Recap or uesd tires

heck the other day i went to love's for their tire check/pass...5 minutes deal and 10$. Worth it, considering my lazy ###.

 

I recap my own casings with open shoulder drives for winter ❄️ use only....

Never had a problem with them ....

 

When I first started driving a truck a man was telling me a story about a gator he run over breaking off his brake chambers. I thought he meant he had been in Florida somewhere and run over an alligator, and of course I could not believe that animal like that can cause such a damage. Maybe it can, I don't know. lol

 

I have! Steer tire took out the hood bumper and fuel tank. Uncommon yes.

 

Last week

 

Most of the issues I've personally seen with caps is seperating. Never really seen any casing issues.

 

Well that came out after the wrong post but OK, a short tire lesson to follow.
Tires deteriorate with time and they are all dated. The DOT # tells the week and year the tire was made. It used to be the last three. 317 could have been made the 31st week of 1987. I do not remember what year it changed but 3107 would have been made the 31st week of 2007. Most major companies will not cap a tire that is over 5 years old.
A major I once worked for plugged and patched nail holes. They said the plug was to keep moisture away from the steel belts and the patch was to repair the leak due to leaks with plugs sometimes.
A different company bought new drives, then had them capped and ran them on trailers. If there were not enough casings bought new tires.
I feel the last two paragraphs are close to the most economical way to operate.
If you are looking at a used or recap tire on the road look at the date. Then roll it around and look at the inside. A small patch is normally a nail hole repair and the ones in recaps are normally a bit larger, nothing wrong with that. When they are larger that is a section repair. The larger the more extensive the damage was and the higher the risk is.
A tire that has been ran low on air can be the most dangerous. This can cause the side walls to overheat. At the same time the steel cords are flexing back and forth more than normal. Those two combine to cause the steel cords to start breaking. If you every here a tire start sounding like Rice Crispies with milk while inflating leave.
Everytime a tire is capped is should be stamped near the original DOT #. The last 4 numbers are also the week and year it was capped.
Hope that helps people make better decisions.

 

You xray them. After x-ray they will have a little green logo embedded in the sidewall. I've had good luck with recapping my own drives. But I watch my air pressure.

 

Little off topic... I have only had 2 blowouts so far one steer one trailer... July will be 2 years... I feel like I am lucky... Or are they not as common as people make them out to be?

 

Bandag capped my older drives. But said they wouldn't warranty the casing.