Abstract: A two-stage building method and apparatus for making an uncured tire including winding on shoulder wedge and sidewall components from strip material on a first stage building drum, winding on gum cushion on a band building drum and making up sequential breaker packages for second stage application to the tire.

Abstract: A radial carcass, belted tire (10) comprises an overlay ply (18) which provides the tire with high speed endurance without adversely affecting the uniformity of the tire. The overlay ply (18) comprises textile reinforcing elements consisting of successively aligned cord sections (21) arranged in parallel rows. Each cord section has a length which is comprised between 1/4 and 1/2 of the corresponding circumferential development of the tire. The cord sections (21) in each row have substantially equal length and are separated by interruptions (22) of a width such that the total width of the interruptions per circumferentially extending row of cords is less than 4% of the corresponding circumferential development of the tire.