Retreads? High-tec

Anybody use these guys and experiences? The tires look pretty good overall and the prices are best for what I want. If i do 600 miles a year that will be alot, hence I don't need fancy new shoes. They had a good write up in JP mag a few months ago. Just don't want junk or bad dealings either. txs,

http://www.high-tec-retreading.com/sizes.html

 

All I know for sure is that they have been around a long time.
I've never had a set but know guys that have them and they seem to like them ok.

 

here's one:http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35355 I've read reviews elsewere and they seem to be a decent product.

 

I'd been thinking about those for my pickup. What I've read has never had anything bad to say about the Hi-Tec tires, but some folks will say bad things about retreads in general.

http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=55754&highlight=retreads
http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=50531&highlight=retreads
http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=24219&highlight=retreads

 

Was just thinking back, my bro n law had a set on his 1st Jeep. He had to pay extra to get a matched set of the side walls. It was like $5 per tire or some little small amount.
Might look into that, some folks don't care others want a matched set.

 

I ran retreads exclusively on my Scout back in high school(don't ask when THAT was). Never had a problem with them.

 

If you get them, I'd be esp. careful of tire pressures. Old carcases tend to leak, and the heat from running at low pressure may be a problem for retreads.

I had Bandag caps on my F-100 for years; wore like iron, no traction in the rain (bad for New England!).

 

I posted that review. I still love them. I didn't have to pay extra for matched sidewalls, just had to wait a little longer. I mainly wanted matched sidewalls because I was worried about balance issues. I also questioned them about slight diameter differences, but they assured me that all of them are exactly the same diameter, regardless of sidewalls. Still, I waited the extra time and got them matched.

I have only been able to test them in the goo for a short little local run, but honestly it wasn't much of a test. P-metrics could've done it. I'm taking them out later this month, though, and will report back on how they do with some tougher obstacles. They do great on the street; they ride very smooth, and are quiet other than the normal whine associated with MT tires. I have zero vibration issues.

My sidewalls are in great shape. I believe they are very selective about what sidewalls they use. Although they seem to be a smaller "good 'ol boy" operation, they also come across as being very technically proficient. Can't beat the price, either.



EDIT - One other point: I think this whole heat thing may be somewhat mythical. I'm not saying heat doesn't kill retreads, I think heat will kill any tire, but I'm sure that manufacturing processes have also changed somewhat from when this myth was started. For example, the other day it was about 90deg ambient air temp here in KS. I drove 63 miles on the highway at 65mph. When I got to my destination, this whole myth about retreads coming undone was on my conscious to the point that I immediately jumped out of the jeep and went around and checked each tire. They weren't even warm. I could press the back of my hand to each one and felt them to be cooler than the pavement they were sitting on. I'm thinking if you keep a good alignment, the heat shouldn't be that big a deal.

 

Didn't Dummy use these retreads on Hatari!? I'm pretty sure he did, and remember him having good things to say in the writeup.

 

Yeah, I did. In all I probably put about 5000 miles on them both on and off road. On road was mostly highway at 65mph in temps ranging from 110-degrees to 35-degrees. Off road was Rubicon granite and desert southwest rocky terrain.

It's all in the Jp review that should be on our web site and the tires will be included in our yearly "Burning Ring of Tire" review recap in the April issue.

To summarize so you don't have to go searching, my Jeep was too loud to notice any tire noise and too squishy to push for cornering evaluation, so I can't comment. They rode smooth on the highway with no vibration and they wore very well - almost unnoticeable wear over the 5K miles. Off road I lowered the pressure to about 8psi. Mine were on BFG AT carcasses so the sidewalls were decent but not indestructable. I put a couple tears and cuts in the tread off road, but I do with all my tires. It's only rubber, after all. The difference with the retreads was that when I cut a block you could distinctly tell there were what seemed like at least 2 layers of rubber inside each block. It's almost like the treads are a laminate of a couple rubber layers. I didn't have any separation or delamination of the tread surface, but you could tell where the retread portion met the sidewalls. There was a short (about 1/4-inch) layer you could peel back at the sidewall at the very edge of the recap. Nothing that affected performance.

Overall I liked them a lot. It was pretty cool to run a tire that inexpensive with that old school look. I wasn't expecting much in the way of performance out of them, but I was pleasantly suprised. They're definitely worth the money.

 

dad has been running retreads for years on his semi. seems now the carcasses are x-rayed to find bad ones.

 

I wouldn't want retreads on a steering axle. In the trucking world they are used on drive axles and trailers but never on a steer axle.

 

I emailed them to see if they have NDT's, but no reply yet.

 

Recaps on the steering axle in the semi world are a no no. This in no way bleeds over into the auto industry.

 

I've had to dodge several "skins" shed from semi recaps on the highway, and I've seen more than I can count on the side of the road. They're obviously from a big rig though. Maybe they're subject to more heat because of the load on them, and fail more. I've ran recap snow tires on cars in the past, and was always happy. Heck, the 55 has recaps on it right now . Of course, if I have one sepparate while I'm pushing it around my garage, I don't think it'll cause an accident .

 

The story I've heard is that most of those skins are from semi-trailer wheels that are run flat. One flat on a dual axle dual wheel rig won't always be picked up by the driver, esp. if it's on the inside.

 

Just my feelings about retreads. I run recaps on the drive axles of our tractors at work but it is 1. illegal to have them on the steer axles and 2. I woudn't want them on a steer axle. The amount of savings you might gain would be far outweighed by the saftey factor that would be lost.

 

Just ordered a set of 5 ORT Mud in 31" (one for a spare). All are BFG and are in stock. Been wanting a set ever since seeing them on Project Hatari. FYI, the price list on the web site is out of date by about two years and several different mentions magazine articles. Still not bad for a set of mud terrains and a spare.