Make Recap Tires Illegal

never seen a recap blow at 130 psi either.and as far as trailers when was the last time you say them allign the tandums so the trailer wasn't dog legging down the road.

 

before i moved up here there was a local tire co.that used to do a good recap.but steers i like michelin.

 

I only ever had one blow out in the 3 years I was driving and that was a virgin casing.

The desert heat will roast any tire, virgin or recap. If you're doing 75 mph out here in the desert, you're at the tires max speed and that's going to generate a lot of heat.

 

A good recap can be almost as good as a new tire. The problem isn't the recap it's who did the recap and how many times has the carcase been caped? in 14 years I'v only blown 1 tire it was a cap but that's a pretty good record. Also if you do your inspections right you will catch a low tire before it comes apart. In my experience most the time when you see a Gator it came off a tire that was running down the road flat. Now a true blown tire doesn't usually peel the tread.
We have somewhere around 100 trucks running ryder recaps and have OUTSTANDING results with them. they are all first time retreads and I don't think we have blown but one or two in near 8 months. And we run mobile medical equipment around town with spread axles and 20k on each axle. and no dump valves so we are very hard on tires.
I had a flat one time and had to buy a retred at a truckstop. That tire was on it's 6 or 7th capping!!! Do you have any idea how many miles tha is on the carcase?? These outfits are the problem with recaps

 

Our instructor said that the reason recaps blow is because drivers do not check or maintain their pressures causing them to blow. He says if a tire is properly inflated you can run in the dead of summer in the desert, with no problems.

 

The US DOT is satisfied with the recap industry enough to let them police themselves. So you'll have a few fly by night scam artists mixed in with good quality recappers. I read somewhere that most tire manufacturers recommend a maximum of 2-3 recaps for long haul high speed tires before the casing should be discarded. However a tire used in a local low speed fleet, like garbage hauling might be able to get in 4 or 5 retreads before the casing is worn out. A long haul tire on a 7th recap is definitely playing with fire!

Contrary to popular belief, recapped tires are used in Europe. In fact, the Italian government has come out strongly in favor of recaps as a way to reduce waste and Italy is renowned for it's tight control of it's trucking industry. The difference in Europe is that the ECE, which is their version of the DOT, tightly regulates the industry.

I think some states, like California, more closely monitor tire recappers based there than other states.

 

With recaps, don't know, 4 1/2 years OTR.