizes. Features and benefits include:
- Integrated sipes provide superior all-weather traction and cooler running for extended tread life;
- Optimized groove angle with stone ejector enhances self-cleaning and stone ejection for long tread and casing life;
- The sinusoidal shoulder groove promotes dependable traction, shoulder stability and low rolling resistance for uniform wear and fuel efficiency.
The Ralson RAC55 (available in 315/80R22.5) is designed for waste haul and construction applications. Features and benefits include:
- Open shoulder with tie bars provides powerful traction and self-cleaning capabilities while improving tread and casing life;
- Balanced rib ratio offers even pressure distribution, higher mileage and even wear;
- Optimized groove angles with stone ejectors provide self-cleaning and ease stone ejection.
For Accelus, the AR91 is an all-position radial available in seven sizes. Features and benefits include:
- Five rib design delivers the optimum balance of long tread wear and fuel efficiency;
- Four-belt construction effectively absorbs impacts and provides uniform ground contact;
- A wavy shoulder groove promotes uniform wear, shoulder stability and excellent traction.
The Accelus DR92 is a closed-shoulder drive tire available in four sizes. Features and benefits include:
- Wide belt construction evenly distributes tension for high mileage and optimum retreadability.
- The ideal lug-to-void ratio provides excellent driver comfort while delivering long tread wear.
- The next-generation compound effectively dissipates energy for higher fuel economy and reduced wear rate.
Ralson says its R&D team is armed with the most advanced computer simulation and testing equipment. Prototype Ralson tires are put through exhaustive testing inside labs equipped with Virtual Simulation Capabilities (FEA) and then thoroughly punished on a wide variety of surfaces.
