Retread tire cost

RECAPS ON THE STEERS? I'd be out the door.

 

Yup. I questioned it because I didn't think it was legal (I have no knowledge to back that up...just what I've heard) and I was told the law changed and vehicles under a certain weight were legal to use them.

 

As far as I know recaps have always been legal on steers on trucks, just not buses. The truck that held the land speed record ran bandag caps all the way around.
I have had good luck with caps, put caps on one axle once along with virgin rubber on the other one, just to see, and the caps actually lasted longer, they were a harder rubber compound. Those michelin caps shown above are factory siped and a softer rubber compound. they are not suppose to last long on hot pavement. We do not get real hot here, no real high sustained speeds and not as hot of pavement, so I ran a set all year and they did pretty good.

 

If it’s your own truck and you drive it and monitor your tires then there really are no issues with caps that are different from virgin tires. But you do have to watch the pressure like a hawk. Low pressure is what kills them.

 

You might want to figure in the cost of mud flaps, fenders and lights.

 

I will sometimes have my casings capped, especially my steers, when I know they have never even had a flat, I will not hardly buy a cap, that I do not know the casings history though.

 

Recently replaced 8 drives with Goodyear retreads , they are higher end casings with Fuelmax retreads . Pulled some loads for JB Hunt and was able to sign up with their national tire account to get a huge discount on them and half off mounting , labor etc. I'm happy with the Tires so far , picked up mpg and the ride is smooth .

 

If you think that's bad call the boss 20 miles from the yard and inform him you've got a steer going down...60psi...I was told to air it up and "keep an eye on it" finished the week, turned the truck in said he was going to "fix it" blew on another driver 2 weeks later at about 11:30 at night 200 miles away.

Some people just don't get it. $350 for a tire and an hours worth of downtime is a lot cheaper than a truck wadded up in the ditch. Even 700-1000 depending on the brand to put a set on is better than it wadded up in the ditch.

On the recap note spend the money on a virgin same guy that told me to air up that steer ran caps in 3 months I blew 4 tires. And I checked my tires daily with a pressure gauge. I was lucky enough I didn't do much damage losing gators, but another guy had the entire right rear of a trailer cave in when one came apart about 2 weeks before I said enough was enough

 

Last Monday I had 2 tires capped.
I paid $178 for each retread on my old steer tires.
I recap my steers for the drives.
I run recaps on drive axles when I have my own casings to use.

 

Spread axle caps cost me about $185. That is on my own casing.
I have good luck with them following these rules. scrap anything over 5 years old, needs a section repair, or has already been capped. Always replace the valve stems.
That being said I still try not to run them on some applications. One is tanks with expensive full length aluminum fender - hose racks.

 

That and excessive speed with a load. Like I say, I picked up a lot of rail cans in Chicago, most all had 10x20 recaps, and most always low on pressure. Middle of the night, nobody around, no air hoses, what to do? I rigged up an air line off my trailer hoses for full tires and kept the speed to 55-60, and greatly reduced the chance of failure. Then there were the schmoes that hooked on to a wagon, never kicked the tires, go barreling by me at 70 mph loaded, with their big Cat motors and all, they never made the state line without peeling both on an axle, and there they sat waiting on a service call.