I just did the unthinkable

[kellymoe]

After months of looking for some cheap used tires I ended up buying retreads from a company called www.high-tec-retreading.com 4 tires delivered to my door for $290.
Here is a pic of the tire I bought. Did some research on the company and read several truck forums and decided to bight the bullet and go for it.

[JBurt]

You gotta let us know how they hold up. I hope they do well, cause cheap, excuse me - inexpensive, tires are great

[kellymoe]

My last set was a used set of BFG All Terrains and they held up fine for 2 years. I just dont have the money to spend on brand new tires anymore. The rubber is supposed to be a bit softer than BFG rubber so it should do well on the rocks, nice and grippy. I will keep you informed as to how they handle.

[WCURoverD90]

Those tires look good...I would think they would last about as long as the used BFG's you had on before

[Hans]

I keep thinking of trying "green diamonds", a few people I know have used them and swear by them.

-Hans

[Sergeant_V]

What kind of impact would the "green diamonds" have on rock grip?

[WCURoverD90]

What exactly are "green diamonds".....


Never mind....I actually checked the link

[Hans]

On rock? Good question! I was more thinking about how my current michelins were sliding all over the place last winter. Might actually be a help on rock too, if they are as good as claimed.

-Hans

[Davis]

I will probably try them (green diamonds) on AT tires for my daily driver disco--I will need to get tires probably in October, and have been "toying" with the idea of using the 35" muds for the D90--the prices are quite nice and if the rubber is a little softer/stickier, even better. I still need to research the whole retread thing for myself before I do, though.

What has me most worried about these tires is that, although truckers use them alot, I see peeled treads on the freeway all the time. For a trucker, you lose the skin and you have 17 wheels left. Me, I lose one on road, and I am going to roll, possibly die. And you see these "alligators" (what we call those tire skins) all the time on freeways. I would say, if you drive 50 miles, you will see at least one. What do you all think?

[souza]

I looked at the retread idea a few years back when I had a disco, for an off road only tire. The research I found, and it was most likely biased but I couldn't find anything to refute it, was that retreads aren't the cause of 'road alligators' any more than regular tires. They claim it all comes down to air pressue: poorly inflated tires will break down and disintegrate when heated under load regardless of the construction of the tire.

check out www.retread.org for all the info you'd ever want on retread tires. Of course since that site supports the retreading industry, you wouldn't expect it to be very negative on retreads :) My feeling is that they aren't any more dangerous than regular tires. We should all be checking out tire pressures regularly no matter what.

[Rod Hayward]

FWIW, We run a few commercial trucks -all have retread drive and/or trailer tires. They nearly all wear to legal limits, or suffer sidewall damage, and are replaced before we have tread separation. Steer tires are always replaced with new(not recap).

[Davis]

That is all good info. I am sure there are other retread companies to also consider for large off road tires--does anyone know who they may be?

[Mike Hippert]

I have seen some in the more generic off road mags. I once tested and autoclave (the thing that the tires go into that heats and pressurizes the tire). At the same time they showed me how they can patch a 2' hole in the sidewall on a truch tire! Makes you wonder.

[kellymoe]

We run retreads on our fire trucks and engines, yes there is a differance between fire trucks and engines :) We run retreads on all but the steering and tiller axles. I have never in my 17 years on the department heard of a retread coming apart. We have over 200 heavy vehicles driven daily throughout the city and driven hard under emergency conditions. We do take extremly good care of the tires and check the pressure daily. They are changed when tread depth reaches 2/32". I will let you know how mine work when I get them.

BTW I am almost done with my power window install on the 130. I will take some pics and do a short write up.

Kevin

[kellymoe]

Got my tires over the weekend. They look pretty good. The only bummer is that they used Big-O Mud and Snow carcases. I was hoping for BFG. I have a few friends that swear by Big-O so I hope they do well. I will post some pictures when I get them mounted.

[kellymoe]

Here are a few pics of the tires on the truck. Initial impression is very positive :)

[jefhuf]

Wanted to revive this thread on retread tires as I am considering a set to be used for wheeling. Doing some research I came across this site: http://www.treadwright.com/ and looks like they have a pretty good product. Has anyone used these? Any long term feedback on running retread tires? Side note, I have a set of BFG AT's that I will continue using for daily driving so the retreads will only see to/from the trail duty on the highway

[woldd90]

Holy thread revival!

[Rugbier]

My biggest fear with retreads off road is what could happen when you air down and the preassure inflicted on the wal where the retread takes place, sounds to me like a recipe for disaster

[Roving Beetle]

The "new" link is the same company first linked to - new name.

LOTS of people have used these and very very few complaints overall. They seem to do very well aired down and the process they use is really closer to a new tire than an old style "retread" that is glued on. My understanding is that they actually fuse it on via heat etc so really it's not any different than a new tire to speak of.

[jefhuf]

The "new" link is the same company first linked to - new name.

LOTS of people have used these and very very few complaints overall. They seem to do very well aired down and the process they use is really closer to a new tire than an old style "retread" that is glued on. My understanding is that they actually fuse it on via heat etc so really it's not any different than a new tire to speak of.

I read about their process on the site and agree that it seemed that these were a little more high tech than your average retread. I have a hard time dropping $1K for a set of tires I won't use every day when these are half the price (assuming they'll do the job!)

[Roving Beetle]

I have only run one set of them a few years back and they were excellent. I tend to forget about them.... but I would CERTAINLY use them for a truck that didn't get used every day or was a trail rig.

I know when you call you can request matching casings (which they always try and have 4 matching if possible) and often have several you can choose from - Michelin, BFG, etc.

[grnthng]

Guys! I just want to make you aware that retreads are not a good idea on smaller light duty vehicles because they have not invested any test time on this tire recycling technology. They are proven on commercial truck tire and they still blow up!
However this is not to be confused with REMOULDS... in which the new thread is moulded around the old casing ( no seam ) and put into a high heat oven melting the new rubber to the old rubber. Not glueing a thread cap to a ifee casing!
Remoulds are European technology and the two major players are Insa Turbos ( which are used in the Dakar and other rallies ) and the other is Fedimas.
You see these on all the Euro Land Rovers.... and they are also half the price of new.

Maybe somebody else can elaborate on why they are not catching on here in the states, cough... cough!

I just realized by rereading one of RovingBeetle's post and he's got it right they Fuse the new rubber to the old!

Anyway, the key word is Remoulds!

I also want to say, I'm not shooting down the rethreads.... like the others in this thread said, you can't take them for granted because they are trusted by everybody! I drive for UPS with there big trucks and have not had one blow!

Give it another 6-8 yrs and we will be useing this technology here!