When your budget is tight or you just don’t what to spend a lot of money on tires for your old tired car or truck you might look at the discounts available on Retread or Remanufactured tires.
In some situations a Retread can be a good deal but for many of us it is best we steer away from them.
Retreads have been used on Tractor Trailers for a number of years. The reason being is that the number of miles put on commercial vehicles wears down the tread of the tire faster then the body.
When retreads are made the manufacture takes into account a few different cost and safety factors.
- Will the buyer be willing to purchase a used tire and what will the cost difference be.
- Are there enough repairable tires available to meet the demand.
- How many more miles can be placed on a Retread tire before it is dangerous to drive on.
- What type of service will the retread tire be placed in.
There are basically two different types of retread tires.
The first is when a tire in the manufacturing process ends up with a defect tread. At that point the manufacturer has the option of selling the tire for retread or retreading the tire at their plant.
The second type of retread tire is when a customer brings their tires to a service center and they are exchanged for already processed retreaded tires. Often the service center will process the tires at their location.
When a manufacturer retreads a tire it can be of any size for any model of vehicle. When a third party service center retreads a tire they usually have a customer in mind before they begin offering the service.
Third Party Retread companies mainly deal with large tires for over the road tractor trailers or in some cases Heavy Equipment. These large tires can cost thousands of dollars depending on the application and more often then not the sidewall and body of the tire is still in usable condition.
On Tractor Trailers the tires are used on the Trailer not on the cab. Cabs will have fresh tires and the rear tires which are usually four to an axle may or may not have a retread. On rear axles if a single tire was to blow out there is a high probability that no accident would occur.
You may also see a number of off road vehicles with retreads. Off road tires used for rock climbing and other applications can cost a lot of money but in most instances if there is a problem with a tire the occupant will not be at great risk.
Retreads for Passenger Vehicles
As said before there are times when a manufacturer will try to save a bad tire on its assembly line and in doing so they will retread the tire. Hopefully in all cases the tire is marked and sold as a retread tire. Most transportation authorities will require this branding to be included on the sidewall of the tire.
In this case the full warranty of the tire may be included and a discount provided to the customer.
Unfortunately although these tires may go through more testing then the average tire that comes off the assembly line they really are not worth the peace of mind you will lose by purchasing them.
Consider this fact that if a tire on your vehicle was to have a tread failure or if the tire sidewall was to burst you could be met with a much more sever situation then a common puncture.
You will most likely lose control of your vehicle and if you are at high speeds on a highway the result could be loss of life.
When you hear that Retreads have been used for many years in many applications you must realize that they are either off road or placed on vehicles that have a backup tire directly supporting the side of the axle where the tire is mounted.
Some people may say retreads are a great deal but for your own safety spend the extra money and purchase a new set of tires that have at least 2 years worth of wear depending on your driving habits.
This means if you drive 20,000 miles a year you need a tire that is rated at least at 40,000 miles before it needs to be replace but preferably you would want to purchase a tire with a higher rating to extend your use and reduce your overall cost.