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We have a patent pending ( provisional patent ) for the design of this product, due to its special characteristics.
1) The TireShark™ brand has a low ramp and spike height, the lowest in the industry by almost 1”. This allows for sports cars and trailer rigs to travel over without scraping. This allows for less stress to be transferred to the spike system, elongating life of the components. The chances of a low-hanging trailer tongue hitting the system is reduced.
2) All of the plate steel parts are manufactured using an aerospace water jet cutting machine. This makes cuts and holes that are smooth with great control of tolerances. Other brands of traffic spikes are made using a plasma cutter, which is fast and cheap, but leaves jagged and malformed cuts and holes. Poorly cut parts wear against each other like cutting tools. Our TireShark™ brand product does not have this problem. Competing products that are made using plasma or laser cutting systems introduce heat stress into the plate steel prior to bending. This leads to crystalline micro-fractures during the bending of the top plate. Our TireShark™ brand does not have this problem, since the water-jet cutting technique occurs at room temperature. Our bent steel upper ramps are super-strong compared to systems that are cut with heat. Another advantage to using the water jet is that the TireShark™ brand parts are always the same. The water jet is computer controlled.
3) The TireShark™ brand is more quiet due to the smoothly rotating assembly. Systems that are made with inferior cutting technologies grate, steel upon steel, as the parts rotate. There is a noticeable difference in the way that the spikes raise and lower.
4) The TireShark™ brand’s rows of teeth are not set in the upper crown of the upper ramp, like other brands, our product’s teeth are set lower on the descending side of the ramp. This lowers the overall height of the product and greatly reduces the impact that a vehicle has on the rows of teeth. The ability to puncture the tires of an offending vehicle is not hampered with this positioning, since the effective reach of the spike into the tire’s rubber remains the same.
5) The TireShark™ brand spikes are counter-weighted, meaning that inner springs last longer. In addition, when a spring does fail, the unit typically functions perfectly without it. Sometimes clients don’t even know that a spring has broken due to the ability of the unit to continue to function. Some clients even remove the inner springs to make the unit even more quiet when used in apartment communities. Our product has a redundant spring system. There are 2 springs per spike section. The unit functions just fine with either 1 spring, or none. If you choose to remove the unit’s springs, it is best to do so after the unit has been in use for at least a few hundred uses. This allows for the parts to be fully mated and rotating prior to removal of the springs.
6) The TireShark™ brand has a super-thick 3/8” top plate, the thickest in the industry, and I took the product a step further. Underneath the top plate, the support for the rotating assembly of spikes forms a grid of support material. The grid interlocks and is welded in the corners. This transfers weight from the top plate all the way to the base plate, then into the roadway surface. Our product does not solely rely upon its super-thick top plate for vehicle support. It is able to handle vehicles with loads over 50000 pounds per axle and higher. Most spike systems are rated for 10-20000 pound per axle vehicles.
7) The TireShark™ brand has a special latch-down that I designed to be reliable and easy to operate. Other brands do not utilize the super easy security screw mechanism that captures the spikes. Other systems have a clumsy sliding bracket that frequently lodges in awkward positions, sometimes requiring 2 people to operate safely. The TireShark™ brand latch down requires only one person to operate and locks down in seconds per unit, rather than minutes. If you want to remove the latch down screw, so that no one can lock the spikes down, you simply remove the security screw and store elsewhere.
8) Included with each TireShark™ brand traffic spike, at no extra cost, are our Patent Pending Nite-Bite™ spike reflectors. They are installed on the offending side of each individual spike. We use SOLAS™ reflective material, designed by the US Coast Guard to facilitate viewing of personnel at sea from a distance of up to 2 miles. There is no greater reflectivity available ( 900 lumens ). When the driver of a vehicle approaches at night from the wrong direction, the reflectivity from their headlights on the spikes make the spikes one of the brightest things in their field of view. This increases the safety of personnel near the spike system by reducing the desire of motorists that want to cross the spike system. They’ll see the spikes!
9) The TireShark™ brand rotating spike assembly is galvanized for long life and rust resistance. The colored portions of the system, such as the ramp and base plate, are powder coated for incredible durability. Hardware is Grade 5 stainless for long-lasting performance.
10) The TireShark™ brand carries a 3 year, manufacturer’s defect warranty. Replacement parts are available with minimal mark-up. Competing product lines charge very high rates for parts. In example, other makers charge $11 per replacement spring. IF you needed a spring for the TireShark™ brand traffic spike section, we would charge $4.95 per stainless steel replacement spring.
The TireShark™ brand traffic spike system is truly made using the best materials and techniques. It needs to be... you’re going to have vehicles driving over the system with heavy vehicles for years. If ever needed, replacement parts are more affordable than competing products. We are the producer of this product... we are not just a reseller.
The TireShark™ brand of products is made in our industrial park in Tucson, Arizona, using legal American labor and the best equipment and techniques available. You get what you pay for.
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