By Ashley Reyes
The Tire Industry Association (TIA) continues to promote tire safety through training and education for more than 13,000 members in the United States and around the globe. In a recently released video from the 2019 SEMA Show STAGE, TIA’s Senior Vice President of Training Kevin Rohlwing shares how the association is assisting its member businesses to be more successful by advocating in government affairs and providing training and certificate programs for tire manufacturers, resellers and dealerships.
Having been in the automotive industry for 37 years, Rohlwing addressed what he feels is the most common mistake made by tire installers. “On the passenger car side, it would probably be the overreliance on torque. What I mean by that is a lot of people think that just because you use a torque wrench it’s going to guarantee that the wheels are going to stay on the car. There’s a lot more that goes into that; we call it our RIST procedure—remove, inspect, snug, torque. […] If we just put a torque wrench on the wheels and we think it’s going to stay on there, (but) if you didn’t clean the mating surfaces, if you didn’t inspect the components, and you didn’t seat it and snug it properly, you can have the most expensive torque technology on the planet and wheels are still going to come loose.”
Additional topics include Rohlwing’s insight on how online sales have affected the average tire dealer, TIA’s “Tire Safety Starts Here” YouTube Channel, and his thoughts on how autonomous vehicles and shared mobility services will impact the future of tire service and maintenance.
View Rohlwing’s full video and check out the SEMA YouTube channel for additional featured interviews powered by SEMA Education in partnership with the SEMA Wheel and Tire Council (WTC).