Anyone ever use retreads?

[Broncotj0]

I am looking to get a set of 31x10.5 tires for a DD and I found this site. www.treadwright.com. For $85 a pop it doesn't seem like to bad of a deal. Anyone with experience on retread tires? Thanks,

 

[jdkin01]

I personally would not run retreads on anything but maybe a farm truck. Had lots of bad experiences with them in the past. That was years ago, maybe they're better now.

 

[goblin79]

its been a few years but i ran a set on a s10 4x4 for bout a year it was my dd + i wheeled the snot out of it every day during lunch and had no prob with them

 

[73stallion]

replaced some on big trucks, then again saw a lot that had a lot of miles on them. it's a toss up, but there's been a lot of improvements on them over the years.

what kind of warranty do they offer on them?

 

[Socal Tom]

The thing to note on those tires is the load rating. They have a heavy load rating, which means they probably have a stiff sidewall. They won't air down well. If its for street use, I'd probably go for it if I didn't have the cash for something else, but I wouldn't use them on my trail rig. I tend to run in a lot of sand, so soft side walls are very important.
Tom

 

[Broncotj0]

Where I originally came up with the option of retreads was talking to a couple truckers that are in my wheeling club and they said they run them all the time on their big rigs. I thought if they run them all the time it wouldn't be a bad option for me to put 3k a summer on a set.

 

[73stallion]

but ask those truckers if it's legal to put them on the steer axle, the answer is NO

 

[Pa PITT]

I'd still rather not have to give $85.00 each but LIKE where I live in the country ..I don't see much wrong with them ... I've ran some on the back of Pick-ups that carried a pretty good load..and I've sure ran a lot on the duals on tractors .. and these had to flex .. On my tractors I only run about 15 lb's of air so they are flexing but they don't move in the sand..
.... As a farmer and plowing you learn to look at your tires over the fenders .. If your loosing 10% slippage that's too much ..your fuel mileage will drop ...So in the sand they have to be aired down on a 140 HP tractor..and the flex the side walls look like a dragster all the time..
...Now after standing up for retreads I would not want them on a truck I was driving at 70 mph daily..

 

[BobbyA]

if they are for a daily driver than I am sure that you can find some new ones for around $85. If you were here in Colo. I would hook you up for that price. Worse case scenario, and if you drive only 3k miles a year with it, would be to check craigslist if you can. Get a used set that is still in decent shape and you wouldn't pay that much for them either,

just my .02

 

[roundhouse]

You can find a decent set of used tires on CL for $350 easy.
I just bought some for my 4Runner, 285/75-16's with 80% tread left for $250

I wouldnt run recaps on a DD.
I guess the quality is better now than years ago.
A quality recap would probably be better than a new chinese tire though.

I ran recaps on my cars in the early 80;s when I was a teenager, but I had my OWN tires recapped, that way I knew the history of the casing.

Plus with a 375 HP engine I burned off the tread pretty quickly.

I've owned six 18 wheelers, and I never bought recaps, they almost always come apart.

every single truck tire tread (interstate alligator) you see on the road is a recap that came apart, and most likely caused some or a lot of damage to the rig when it blew.

 

[broncnaz]

One of my buddies back east recently told me about that very site he put some on his 4x4 dodge dually. I was kinda waiting a while to see if he had any issues. But I was thinking about getting some for my 71 which really doesnt see much hiway use.

 

[bigbadktm]

i was also thinking about those tires a while back, they had some pretty good tread patterns. for about half the price of my hankooks i could have bought 2 sets of retreads, and with a 24k mile warranty, you cant really beat em

 

[Revelation]

They work well for sanding and general shop cleanup,,,,,,, OH Wait you said RETREADS.

 

[JMP]

When you ask about the warranty, ask if they will pay for damage if the tire blows and takes your fender with it when its wrapping around hitting them...

I would not run them, not worth the risk.

 

[Fishbone]

We run them on a combination sewer cleaner (50,000+lbs) and a couple of tuck mounted conveyors (60,000+lbs) and have never had any problems. But I've never run them on my smaller vehicles.

 

[casadejohnson]

We run them at work on UPS trucks but for the most part our trucks don't see any speeds above 55MPH. Come to think of it, I'm not sure that the truck I drive will do 55 MPH. I have gone through about 5 sets on the Truck I currently drive and have never had a flat or a tread come apart but again, I'm usually going pretty slow. Would I run them on my Bronco? Probably not.

 

[wildbill]

;D ;D ;D Look on any interstate and you will see a lot of them all over the place. When I was a kid we ran them becuse it was all we could a afford ( 50-60's) They mite be ok for one that never went over 30 mph. have a good one. Bill %) ;D

 

[Dave]

I've never used them but I have had to swerve around a lot of them on the road. Hit one once that bashed in my oil pan.

The thought of having one come apart on an EB at highway speeds is a bit scarry.


edit: Bill, ya beat me to it! ;D

 

[Skiddy]

I see a lot of alligators as well on the road. my uncle used to run recaps on his motor home out in OR, when he would drive out here where it was hot he would loose tires every time.

 

[74 DEATHMACHINE]

I Bought A Set From Treadwright About Ten Years Ago ( When They Were Hi Tech Reateading ) I Drove The Crap Outta Those Tires. I Had Them On An S10 Blazer, On Road Off Road, Awesome In The Snow, And About 20,000 Miles Of Expressway Driving At 90 + Mph. They Were At's With Crushed Walnut Shells Embedded In The Tire I Highly Recommend Them. I Actually Sold The The Truck After All That Driving And Snowplowing And The Tires Still Had Tons Of Life Left. I Actually Want To Buy Another Set Butthey Arent Selling 35 S Now