If I ran a trucking or transportation business and every dollar counted, then I'd definitely run them. And big truck tires are made with retreading in mind, I believe. My uncle runs retreads on all of his rigs - he owns a trucking company.
But for my piece of mind, I wouldn't run them on my personal vehicles...admittedly I don't know anything about retreading consumer-type tires.
blt2ski wrote: Retreads can run on the front of a commercial rig too, as long as you do not cross state lines, nor can one run them on school bus's or equal, well, at least that is a the general rules here in Wa st, your state or provence may be different.
Marty
So, if you and your family's lives are worth less than those of school children, by all means, run recaps. What is WRONG with you people??????????? Saving a buck or two can NOT be that important!!!!!!!!!
05 Dodge Ram 3500 SLT SC DRW 4X4 CTD G56 373's CAI,Edge Juice/Attitude,Jake,Rancho9000x,Torklift tie downs,Superhitch,Stable Loads
04 S&S Avalanche 9' with slide 26th Marines RVN 69-70 Semper Fi M-14 was the only Woodstock I saw in 1969.
Long ago and far away, we used to go to the local retreader and buy the "rejects" for a couple bucks. These were unsaleable tires, either from cosmetic blemishes or bad caps. We never had a tread separate. Oh, yes, there were other problems, but no separations.
Yes, I would run retreads on my vehicles.
CM1, USN (RET)
'94 Dodge 3500 4X2 CTD, Std. cab, LB, 5 speed, 4.10 LS diff., Jacobs Rambrake, 273,000 Miles
'99 Monaco McKenzie 32' triple slide
'95 Tioga 29H Ford-based Class C
Daily driver: '06 Jeep Liberty CRD
Towed: '06 Jeep Rubicon Unlimited
I've run retread/capped tires while my ex and 4 kids were in two different trucks! So yes, I would trust those tires with my family on board. Now if one was to ask me if I would trust my family to Michelin's. The answer is "NO" Ive had issues with over 1/3 of the virgin Michelin's on different rigs. yet the retread/capped tire, less than 10% have had issues, ie blow ups, tread separation etc. From my standpoint, retreads are safer under me on a vehicle than virgin Michelin's that many on here profess to say they are the best tire out there. Like a lot of things, may of us have different findings than others when it comes to some products.
Also, just because something is the law, does not mean it is a good law! or makes sense, or equal craziness.
Marty
05 Chev CC D/A LS Dooley
92 Navistar dump truck, 7.3L 7 sp, 4.33 gears with a Detroit no spin
00 Chev C2500, V5700, 4L80E, 4.10, base truck, no options!
92 Red-e-haul 12K equipment trailer
3 Single axle utility trailers
Back in college, when I didnt have much $$ and needed tires for the old Subaru, I put a set of retread tires on it. Dad told me not to, and that I'd regret buying them, but I wouldn't listen.
Well, he was right. Those tires were the WORST things I ever had! NEVER could get them balanced right, car vibrated and shook no matter how many times I had the tires balanced.
Also, car had horrible pull to the left with those tires, that could not be corrected with alignment. One day, when I took the tires off and measured them, I found out why: Each tire had a different diameter!! Don't remember specifically how much difference, but it was significant. No matter how I rotated them, car would always pull one way or the other, due to wheels/tires always having some 'stagger' to them. I *HATED* those tires, hahaha.
..Kept those miserable things for 'bout a year, before finally conceded to Dad that he was right, and got new tires put on (after just a year, tread was about gone on them anyway, LOL!) Car rode just fine after I put new set of (NON retread) tires on.
I swore then, I'd never even consider retreads again. Perhaps I just got a bad set, and perhaps they now make them better, I dunno. I don't intend to find out, though. Just not worth it, IMHO.
Will & Angela
2 wonderful children that love camping, Stephen & Allison
2003 Ford Excursion V10 4x4
2003 Thor Citation 33M, Hensley Arrow hitch, Brakesmart Brake Control
(wanna see? Here is a picture of it )
willald wrote: Back in college, when I didnt have much $$ and needed tires for the old Subaru, I put a set of retread tires on it. Dad told me not to, and that I'd regret buying them, but I wouldn't listen.
Well, he was right. Those tires were the WORST things I ever had! NEVER could get them balanced right, car vibrated and shook no matter how many times I had the tires balanced.
Also, car had horrible pull to the left with those tires, that could not be corrected with alignment. One day, when I took the tires off and measured them, I found out why: Each tire had a different diameter!! Don't remember specifically how much difference, but it was significant. No matter how I rotated them, car would always pull one way or the other, due to wheels/tires always having some 'stagger' to them. I *HATED* those tires, hahaha.
..Kept those miserable things for 'bout a year, before finally conceded to Dad that he was right, and got new tires put on (after just a year, tread was about gone on them anyway, LOL!) Car rode just fine after I put new set of (NON retread) tires on.
