Outlawing recaps

I use only caps on my 48 ft flatbed (spread axle) and if you pay attention to correct tire pressure as you should be doing and quit running over curbs, cars, light poles, etc you will have no problems with them at all. Yes they are allowed on steer tires although that isnt my personal preference as I have a good tire that I use there and watch its pressure also as you will lose any tire due to incorrect tire pressures.

 

Exactly! Keep them inflated, only cap your own casings, only use good reputable tire shops and you won't have any trouble. Just like super singles they're not for everyone or every operation but most trucks can use them problem free. If you burn through tires fast you can cap a good casing 3 times before it's too old, $220 for 2 trailer caps vs the $900 I just paid for 2 virgins adds up pretty quick. If you choose not to run caps fine, but to say something as ignorant as "they should be outlawed" is amazing.

 

Exactly! I use Les schwab out here on the west coast and only cap my own casings. Its the best dang deal running as who wants to keep buying virgins for a trailer, waste of money if you ask me. I buy virgin drive tires and rotate them into caps for the trailer. Its nice to keep a spare on the truck

 

I suppose having virgin tires would have kept the woman in sherman tx. from backing her bale spear through the sidewall of my drive tire.
Would it have prevented that 3/4 inch bolt from going through the tread & out the sidewall?
The answer is no.
Recaps are a viable alternative for my needs.
The trailer tire i blew last week was a virgin tire with 75 pct. tread.

 

Drivers running on low air pressure tires should be outlawed.

Oh! Wait! That's part of a pre-trip!

 

Virtually all those gators are from virgin tires.
All tires are made in the same manner. A tread is vulcanized tothe casing. Both recap and virgin.
When a tire overheats, (usually from low pressure), it will lose it's bonding of the tread and a gator is born.
Sorry you were so mis informed.

 

Better let all those mega fleets know.
They really should do some research in to cost per mile.
While at it let the airlines know they are not saving by capping their air craft tires.
May be these mega fleets and airlines are just making so much money they want to spend more.

Seriously JR that statement is really way off.
Specifics dictate what is most economic and safety is not an issue if casings and procedure is good.
They are not popular because they cost more in the long run.
There is a place for virgin and a place for caps.

 

Yup, all tires are made in the same manor AND any 'gators' w/ steel belts sticking out [most of the ones I see] are NOT recaps. Recaps are applied onto the portion of the carcas with the steel belts imbeded in it.

Unequal tire pressure between two dual tires makes those 'zipper' failures because the tire with more air is overloaded and overflexing the sidewalls making the steel belts fail.

 

According to the NHTSA findings in the Commercial Medium Tire Debris Study. The study found in its analysis of tire fragments and casings collected that the proportion of tire debris from retread tires and original equipment (OE) tires is similar to the estimated proportion of retread and OE tires in service. The study results suggest that the majority of tire debris collected is not a result of manufacturing/process deficiencies for either virgin tires or recaps. They found that the major culprits of failure for Virgin and recapped tires were #1 Road hazard and # 2 improper tire maintenance. Both of the major failure reasons are at least to some degree driver solvable.

A quote from the study.

"10.4 Overall Study Conclusions"

The analysis of tire fragments and casings collected in this study has found that the proportion of tire debris from retread tires and OE tires is similar to the estimated proportion of retread and OE tires in service. Indeed, the OE versus retread proportions of the collected tire debris broadly correlated
with accepted industry expectations. Additionally, there was no evidence to suggest that the proportion of tire fragments/shreds from retread tires was overrepresented in the debris items collected.

Examination of tire fragments and tire casings (where the OE or retread status was known) found that road hazard was the most common cause of tire failure, at 38 percent and 36 percent respectively. The analysis of tire casings found maintenance and operational issues accounted for
32 percent of the failures while over-defection accounted for 16 percent. Analysis of tire fragments found that excessive heat was evident in 30 percent of the samples examined. These results suggest that the majority of tire debris found on the Nation’s highways is not a result of
manufacturing/process deficiencies. Similar findings are corroborated in earlier studies of tire debris.