New tires or Recaps?

caps arn't all bad but new are better. if my trailers matched my tractor id run new on the tractor and when i wore the drives out id re-cap my casings to trailer tires.

 

take care of caps. keep em pumped up. specially in the summer. they'll last as long as virgins.

the problem, is finding good caps.

another problem. is slashed tires. slash a virgin your out more money then a cap.

 

I can save around $2,000 capping my drive casings that I've maintained since new. Michelin caps are going on there when it's time. See no sense in paying $2,000 more for virgins. Have had great success with Goodyear caps on the trailer. Take care of them and you'll never have trouble.

 

I have run 2 sets of caps recently, yeah you can save some money, but the tread depth is less than virgins & I realized I am changing them with 2/32 on some, 6/32 on others..
Last set I am about to change, I normally get 3000000 on a set of xda energys.
These recaps I am getting 150000 before having to change them.
i have noticed on both sets even though I keep tire pressure at 110 all the time I am getting so weird wear & notice a vibration from the drives that was not there with my last set of drives...

 

12oz bag of Counteract beads in each of your drive tires will likely cure this....an imbalance problem will cause cupping and weird wear patterns as an imbalanced wheel oscillates, (rhythmic vibration). Counteract beads, or Equal powder, dynamically balance the tire while it's rolling, and they keep readjusting as the tire wears, constantly redistributing themselves inside the tire....

 

The problem with caps is they de-laminate if they get hot, whereas new tires won't....

New tires are made with the tread and sidewall rubber compound encasing the steel belts, the tread and the sidewall casing are one, while caps have the tread glued onto the old rubber casing.

When a cap comes apart it usually does significant damage, ripping off the mudflap and twisting the hangar up under the trailer, on the tractor wiping out mudflaps, flap hangars, half or quarter fenders, cutting air bags...

I like buying new tires, but that's just me.

 

Nothing like the feeling of all brand new tires on your ride! And when you take care them, they will take care of you!

 

if running recapps. then you need to know which tread design to buy. high way tread or local dump truck tread. plus you will want to purchase a set of cats eyes. they get you another 30% to 40% more life out of tires. plus you have one valve to air up 2 tire up with. and they make blow outs pretty much a thing of the past. once you get use to the cats eyes. and you check with a tread depth gauge. you beable to decide weather there is another 10k of life in the tires before replacement when the tread gets low. this is what i advice.

if you look around. you can find recapp tires for as low as $150 each new. once you get started in recapps. some of the manufactures or tire shop will do trade outs with you for a very low cost. this is why you want to install cats eyes for a tire pressure monitor system.

 

I myself have been using a local company for years now..I have what they call a ''tire bank''.They have there own Recap shop..I just took all my 10 drives off and sent them out and my new caps came in..

This was 1,800 plus 20.00 a tire for mounting and dismounting..I have 2,000 invested in a good bandag called ''Mega Trex''...

My steers were 610.00 but i got them for 381.00 through L/S LCAPP Program...20.00 for mount and dismount...

Grand Total was 2,802 out the door TAX FREE...

Now i have my old 12 tires being recapped at the recap shop...So next go around i will have to pay 2160.00 for 12 new mega trex CAPS...