Situation
We’ve been around for a very long time. Our skills and expertise have progressed in leaps and bounds since those early days to ensure we deliver the best of the best rubber-manufactured products. As a multi-faceted rubber company, we don’t just extrude and cure strips of rubber, we do so much more.
Over the years we have established ourselves as a rubber technology powerhouse and we have a deep understanding of how rubber works both inside and out. We have even created a knowledge hub on our website giving our customers everything they need to know about rubber from the inner workings, to how it is utilised commercially. All of this know-how is available to you at the click of a button. We know what we’re doing, and we're here to help.
In this edition of ‘Case in Point' the Bedford trucks are back! And our client needs a formed window extrusion which isn’t the easiest shape to form. Fortunately for our customer, we’re well versed in manufacturing these. We’ve been providing rubber solutions for this company since Bedford trucks went the way of the dinosaur.
Problem
As we discovered last time, our customer can no longer purchase the OEM’s (Original Equipment Manufacturer) components as Bedford’s stopped trading in 1987 and their parts are now very difficult to source. Our customer reached out to us over 20 years ago and throughout that time, we have successfully manufactured a growing list of bespoke profiles and extrusions.
Some are harder to pull off than others, but through our knowledge and experience we have mastered the art. This time around, our customer was looking for a formed extrusion which is used as a window seal. This is one of the more awkward jobs we do as we need the extrusion to remain in a certain shape. It takes a steady hand and years of experience which we have in spades.
Solution
Firstly, we extruded the lengths of our long-lasting and durable EPDM rubber. These lengths were extruded slightly longer so they can form properly around the curved Perspex template which replicates that of the side window. They were left to relax and later removed from the template. Once removed, the rubber was placed on an aluminium sheet and moved in the autoclave for curing.
After the curing or vulcanisation process our engineer’s precision cut the window seal to size and applied a fast-acting strong adhesive to bond the two ends. The finished seal was left to set for several minutes before being cleaned up, checked over and prepped for dispatch.
Our customer was very pleased with the window seals and we have received multiple orders for more. We’re always in touch with this customer and are happy to help, we’re grateful that they put their trust in us to deliver their rubber solutions.
Final Thoughts
We were approached by an old friend who repairs and refurbishes old military vehicles like the long-time defunct Bedford military trucks. They enquired about a formed extrusion for a side window seal which they could no longer source from the OEM. We have learnt through years of knowledge and practical experience how to manufacture this type of replacement product and the process is like clockwork when we do receive a repeat order from them.
Our engineers extruded and then formed the rubber around a window-shaped template and then left it to relax before transferring it into the autoclave for curing. Once cooled down, the rubber was then cut to size and joined together with a strong adhesive.
The window seals were a success, and our customer was very happy. However, with all the years working together they were not surprised. Sometimes developing a modern replacement for a vintage vehicle isn’t always an easy job but because of our perseverance and know-how we are often able to figure out how best to manufacture and ship these types of products with relative ease. We can’t wait to work with our friends again.
If you work with old and defunct vehicles and need rubber components then look no further, our sales team will be more than happy to help you.
That’s right, our rubber extrusions can be used for all vehicles and if the design is one of a kind, then we can turn it up a notch. Our in-house tooling and manufacturing capability enables us to give you the bespoke extrusion design you need.
And that’s that, another ‘Case in Point’ in the books. Keep a look out for our next edition because we could be talking about you.