Patent ID: 7060146

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a pneumatic tire, comprising: assembling tire components including a carcass and unvulcanized rubber components to make a green tire, the tire comprising the carcass extending between bead portions through a tread portion and sidewall portions, an axially outer sidewall rubber disposed in each said sidewall portion to define an outer surface of the sidewall portion, and an axially inner sidewall rubber disposed on the axially inside of said axially outer sidewall rubber, vulcanizing the green tire to form said pneumatic tire, wherein the method further comprises: winding at least one unvulcanized fiber-reinforced rubber tape having short fibers mixed therein so that the windings collectively have a predetermined cross sectional shape of said axially inner sidewall rubber to thereby make the axially inner sidewall rubber, wherein the short fibers therein are oriented towards a tire circumferential direction, and a degree of orientation of the short fibers decreases at a middle of the sidewall portion, and winding an unvulcanized rubber tape so that the windings collectively have a predetermined cross sectional shape for at least one of the unvulcanized rubber components to thereby make said at least one of the unvulcanized rubber components, wherein said at least one of the unvulcanized rubber components is said axially outer sidewall rubber having a Mooney viscosity of from 28 to 44 {ML(1+4)}.