Anyone running recaps?

You whine alot you know that......LOL

You gonna work this week? I seen your dad out last week.

 

I actually used a circular saw to regroove some worn tires a couple years ago when I was flat broke...

 

Lol, work smarter not harder!

Yep, I worked everyday last week except thurs. Going to Ashland tomorrow then I'm getting my truck fixed. Tired of force feeding the A/C, has a leak somewhere and I've been chasing boost leaks. Found and fixed this one but apparently there's another, still 10-15psi low.

 

The only way to really tell if a cap tread is going to be better, worse, equal, whatever is to check the rolling resistance charts on that tread. Most cap treads will get a person less mpg overall compared to the very same virgin tire tread and casing. But there are some very good cap treads out there, especially from Michelin, that compete quite favorably with virgin tread. The XDA2 23 AT custom molded retread, for instance, comes in at a rolling resistance of 109. Not bad compared to a lot of virgin tread designs. I have seen several cap treads that are downright horrible rolling resistance... clear up into the 160's for rolling resistance.

From what I have seen on the charts, the Bandag recaps are generally much high rolling resistance than the Michelin recaps.

 

I know you have the twins so where does that piece go, in between them?

I thought rolling resistance was figured by the rubber compound and tread design? I figure Michelin tires would be high cause of them being a soft rubber?

ANother thing with rolling resistance, what about tire life? If the tire has a lower rolling resistance I'm gonna assume it isn't gonna last as long? I bought some Bridgestone 195's (I think) and they only lasted a year but had a lower RR. To me that isn't good.

 

Yes, in between the compressor housings.

I have to agree. Our tire salesman had some "low resistance" tires in his truck one day when he stopped by. Weren't any cheaper to buy and had 1/2 the tread depth of the normal tires. So while you MIGHT see a fraction of a mpg gain using those tires I can't see how you would ever come out on top with the decreased tire life, especially if you paying someone to change them for you and have any downtime. I could be wrong but I think you could save just as much fuel by not driving on a windy day as you would swapping tires because of the tread design.

 

The origin of caps on steers came from three things.
First, caps have not been rated for steers. So when I driver came in and got inspected with caps, they got nailed on the rating.
Second, if the rating didn’t get them then because of the additional force on the sides it took very little time to start seeing separation.
These two got people saying recaps are illegal on steers when it was other factors related to the recaps that made the tire illegal.
The third is just over the years people not being able to find a legal recap for a steer and that just built to they are illegal.
And it is likely that you could make or find one today for OTR use but can’t see that there is much call for them.

 

Marten put recaps on my company truck drives, a mixed set. Had them on bout 8 months now, all winter no com0plaints here. Summer heat is where recaps often fail. Other drivers had them longer also no complaint. A nice matched set? Yes should work just fine.

 

In today's rubber compounds the hardness and softness is not a sole determining factor on wear life and rolling resistance. This is an area that has made huge changes in the last 5-10 years. What makes this all hard to figure is tire life on a low rolling resistance tire may be better than one with higher resistance but how are we to know unless we test them or have independent and reliable labs.
When tire companies compare comparable virgins vs. retreads they will show that you get a better value with a retread compared to virgins (remember, these are the product managers for the retread group trying to sell their product). They recognize in the comparison that you loose .2 MPG and 10-15% tire life. And in the end you come out saving money.
BUT they are using retail price on the virgins, a low average MPG and what looks like 1970 prices on fuel.
In the end, Retreads are not different when making tire decisions. You have to look at your application. With retreads it seems you want your own casings, run lighter loads, are not spending long periods of time in 100+ temps and when it is you are willing to slow down and stop more frequently.

 

Bill if you only knew what me, my dad, jfaulk, and his dad did with these tires and still get good life out of them, you wouldn't believe it!

Maybe its just me, but I always seemed to get just as good if not better life out of a recap.