http://treadwright.com/default.aspx

I'm looking at a set of tires for my geo tracker, it's not really worth much, but, I do need a set of offroad tires for it. I'm selling the current set of 4 tires on it for $200. They're 205/70 r15 street tires... Too small... I have a set of 215/77 r15's too...

These are retreads, but, they're about 1/3 the price of new tires. I'm looking at a 235/75r15 goodyear wrangler. Cost? $50 EACH SHIPPED!!!

Good idea, bad idea? I'm not 100% sure on retreads, and I'll call the company and see if they'll pay for any damage caused by tread seperation (like... a roll over...) If not, I'm going to have to think about it pretty hard.

Anyone have info or experience with retreaded car tires?


Tks alot
~Nate

__________________
95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

I didn't even know you could still get retreads. My dad used them ALOT back in the 60's and 70's, and alot of my first vehicles had them in the 70's & 80's. Never had any bad luck at all with them.

__________________
past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

Same here, back in the 70's I used to buy retreads from a place called Caldwell. You could get different different compounds for drag racing or street use. Never had any problems.

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1993 300E 2.8 185k miles
2006 Mustang Convertible 4.0 Eaton Supercharged

Can't imagine retreads any more.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

I can't either, but I suppose they have their place.
I seem to remember there was 2 diff ways they made them, a hot cap and a cold cap. I recall my dad always told me to buy one over the other, but don't recall now which. Might want to do a little digging on this. Heck, they may only make them one way anymore. Hopefully it's the better way.

__________________
past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

Retreads are common for trailer tires. That is part of the reason why you see tire treads all over the road, unless you hit them first. They should have tags on them (like Taser rounds) so you can tell who left them for you.

Judging by the number of alligators I have to dodge on the highways, I would say the technology has not improved much.

__________________
Palangi

2004 C240 Wagon 203.261 Baby Benz
2008 ML320 CDI Highway Cruiser
2006 Toyota Prius, Saving the Planet @ 48 mpg
2000 F-150, Destroying the Planet @ 20 mpg



TRUMP .......... WHITEHOUSE
HILLARY .........JAILHOUSE
BERNIE .......... NUTHOUSE
0BAMA .......... OUTHOUSE

I never did retreads, but I used to buy used and really cheap new tires. I also used to have a lot of flat tires, usually from catastrophic sidewall failure or tread separation. Now I buy a little more expensive rubber and rarely have tire trouble anymore.

I'm trying to remember what I had on my Sammy before I sold it. I know they were Republics, but I can't remember the model. They had really good off-road traction and wore like iron. Last time I saw that truck, the same tires were still on it, and the girl I sold it to was using it as a daily driver.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

My understanding is that part of what keeps the recap in place is the tire pressure of the old carcass. It is glued on, but it's a press fit too, so if the carcass loses pressure and the rubber heats up, the glue fails, and kaboom, tread on the road. The circumference of the carcass increases as the pressure increases, so in a perfect world that pressure would keep the tread in place if the glue failed.

I used retreaded tires on an old VW Type 1 I drove when I was a teenager, snow tires no less, and they worked just fine. It did bug me that the carcasses were different brands, and one had been a white wall, which the retreader just painted over with some black goop.

Of course retreads are a big thing on heavy trucks, most drive wheels and trailers have recaps on them, just not steer axles as a rule. When a new tire costs $500 and a retread is $175, makes a lot of sense. I just don't see where there's enough money savings with passenger car tires to have an economic advantage to retreads.

__________________
2002 Ford ZX2
2 x 2013 Honda Civics

Did you know that most all of the tire shrapnel you see on highways were retread tires?

That shrapnel you see all over the road is from semi's with recaps, not passenger vehicles. Just a little bit more forces involved.
But hey, no one's holding a gun to your head to use 'em. I don't anymore because I don't need to. But like I said, my dad used them for probably long before I was born, and I used them for a good 10 years, with no mishaps.

__________________
past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

Retreads are pretty much used by all London Taxi drivers and those people drive! I wouldn't do more the 70mph on them but they should be fine otherwise. In my 26 years of living in the UK, I have never seen a belt come off a tire. But then again, you can get 3 points per tire if it's below the legal limit (12 points to lose your license) so people don't wear tires to the extent that they do here.

I think as long as you understand that you're wearing retreads, and drive that way, you should be good.

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With best regards

Al

Yep, I had er up to 85... Once... and that was fast enough for me on brand new tires...


Poor guy spend $300 on tires, 2 days later trans went KAPAM!!!

Anyways, I'll call them tomorrow and bs with whoevers unfortionate enough to be answering the phones. I'll report back

Tks for the input everyone
~Nate

*EDIT*The reason for me considering this is as follows
I am a cheap ass
I want oversized offroad tires
The used tires place wants $45 each for similar tires with warn down tread, and they only have two. And...
They cost $158, each, new...
*EDIT*

__________________
95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

http://treadwright.com/default.aspx

My brother in law has some of these on his landrover and they seem fine. Getting popular with the off roaders because the price is right

I'm not an attorney, but I think what you're asking is if they will cover consequential damages in the event of a tire failure. I would be extremely surprised if they would be willing to agree to this, as it really open$ the door for their liability. Remember the nightmare that Firestone had with all of those Ford Explorers that rolled over after a tire failure? No company wants to willingly suck that up.

Another point, which I think was alluded to earlier, is that while the tread on a recapped tire is consistent from tire to tire, the brand of donor tire may not be. You may wind up with three Goodyears and one Firestone tire, and these tires may not behave identically when pushed in a curve.

If you were an 80-year-old fart who wouldn't push his '94 LeSabre over 45 MPH, I would say maybe it's not such a bad idea. But for a 17-18 year-old guy who likes to press the pedal down, I'm less happy with the idea.