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Tell us about this tire.
The new Bridgestone L320 drive radial is engineered for STRENUOUS OFF-HIGWAY TRACTION AND LONG ON-HIGHWAY TREAD LIFE. All while offering superior retreadability.
As with all Bridgestone on/off-highway tires, the L320 is built to be retreaded again and again, using four steel belts and an all-steel casing for superior retreadability.
Why is it a great on-highway tire?
It offers incredible tire life. L320 has an extra-deep 31/32" tread depth for longer mileage. To help ensure those long miles are as smooth as possible, L320 uses irregular-wear fighting technologies to fight the damaging effects of its dual roles.
Such as?
You’ve probably heard about tie bars and how they fight tread squirm, but may never have seen a design as extensive as this one on an on/off-highway tire.
Extra-deep lugs, such as those found on the L320, are especially vulnerable to block squirm. Tall lugs are aggressive in the mud, but tend to squirm when they reach hard road surfaces. The L320 uses tie bars to link blocks to its neighbors, fighting irregular wear for smoother tire life.
What else?
Cap/base construction gives the L320 good wear on the highway. The top tread is engineered for superior traction and wear while the base compound insulates the casing for outstanding retreadability.
In addition to being durable, the tread compound is cool-running so you can use the L320 at highway speeds to 65 mph. That’s important if your job site is more than a dozen miles down an Interstate or divided highway and you don’t have time to dawdle.
What makes it a great off-highway tire?
It has tremendous traction. One look at the tread pattern and you can see why the L320 is popular with construction, logging and oil field fleets.
The extra-deep lug tread pattern is aggressive, so it’s going to claw through the mud to reach dryer, more solid ground. The open-shoulder design improves mud traction further by releasing mud from the tread surface.
Plus the L320 has an excellent high void pattern.
What’s that?
There’s a lot of space between the blocks. These empty areas are what is meant by a “higher void ratio” and create aggressive traction. Rib tires, on the other hand, have a low void ratio to put more rubber on the road.
Speaking of aggressive traction, to help prevent sharp stones and construction debris from cutting the lugs, the L320 uses an ultra-tough tread compound to resist cuts, chips, chunks and tears.
Now, we talked earlier about tie bars and how they are a stabilizing feature in fighting irregular wear.
Many will find the L320 interesting, because as the tire wears, the tie bars become part of the tread pattern.
How so?
At the bottom of this page is the progression of tread wear, so you can see for yourself how the L320 uses its tie bars to retain its grip.
At each stage of wear, the tire bars help reduce tread element squirm, without adversely affecting traction.
What kind of fleets can use the L320?
Those in the construction, mining, logging and oil field service. The 11R22.5 and 11R24.5 sizes of the L320 drive are available in both “G” and “H” load ratings, while the 12R22.5 has an “H” load rating.
For more information on the Bridgestone L320, ask your dealer or territory manager.
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