Make Recap Tires Illegal

Both retreads and virgin tires can blow out. The culprit, more often than not, is improper tire pressure.

The solution is obvious. We should ban tires.

(As an alternative, we could take better care of the equipment. Like checking tire pressure with an actual pressure gauge instead of just beating it with a tire thumper. But that would make too much sense.)

 

Just my 2 cents here, but aren't tire caps just like any other industry? Some good ones and some bad ones?

 

Exactly, We haven't blown a cap in YEARS because we use a good shop who is very selective on the casings they'll do. On the rare occasion I have a casing come back that didn't pass due to damage or older than 3 years I scrap it. We used to sell them to local farmers but they took them to another shop who would cap anything that was black and round and they would explode.

On a side note I've blow 2 tires within 2 weeks both VIRGIN BF Goodrich. One was a drive tire, the other was on a trailer. Funny thing was when the trailer tire went it was being pulled by a tractor WITH CAPPED drive tires hauling 85k net at almost 80deg. The tire that exploded was less than 6 months old and was a complete set of 8. I love the argument of junk caps when people point out all the debris on the side of the road. But when you ask them if the caps they saw had steel belts in them they always say yes. Then you point out that caps don't have steel belts it was the casing that let go they look dumbfounded. Maybe we're just lucky but we buy the tires new, we always have our own casings capped. I know where they came from, what application they were used in and their age. I don't buy other peoples casings. I'm not paying 300+ for a new tire when I can cap the ones I have for about $110 each sometimes 3 times before it's done. Don't give me weight, speed or heat as an excuse, 80k lbs at 70mph at 95deg is the same regardless of what state you live in. Most problems can usually be traced back to faulty workmanship, air pressure or previous casing damage. (that should have been caught by the tire shop)

 

Fellas, lets stop the propaganda... Blown tires comes from bad maintenance. poor tire pressure excessive speed out of line un balanced and dog-legging trailers. Stop the hype There is nothing wrong with recaps if you take care of the equipment they are attached to..
Good tires can go bad.

 

If you check the date of the last post, they stopped the propaganda a year ago.

 

LOL...old thread brought back to life!!
Anybody know if Schneider is still using "all position" tires, that have been "harvested" from trailers as steers? Read a few threads about it...here, and on pumpkin driver...seems kinda crazy...the abuse that trailer tires get, and the thinner casings too...
I guess they might EEK out a few tenths MPG by running tires with less tread on the front (and delay buying more REAL steer tires)...but now that the price of fuel has dropped, and the economy is doing better, have they returned back to "best practices?".

Anybody know if the Canadian "REMOULDS" are better...they seem to look like a new tire, but reuse the casing..and they do something to the sidewalls too....
Obviously a tire must be well cared for to survive....and if you know the casings history, and re-cap your own, you are more likely going to have a good experience. IF the casing has been abused..overheated, curbed, etc...we all know the outcome!!

My experience with re-caps are pretty poor...In aviation that is.. my company refused to use them for years...and sold the casings to be re-capped. They decided to try them...and in the first 6 months, the $$ we lost in lost productivity, and expenses cost far more that we saved...so we went back to virgins. When we had heavy loads, and long taxi's, we would have separations, and bubbles form.
I was with a feeder type of cargo company, not like the airlines that have spare parts and tires EVERYWHERE they land (we had to send a mechanic out with a tire, often on a second plane, or in a truck for a 6 hr drive EACH way sometimes)....if they blow one...they don't care, they just toss a new one on...heck they don't use them for long...BUT their QUALITY IS CLOSELY MONITORED, but failures are still significantly higher than virgins.

 

Running total of blown tires:

Recaps (which I run on my drives, and Prime puts on the trailers) - 0
Virgins - 6

I keep an eye on the pressure of the recaps like a hawk, and I've never had a problem. I've only had to replace one before the tread was worn out, and that was due to a bolt coming thru the tire and into the sidewall. At a cost of $370 for a virgin tire and $175 for a recap with the same tread pattern and 3/32 less tread, the choice is easy for me.

 

Except for those company drivers that understand it is their life that equipment is protecting. Other than that you are correct.

 

Maybe you need to keep a better eye on your virgins
0 virgins blowouts
0 recaps blowouts(cause I dont use'em)

 

I run all CAPS on my truck. I know its dump truck so i don't go for 100s of miles at time to build up alot of heat. But i had overall good luck with CAPS. I use only my casings and i only get them Capped one time. Make sure you use a good cap too like bandag etc. Check your air often and you should have little trouble with caps.