re: Buying recapped tires.. trashy or smart? UPDATE: added pics from today

check back when they fall apart on the interstate.

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check back when they fall apart on the interstate.

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honestly in the back of my mind on the way back from the recapper i thought if that happened i would still show up here with pics and tell y'all i'm an idiot.

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ut tires happen with TTs with same frequency regardless of the tire

Eta according to government the retreads actually hold up better than new

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I really think you're full of shite or a weak troll.

The people saying retreads are safe are the same ones selling them. You'll note not one single manufacturer of new tires recommends it. Now, I'm sure the tinfoil hat crowd will say that is part of the mass conspiracy to sell more new tires.

They are safe IF:

1) They are done by a reputable retread company; Who knows who is reputable or not? No regulation. No DOT stamp/standards/testing (like new tires). Pablo making $8/hr cash gluing a tread on some 10 yr old carcass in a shack on the side of the interstate is not quality control.

2) They are used in the proper position; Not allowed on steering tires. Why is that? I thought they were equivalent to new tires?

3) They are run at the proper pressure; Guess what in the real world people aren't checking pressure as much as they should. When run under inflated I would bet the old tire carcass with a glued on tread will fail sooner. Many retreads are cold vulcanized, not the same process as when the tire was made new.

Run what you want. It's a free country. But don't pat yourself on the back for being such a "genius" by getting your son to run retreads on his 30+ year old vehicle.

All of this, right here.

Not to mention sidewall failures.

Honestly, if OP is serious I would question if he can tell up from down...

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wouldnt trust anybody's life on refurbished tires

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I understand refurbished cell phones, computers, etc., but tires? Just to save 500 dollars every few years, how ridiculous.

Putting them on the front is asking for trouble.

If you ran them on steering tires, then you got damn lucky. They blow on a commercial vehicle and someone gets killed, you're on the hook for manslaughter.

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If you ran them on steering tires, then you got damn lucky. They blow on a commercial vehicle and someone gets killed, you're on the hook for manslaughter.

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LINK

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I mention this because a great frustration to our industry is the notion that some fleet managers still have that retreaded tires can’t be depended on for reliability. Our industry suffers from what I call the “Rodney Dangerfield” effect – We Don’t Get No Respect. However, the facts are 180 degrees different. (Rodney Dangerfield was an American comedian who used to say, “I don’t get no respect”)

The reality is that a retreaded tire produced by a top quality retreader will perform as well as a comparable new tire, and at a far lower price. For example: A top-of-the-line major brand 11R22.5 new tire is selling for approximately $450. (And new tire prices are on the rise!). That same size tire can be retreaded for less than $150, and even much less in some areas in the U.S., and the retread will often deliver the same or more mileage than the original tire. Multiply these savings by the number of tires in your fleet and we are talking real money at the end of the year. With proper tire maintenance programs, tires can often be retreaded more than once, making the savings greater


Why then does our industry have to continue to fight an uphill battle to convince non-believers that retreads really will perform and can be as trouble free as new tires? The answer is tire debris, also known as rubber on the road or road alligators. Unfortunately, we all see too much of that junk all over our highways which causes a huge headache for the retread industry.

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LINK

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Retreading tires provides the absolute lowest cost per mile of any tire management strategy. When coupled with other enhanced preventive maintenance measures, a retreaded tire can easily go half a million miles or more, all things being equal.

Matt King, president of King's Tire Service in Bluefield, W.V., a ContiLifeCycle retread dealer, says some of his over-the-road customers are averaging three to four caps in a casing life, depending on the application.

"We suggest the first cap on a name brand casing should be a drive recap, and then go to the trailer tread if the casing comes back again," he says. "Generally speaking, the casing is best used for the application it was in when it was new."

ADVERTISEMENT

Getting several retreads out of a single casing can reduce overall tire cost by something like 40%, and that should appeal to just about anyone.

If you still need convincing, consider the vastly reduced environmental consequences of using retreaded tires. According to the Tire Retread Information Bureau, it takes approximately 22 gallons of oil to manufacture one new truck tire, but only about seven gallons to produce a tread for a retreading application.

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Most people just use them on the drive tires but they are as good as new with a reputable recycler. Times have changed.

News Flash! Retreads are not the sole cause of tire debris on our highways.

Sidewall failures.


Read up on them and learn.

Retreads are for foolish people and you aren't foolish.