Interpretation ID: nht74-5.41

DATE: 03/29/74

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; LAWRENCE R. SCHNEIDER; NHTSA

TO: TIRE RETREDING INSTITUTE

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of February 22, 1974, concerning an article in the November 1973 Retreader's Journal entitled "Repairing Torn Beads." You ask whether the article is correct when it states that casings with cord exposed in the bead area may be retreaded.

Standard No. 117 (S5.2) prohibits the retreading of any casing on which bead wire or cord fabric is exposed before processing. "Processing" encompasses the entire process, including the making of any needed repairs, by which a casing is retreaded. The NHTSA has taken the position that the only exception to this prohibition is that casings with exposed chafer fabric may be retreaded. A casing that before processing has any exposed bead or cord material other than chafer fabric, however, may not be retreaded. Therefore, insofar as the Retreader's Journal article states that casings with exposed cord in the bead area may be retreaded it is incorrect.

We have sent a copy of this letter to the Retreader's Journal.

CC: RETREADER'S JOURNAL

TIRE RETREADING INSTITUTE

February 22, 1974

Edward Wallace National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Several of our members have questioned thie practice of repairing damaged beads on passenger tires.

It has been our interpretation of Standard 117 that a damaged bead is an exposed bead and therefore can not be retreaded.

At a recent meeting of retreaders, a group of them took exception to our interpretation and quoted an article appearing in the Retreader's Journal. A copy of that article is enclosed.

Please let us know how to handle the question.

Philip H. Taft Director

Enclosure Omitted.