JP Magazine’s review of retreads: While we’d consider their looks pretty ugly on a newer Jeep, we think the tread design fits perfectly for a resto-mod wheeler. It’s sort of an old school knobby-meets-NDT look. In truth, we were surprised to find so much performance in such an affordable package. The best part about the tires is the price. If you tear one up, you just buy another and motor on.

NOTE: I suspect I will revisit and update this post as I learn more from both readers and the internet.

I’ve been meaning to get to a post about retreaded offroad tires for a while, but really wanted to do more research on it, such as obtaining actual prices, shipping estimates, etc.

But, then Jim emailed me excited that he found retreaded tires that could be delivered to his door step at a total cost less than $400.  He said I needed to share this with readers and he is right.

I told him I already knew about the tires and was aware of sources; however, that thing called ‘time’ kept getting in the way of me posting information about it.  Also, I was about ready to purchase some retreads about which I’d planned to share with readers as a part of the post, but then Mitch made me an offer on some tires that I simply HAD to explore, so a purchase of retreads got put aside.

But, Jim’s comment made me realize it would be better to talk about what I’ve learned so far and let readers add to the discussion rather than try to figure it all out myself.  So, here it goes …..

SUMMARY

First, let me say that I have never used retreads, so I have no personal experience with them.  My summary is based on research and some feedback from readers.

• Retreaded tires are cheap, as low as $50 for an ‘offroad’ tire in some cases. Between expense and shipping, these can still be far less than new tires.
• Because these are retreads, sizes and options are usually very limited.
• A study by the Virginia Department of Transportation found that he failure rate of retreads was less than 1%.
• A 2 1/2 year study by Virginia’s State Police found that many of the treads found on the roads were from new tires, not recapped, and that underinflation of tires appears to be the number 1 cause of tire failure.
• ‘Keep your tires properly inflated’ was what I read over and over for both new and retreaded tires.
• Retreads are also environmentally friendly. Tires are basically petro-chemical products. It takes approximately 22 gallons of oil to manufacture one new truck tire. Most of the oil is found in the casing, which is reused in the retreading process. As a result, it takes only approximately 7 gallons of oil to produce a retread. (note, these 22 & 7 stats appeared in a variety of places, but I cannot attest to their accuracy)
• Retreads are not only cost effective, according to retread.org, but they are also dependable, reliable and safe. Retreads are used by truckers with scheduled delivery times, small package delivery companies with guaranteed delivery times, including the U.S. Postal Service, on commercial and military jets, by most school bus operators, taxis, and many other types of vehicles.
• According to the Federal Safety Standards developed by the United States Department of Transportation, retreaded tires can be driven at the same speeds as new tires with no loss in safety or comfort. And with proper maintenance and care, they deliver about the same mileage as new tires.
• Retreaders sell approximately 33 million retread or recapped tires annually.

OFFROAD RETREAD OPTIONS

Stone Tire (Here’s a link to a post about them)

Import Export Tire from La Trobe Pa (You can see the V-Grips on Gerald’s CJ-3B).

Treadwright: https://www.treadwright.com/

Others:

SOS Tire in Martin’s Ferry, Oh, sells the V-Grip (possibly by another name).  I have no link for the website, but a reader named Travis has purchased the tires for two of his vehicles and says they have worked great.

Check retread.org for more possible locations

RETREAD TIRES

The Tire Retread and Information Buruea at retread.org is a non-profit, member supported,  industry association dedicated to the recycling of tires through tire retreading and tire repairing. Additionally, according to the website, this association is not engaged in legislative or technical matters, which I interpret to mean they are not a lobbying body, but purely an informational resource.

According to the website, retreaded tires can “be driven at the same speeds, including highway and Interstate speeds, as new tires, with no loss in safety or comfort. Virtually all of the world’s airlines use retreads. Retreaded tires are used on school buses, racing cars, taxis, trucks, and Federal and U.S. military vehicles. These users all know that retreaded tires can be depended upon for safe and dependable performance.”

