Retreads are not the problem

I bought an infrared temperature gun here a while back, and have been hitting all the tires with it in addition to thumping them when I'm stopped. I figure it's an easy way to tell if you've got one starting to go bad on you. I also hit the brake drums with it at the end of the day to see if I have one going out of adjustment.

 

Even with air recaps still suck. Doesn't make a difference, if the heat and load is still there----it may just prolong the enevitable-----a blow out.

OFFICIAL PROCLAIMATION:

Anyone that pushes for recaps is a loser. i mean please, there's got to be other more socially responsible ways to make money. Stop being so GD lazy.

 

Recaps SUCK!!!

When me and my uncle first started out operations he wanted to run caps to
save money which was fine with me at first.

At first we had no problem with the caps we were getting, and we were capping
our own casings. Summer time rolled around and I started getting blowouts
every #### trip out. The caps cost us downtime waiting on road service, mud
flaps, wiring that the caps would rip up as it came apart.

After awhile I finally convinced him to start running virgins and since then I can
say that I have never had one of the virgins blowout costing road service, mud
flaps and having to rewire lights and crap.

Now I will say that we seemed to have better luck with the caps on our flatbeds
compared to our drop decks.

And another thing there is a thing called "ringtreads" which is different than regular
caps. Its different because the thread is one piece put on the casing where as
the regular cap has a seam to make the thread come together and then glued to
the casing.

We had 8 ring threads for drives on one of our trucks and never had a problem with
them.

And as for as cost of caps compared to virgins we buy our tires in bulk so we may
pay 20 to 40 bucks more for the virgins. And actually we are saving money by
going with the virgins because we are not paying for road calls, mud flaps, and
other cost associated with caps.

And I say the study is bull crap, I'd say 90% of gators on the road are the effect
of caps.

 

if you only pay 20 bucks more for virgins than caps--you should be be reselling them--would make hell of a lot more than trucking
regardless--its a personal thing== i guess i am one for saving money--with a good pm program--you shouldnt have any trouble

 

The way we are able to get our virgins so cheap is that we found a
wholesale source online. Buy so many tires and the shipping was
free.

This was no problem for us as we are running 9 trucks and 16 trailers
and like to keep a stock of tires at all times.

Our guy that takes care of all tire maintenance worked out a deal with
his supplier to beat the price we were getting the virgins for just so
they could have the business and keep it in state as the others we
were getting were coming from out of state.

 

thats a good deal-- in that case i would definately run virginswhere i was last -i think it was more cost effictive to run a mix of new and caps--about 900 trucks and 2000 trailers--mind you they were cheap as hell
they actually invented copper wire--by fighting over a penny

 

FYI
For every one pound you are low on air pressure in your tire it generates an additional 7 degrees of heat!!! Caps are cooked on the casing, so that is why most cap failures are seen in the summer.

 

I've been using Michelin retreads for about 7 years. I buy new Michelin tires for my steers and I only cap my own casings... and Michelin does an excellent job of finding defects before they get retreaded.

If I send them six casings you can bet at least one will fail inspection. I have never had a retread fail that I had retreaded on my own casing. Tires fail because of heat... and heat is usually generated by low air pressure.

Look at those gators you see on the highway...if they have the steel belts sticking out from them you can be sure the entire casing failed not just the retread. Modern retreads are 'cold caps'... they do not get as much heat in the retreading process as the old 'full cap' retreads.

The last four tires I had redone cost me $780.00 for the retreads on my Michelin casings with an XDN tread pattern. Thats about 50% of the cost of a new tire. My last set of drives ran over 400,000 miles before i pulled 'em. Now they are ready for a second retread for my trailer.

 

You know when I started as an owner opperator I bought a 2000 KW W900L, it had caps on it on the drives, I also bought an airhose and put a quick connect on my air tank so I could use the hose to fill my tires. I got that and a good gage. I made it about 35,000 miles until the first cap came apart, I wound up replacing both tires in that set of duals with a good pair of used tires that had almost identical tread depth.

I then ran about another 40,000 until another cap came apart. at this point I stuck 8 brand spankin new Michelin XDN2's on it, and never had another tire issue the entire time I owned the tractor with the acception of replacing 2 sets of steers where I was also running Michelins.

The guy I started out running for loved putting caps on trailers. We put a lot of them on his trailers, and had a lot of them blow up too.

When I bought my ravens the tires on it wernt all that great, and it was a 10'6" spread, on the first trip I made with it I had a brake cam over and take out 2 tires with it. Wound up putting all new brakes on the trailer and S cams, then 2 used tires, ran those a good long time, I think about 60,000 miles before I put a brand new set all the way around on the trailer.

I was able to get about 110,000 out of the tires on the front axle on my step, and about 125 out of the rear. I never had tire issues that were the result of a tire just going pop.

I did have a couple of times that tires got tore up, like putting a piece of rebar through a side wall when delivering to a job site, or running over the end of a rail road track that was burried beneath the snow where I couldnt see it.

I dont care how many studies they do to prove that thier product isnt crap. It is still inferior in the real world and virgin tires are always going to be better.