I swore then, I'd never even consider retreads again. Perhaps I just got a bad set, and perhaps they now make them better, I dunno. I don't intend to find out, though. Just not worth it, IMHO.
For some reason, Im sceptical about your post. First off, you say you bought retreads for your subaru compact car to save money, I dont know of any retreaders that made retreads in that size, especially when nationwide Pep-Boys used to be selling new tires for $19.95 a pop before the recent oil price spike.
From here, Im thinking you made the whole thing up.
Do you have any pictures? I know if I had tires that were all different sizes, thats something I would want to take a picture of, even in the old days of film cameras.
The problem with retreads, size does not matter here, is not knowing how the original owner treated the casing. If the tire was originally overlaoded/underinflated, the retreaded tire in most likelyhood will not last long.
I have seen uncapped, properly maintained tires "zipper" (tire industry term for the sidewall blowing out) with as much as 50% original tread left. So it is possible to get defective casings that haven't been capped.
Would I run recaps? Yes, but only on a gooseneck cattle, or utility type trailer. Never on an RV trailer that has a soft underbelly. And NEVER on a pick-up, or passenger vehicle.
I drove an 18 wheeler OTR for 4 years pulling a flatbed hauling steel, and never ran a recapped tire. There is enough to worry with while driving OTR. No need to add to the high blood pressure by putting "iffy" tires on the 'ole big rig.
However, I would never waste the money for new tires on trucks that see less than 95% highway. Dump trucks, loggers, cement mixers, intemodal container chassis, etc. all stand to benefit from the ecomomies of recapped tires.
A bad casing from the factory won't be capped. By the time it would be, it has quite likely already failed. The retread companies (Goodyear, Michelin, Bandag, Treadwright) have a strict selection process--Treadwright rejects more casings than they retread. Damaged casings are discarded.
I run Treadwright caps on my pickup. Liz's Jeep will get them when it needs tires. The wreckers she drives run exclusively retreads. I know several people running them now, on pickups, vans, and a motorhome. I will never use anything else. They are far and away the best tires I have ever used.
Anyone here fly commercially? You rode on caps...airlines retread tires, often multiple times.
The beople bleating about the evils of retreads are either ignorant or trying to sell tires.
I gotta agree with TroyD here, also.
John
1984 Ford B-700 school bus conversion, Thomas body
A bunch of other vehicles
3 nutty cats (Maya, Vierna, Briza)
One lazy dog (Marmaduke)
One wife (Liz)
"A wasted youth is better by far than a wise and productive old age"
-Jim Steinman
TroyD wrote: For some reason, Im sceptical about your post. First off, you say you bought retreads for your subaru compact car to save money, I dont know of any retreaders that made retreads in that size, especially when nationwide Pep-Boys used to be selling new tires for $19.95 a pop before the recent oil price spike.
From here, Im thinking you made the whole thing up.
Do you have any pictures? I know if I had tires that were all different sizes, thats something I would want to take a picture of, even in the old days of film cameras.
Nope, nothing 'made up' whatsoever. That was the honest truth of what happened. I'll never forget it, it was one of those 'embarassing' times as a young man, when I had to admit Dad was right about something, and I shoulda listened to him, haha.
The retreader was a company called Snipes Tire, in Fuquay-Varina, NC. Perhaps someone here from that area may know of the place, if they are indeed still in business? A friend of mine at the time knew the owner, and told us of the place. At the time, I was in college at UNC-Wilmington, in Wilmington, NC. And, yes, they did make retread tires for small cars, at least Snipes Tire did. And, they (retreads) were a good bit cheaper than new ones, which was why I did it. Definitely was a case of 'you get what you pay for', though.
Understand, this was back in '92, we're not talking about something recent. I understand that they probably make retreads much better today, but I had such a horrible experience back then, I probably will never try such again.
No, I never took pictures of those tires. Reason being, it would have been very difficult to get a picture to show the difference in the size of the tires. The difference was not noticeable in looking at them, but you sure noticed it in the way they made the car 'pull', and you could tell by measuring them.
Dad was actually the one that suspected there was a 'stagger' problem, after several alignment jobs would not fix the 'pulling'. He told me to take them off and measure them, which confirmed that indeed was the problem. Put new tires on it shortly after that, car handled fine from then on.
Jarlaxle wrote: The beople bleating about the evils of retreads are either ignorant or trying to sell tires.
I gotta agree with TroyD here, also.
..Then you'd be wrong also, Jarlaxle (if you agree with TroyD).
Ignorant? LOL, OK. All I can do is relate the FIRST-HAND, PERSONAL experience I had with re-treads once, and I did.
Like I said, I don't doubt that they are made better today, and that its quite possible I got a set of bad tires from a not-so-good retread dealer. All I did was relate the specific experience I had with such, just as you and many others have.
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