EXPERIENCES

• JP Magazine’s Review of the Tires
• The City of Santa Monica (California) has been using retreaded tires for more than 20 years. According to the City, its entire fleet, consisting of 585 vehicles, uses retreaded tires.
• The City of Davis (California) has purchased retreaded truck tires of 10R22.5 and larger since 1993. These tires are installed on the rear axle only, not the front axle. The city installs them on all city trucks including fire trucks. The city even attempted to utilize retreaded light truck tires for pickups and other small trucks, but had numerous failures due to retreading low quality tire casings. Therefore, the city no longer uses retreaded tires on light trucks.

LINKS

• State of California
• Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau
• www.epa.gov/cpg/products/retread.htm
• Stone Tire
• Import Export Tire Company
• Treadwright
• Offroad retreads in the UK
• The Great Lakes 4×4 forum has a thread about retreads

UPDATE: The website’s online purchases and inventory is offline.  It appears they are gearing up to allow users to use Major Credit Cards rather than just paypal.  Though Stone Tire calls the tires Ugly Dog, I suspect these tires are the same ones made for the Import/Export Tire Company by Comptred and called V-Grips. It appears Import/Export also sells the other two tires as well and other offroad retreads.

UPDATE (06/07/09):  I sent the company an email, asking if they could potentially make a desert dog for racing and sending them some examples.  I heard nothing back from my June 7th email.

Here’s a company out of Tennessee called StoneTire that calls itself the top resource for retread and offroad tires on the web.  Here’s three of the offroad tires they sell.

Here’s some terra tires out of Michigan.

“I have 2 like new terra tires on 15×10 Buggy rims for the big 5 bolt pattern. they are in really good shape with no dry rot always stored indoors and very little use. I bought them from a guy that said he used them twice and sold the buggy I was going to put them on and I am tired of tripping over them. $300 is what I paid and I haven’t used them so thats what I want. I will consider trades for???? shoot me trade offers.”

http://www.greatlakes4x4.com/showthread.php?t=148902

This looks like a decent price.  You can get 2 for $250 as well.

“HAVE A SET OF FOUR GOOD SHAPE WITH TUBES AND THEY NEVER LOSE AIR ON 5X51/2 BOLT PATTERN 12″ WIDE STEEL WHEELS. SELL TWO FOR $250 OR ALL 4 FOR $450 AS A SET. THEY MEASURE 31″ TALL & 15 1/2″ WIDE”

http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/pts/1397261978.html

**SOLD** Were $50.

These look in good shape with good tread.  Someone out there on the east coast was looking for these.  If they weren’t so far away, I’d snap these up.  These are the newer, old dogs.  You can tell by the outlined letters. Earlier dogs had solid letters.

“I have for sale a nice pair of Formula Desert Dog 10-15LT tires. Real good tread left, I had them on the back of my buggy and they dug nice and stayed clean. One is on a volkswagen 4 bolt rim. Asking $50 for the pair.

Too bad these aren’t 10″ wide; instead, they are only 7″ wide.

“Jeep mags 15 x 7 for the 5 x 5 1/2 bolt pattern set of four 100.00”

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/pts/1280213990.html

I’d say this is a pretty good price as I dont’ see many of these for sale.

“I have a pair of Goodyear Super Terra tires in great shape. They are 31 inches tall and 15 1/2 inches wide, they are mounted on a set of 15 inch by 5 on 5 1/2 bolt pattern steel wheels that were just powdercoated. These tires are the 4 ply version which means when the air pressuse is low the sidewalls will flex unlike the 8 ply industrial tires. These tires work great in mud or sand. These will bolt on to Jeeps, Broncos, Fords, Internationals and others that share the same bolt pattern. Thanks Robert 503-543-3644”

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/pts/1086591692.html

UPDATE:  Price dropped to $700

These look like they have not been used much.

“I have a full set of dune paddle tires. They came off of my cj5 jeep. Asking $1200 OBO. They have only been used 2-3 times, wheels are a 5-lug pattern. The wheels are painted orange to match my jeep. The tires are a 31×15.50 R15. Come as is shown in the pictures. No trades. Serious inquires only.”

http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/pts/1066289609.html