Highlighting Howard Co. Business
Keeping the tires rolling - Franklin and Son’s
Last time I had a flat tire, I pulled into one of those side of the road gas stations. The attendant walks out, looks at my truck and he asked, “Tire go flat”? I could not resist. I said, “Nope I was driving around and those other three swelled right up on me.” Here’s your sign! -Bill Engvallman’s greatest invention, the wheel was first recorded in the Neolithic era. Beginning with agriculture, wheels were soon used in everything from chariots to toys. They are a symbol of human technological advancement.
From the wooden wheels of the 1880’s to today’s run flat tire, tires have had an interesting evolution over the last 200 years.
The first tires for cars were invented in 1888 when Benz introduced the first gasoline car. They were metal tires covered with air-filled rubber. This was the beginning of pneumatic tires. John Dunlop received the first patent for these tires.
The 20’s saw the advancement of tire material. Synthetic rubber replaced natural rubber. In 1923 the balloon tire was introduced; it was a low-pressure tire that had a greater contact area.
The first winter tires were introduced in 1934, they were designed for stormy weather. 1947 saw the invention of tubeless tires. These were developed in an attempt to relive the high cost of oil prices. Tubeless tires reduced the weight of a vehicle allowing for savings on fuel cost.
Michelin introduced the radial tire in the 50’s. They had better fuel economy and offered better driving stability even at high speeds.
The run flat tire was developed in 1979, these tires allowed a vehicle to continue driving up to 50 miles at 50 mph with a puncture.
Since then several types have been developed, eco-friendly and ultra-high-performance tires. UHP have diameters greater than 16 inches. This allows for better cornering, braking and driving.
Franklin and Son’s tire store began with Delbert Franklin who grew up in Stanton. He opened his first tire store in Stanton in 1961. The Big Spring location was opened in 1995, it was originally Goodyear.
“Some people still refer to it as Goodyear,” store manager Ray Jones said. “There is also a store in Lamesa. After Delbert, his son Terry took over running all of the businesses, until a few years ago when his son Reggie took over.”
Each store does more than just tire sales and service. They also check and replace brakes, oil changes, A/C service, alinements, and front-end work. The Stanton store offers gas, propane and diesel. They will deliver and can set up fuel stations for farmers or companies needing fuel on site.
“I started here 10 years ago outside, then moved up to shop foreman. From there I moved into mechanical then assistant manager, and now I’m the manager,” Jones said. “This is a Christian based company. Mr. Franklin built his business by keeping his customers trust. Excellent customer service was his motto and it remains ours today. Some of our customers go back for generations, their fathers and grandfathers were customers before them.”
He continued, “It is important to us to keep our customers loyalty and make sure everyone has a good experience when they come in. We are honest with our customers. Yes, we want to sell tires, however, I am more interested in making sure the customer gets the best tire for their vehicle. We take the time to explain to them why one brand or size is better and give them the best deal possible. I understand that some of our customers are on fixed-incomes, and will do my best to help them out.”
According to Jones, it is hard to compete with discount tire stores, they lure customers in with great prices, but do not have the customer service that local, home-owned stores like Franklin and Sons offers.
“We want our customers to come back every time they need something,” Jones said. “In keeping with that, we support our community. We support baseball and football teams, and the car show. We buy local as much as possible from office supplies to the pizza we order for lunch. When a company comes to us for service or buys tires, I try to use their services whenever possible.”
Jones said, as far as staff, everyone attends training once a year to learn about the advancements in flat repair.
Franklin and Sons employees carefully follow the guidelines set by the Rubber Manufacture Association
“We have state of the art equipment, and each of us are tech savvy. The machine we use to balance tires is the only one in this area including New Mexico,” he said. “We all attend classes to be better informed on the performance of the different types of tires. Before there were few options available in tires, today there are so many we can’t keep them all in stock. We will custom order wheels and tires. If we don’t have a particular tire in stock, I will call the other tire stores in town to see if they have it. They often do the same they will call us if they have a customer looking for something they don’t have or if they have customers who need something right away.”
An interesting fact, according to Jones, when it comes to the newer cars, they don’t come with spare tires, not even the ‘donut’. Therefore it is important to take care of your tires.
To maintain good tire use Jones recommends the following:
• Tire rotation
• Wheel alignment
• Repair or replace damaged tires
• Keeping the recommended inflation for the tire. This is easier since most vehicles now come with tire monitoring systems
“We service and sell tires for lawn mowers, forklifts, ATV’S dollies and bicycles. If it holds air, we can work with it,” Jones said.
Franklin and Sons is located at 408 Runnels. to contact them, call 432-267-6337. Their website is Franklin&sonsinc.com. Their hours for the Big Spring store are 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. For the Stanton store the hours are 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday thru Friday.