Wondering what peoples views are on purchasing retread tires. Has anyone had any experience with retread on Excursions? currently looking at "Treadwright" their reviews are good but as being new to a truck this heavy is there any drawbacks

 

You may want to check with DOT. They may have a different view.

 

I know many people have ridden recaps with no problems. I also know I see a LOT of tread carcasses on the road from rigs that run recaps and lose them.

I see it this way...recaps are acceptable for rigs - hell, losing one of 18 wheels may not be life threatening.

If I have my friends/family in my 4 wheel truck and I lose one, I only have 3 left to get me off the road safely.

My personal philosophy...Until I stop seeing retread carcasses on the road, I won't trust the lives of my friends/family to them. That's just my $.02.

...let the war begin!

 

I use to be in the recap business years ago. Most carcasses on the road are NOT recaps, they are complete belt separations from trucks whose drivers don't properly check inflation of tires like they are required to do. Just like your real skin that gets a blister a tire can blister when overheated and lose it's tread and blow out.

Any recap you run on an excursion should meet the same specs as an OEM requirement as to weight handling. That means the underlying carcass of the tire is equivalent to an 8-10 ply rating.

I looked at the tire site you mentioned and my question immediately is why opt for a $132 recap when you can buy an $185 new BFG from Sears of all places? If the price difference were perhaps a savings of 50% then it might make sense, but not for savings of only 25%.

Back when recap shops were all over the place you'd take your old set in and get them capped, saving you the price of the carcasses. That also reminds me, the shelf-life of the tires themselves is already reduced because the carcass is older than the cap on top of it. In my case, I've gotten 100,000 out of my BFGs with normal driving, I think I can pay 185/ea to get that kind of performance.

 

I've got TreadWright tires on my Dodge 2500 Diesel.

It's their "Sentinel" all terrain tread on Good Year commercial carcasses, load range E.

I had them on 2 weeks and about 200 miles when pieces about the size of my palm came off of one tire. Sent them pics and they had another tire out to me immediately. Great company to work with in that they're responsive to communication and stand behind their product.


The tires themselves were well constructed. They balanced out without too much weight. They wear well; I've got about 15k miles on them with varying loads, empty, loaded, and towing.

I wouldn't hesitate to get another set of tires from them.

 

Factor in shipping/installation/balancing, I don't get it. Plus if you get a blowout on the road you couldn't possibly find a match.

 

18 wheelers can NOT run retread tires on the steering axles, not sure about other tires on the tractor.

As was already posted, saving 25% (maybe) on something as critical as tires for something of questionable quality/safety/longevity isn't something I am interested in.

Buying a parachute, having lasik surgery or brain surgery "on sale" doesn't seem like a great way to save my money, but you can make your own choices.

 

Well, actually the treadwright tires have the same tread pattern on some of them as a BFG AT.

When it comes to mud tires, I would absolutely buy the treadwrights, but with all terrains, it's a bit of a different story. The mud tires new are generally $200 or more each, you save some.

I have a set of 235/85/16 mud tires from treadwright on my F350, which the IDI died in. Two years of use and they still have good tread. Not terribly noisy for a mud tire either. The Trailmark AP tires on my Ex make as much noise. And have crap for traction in snow. I hate those tires.

The road gators people see have sidewall attached, which means the truckers are being lazy and not checking their air pressures, and even when they do, a lot of them just thunk the tire with a bar and call it good based on sound.

I might add, federal fleets have been using retreads since at least 2006.

Edited to add: Since people posted while I did, I would like to add that there is no law or regulation prohibiting retread use on steer tires, except for busses. What happened there is litigation mitigation, and the common practice is to run new steer tires, then retread them and put them in a drive position when they're worn out. By doing so, they remove one source of liability.

 

Is it worth saving $20-30 a tire?

Go to your local tire shop and say,"tire shop guy, I'm going to get some retreads and can you put them on, because this place smells like rubber."

See what they say and you might just get a deal!

 

$20-$30 a tire is not correct. Comparing 265/75/16 tires, stock size for most excursions, and load range E, best price I've found for a BFG is $190, while a comparable treadwright, with the old BFG AT tread pattern is $124, that's delivered, the $190 is not. That's a $66 difference, which amounts to $264 for a set. I wont factor in shipping for the BFGs, because I imagine you can find that price locally.

So, saving almost $300 on a set is not exactly your $20-30 figure.

Where it really starts making a difference is mud tires. Choosing say, a Firestone Destination MT vs the treadwright, which have a similarish tread pattern, and the Destination is $215 per and the Treadwright is $130 delivered. That's a difference of $85 per tire or $340 for a set. The treadwrights have the same tread pattern as the old goodyear wrangler Mt/rs.

If you're like me, that's a big difference. I actually mount and balance my own tires with a set of tire irons, a high lift jack and dynabeads, so I save on installation too.

 

Sorry, given the way tire rubber ages with exposure to UV and other elements, I would never put a retread on my family truckster.

On a dedicated off-road wheeler? No problem. I expect those to get damaged, punctured and blow, usually at low speed.

70mph on the I-5 going over the grapevine with my kids on the way to Disneyland? Not gonna happen. I watched a Yukon XL rollover from a tire blowout on the highway a year ago and it was one of the most horrible accidents I've ever witnessed and I've been road racing since the early 90's. I'm going to spend whatever it takes to give my family a little extra safety.

 

Only buses are prohibited from running retreads on steer axles. I wouldn't do it on a big rig, but it's legal.

 

That is crazy for the difference
Now I know that they even put in crushed walnuts for ice traction
I say try a set and do a review on what it may be or may not be comparably

Are you going for a Mud Tire? The Firestone Fierce are supposed to be great. There are a few friends that plow with them and have great wear

Good luck with your search and let us know what you come up with.
Go for the retreads and see what happens for what you can or can't do

 

I'm not the OP, and I actually have a set of the crawler MTs from treadwright on my now dead f350. The traction was great on my F350. They are a little cupped from me forgetting to rotate, but other than that, no missing chunks or anything like that. I would guess that F350 weighed pretty close to what my Ex weighs, the F350 being a crew cab, long bed, diesel, 4x4.

These are the tires I have: https://www.treadwright.com/individu...235-85R16.00-E

I ran those tires for two years, and I think I'm about to put them on my Ex. These trailmark APs are weather cracked and the traction sucks.

I think it should be mentioned that treadwright sells reMOLD tires, not recapped or retreaded. Retread tires have pre made tread sections glued to the old carcass and are then baked. Remold tires actually have new rubber baked and pressure molded to the old carcass.

Here's a thread from some website with videos showing the different processes.

Understanding Retread vs. Remolded Tires

 

No they don't, they are dot approved and have an impeccable record..................you can't peck at it.