Thinking about looking into getting the wide whites on the Caddy retreaded instead of dropping Coker price on another set, and curious if anybody has any experience with having passenger car tires done. We used to run recaps on our grain trucks and semi on the farm, but I've got no experience actually having it done to a set of tires I already own, especially radials on a car. Tire Rama has a service where they do it to your existing tires. Just wondered if anybody had done it before? https://www.tirerama.com/shop-for-tires/tire-retreading.aspx
Yeah, and we did have a couple come off on our grain trucks throughout the years. My older brother had a front come undone going 75 mph down a hill on the interstate in a fully loaded with wheat '67 Chevy Viking. But those were big bias plies, taking a massive amount of weight, and we also went through a 50 or more that were fine. I'd thought about buying some recap mudders before for my Jeeps and 4x4s, but haven't actually met or spoken to anyone that's had the deed done to a set of passenger car tires/radials. I sent an e-mail to one of the local Tire Ramas to see what the rough cost is, and see if they can even do 3" whitewalls.
Used to buy used recaps from the old Sinclair in town for $2. If they lasted a month or two I was a happy 15 year old.....in 1963.9 Went 90mph in my 54 Chrysler on them once.......and lived to tell the tale.
Had a friend lose one on the front of a 390 powered ‘61 F100 one night while running close to 100; he kept in on the road with divine intervention. They also look funny where the recap meets the sidewall. Patrick
When I was a lot younger a friend with a 57 T bird powered by a Holman Moody 427 medium riser was challenged by a local big block block Chevelle owner to a top end duel on highway #1. The Bird driver could no longer see the Chevelle in his rear view mirror when he let off. The Bird was sporting recaps. Lots of commercial aircraft use recaps. It is all about the quality of the core and the quality of the recap process.
[QUOTE="flynbuick, post: 2890511, member: 253] Lots of commercial aircraft use recaps. It is all about the quality of the core and the quality of the recap process.[/QUOTE] Actually MOST or, more likely, ALL commercial aircraft use recaps. I don’t know if the process is different with airplane tires, I would suspect it is, but in the 40 years I worked for an airline we never had a tread separate. As flynbuick said, it’s about the quality of the core and the quality of the process. It’s also about the cost of the tires. It would be incredibly expensive for the airlines to buy new tires all of the time. These tires have to deal with extreme temperatures, heavy loads, and sudden starts and stops. They have many more layers of cord than passenger tires and can land showing several different layers. My personal experience with recaps was the BelAir I had in college. I almost always ran recaps without a problem but that was a long time ago. I’ve got to go with Jason on this one, though. I know Coker isn’t exactly giving these things away but I think you’d be glad you sprung for the non-recaps.
The last one I had fail was on my very first car; was trying to make some time in the high school parking lot with this one girl from class, next thing I know is my car makes this high-pitched farting sound and starts to sink in the back end...yeah, struck out on all accounts.
I had two come apart on my tool truck on separate occasions. I will tell you that if you experience a failure you will quickly realize that trying to source obsolete sheetmetal that is destroyed by the flapping rubber will cost significantly more than buying a decent set of tires.
Back when I was young & broke , I used retreads. Only ever on the rear, never the steer. Given how cheap (in relative terms) new rubber is today I wouldn't risk it. Maybe, just maybe on a winter beater that doesn't do any real high speed work. Even then I'm out of my comfort zone.
Tires are the cheapest thing you can buy for your vehicle when you consider the amount of miles they last and the cost per mile. Doesn't matter if you paid $2 or $200 per tire . Why would you even consider buying cheap , already used tires when your safety is involved ????? My friends Step Father told him " I just put brand new General Dual 90's on your car ." We went out on the PA Turnpike with our dates in his 65 Mustang and of course did what teenagers did . Act Stupid and see how fast we could go . I was snuggled into the Left side of the rear seat cuddling my cutie when the LR tire threw the cap at 115 . I swore I would never ride in a car that had RECAPS again . I've driven trucks that threw caps off the trailer tires and never cared because it was 45 foot behind me . Just take a look at the caps from Trailers all over the road. The process to recap has never been perfected DON"T DO IT
installed alot of them at my first job, that was 25 years ago.....had alot of them come back with alot of upset ppl. I in good conscience could not put recaps on. if one fails and you live through it, odds are it will do more damage to your car than new tires cost. no one wants to spend more than we have to, but it's always cheaper to do it right the first time than to have do it twice and then fix whatever being cheap ducked up. in the end you get what you pay for in this subject ppls lifes are not worth recaps in passenger car tires, I think semis still use recaps too............but many of them are going to regroovable. the process that aircraft tires go through is must more controlled and overseen than passenger tires ever were
What about a set of Porta-a-Walls ??? The fake white walls that go between the outside of the tire and the rim ?? How many of you other " Old Timers " Remember ??? They still sell them .
They don't work with radials, unfortunately. Now, I know what everybody is talking about and tires coming apart on the old stuff and bias plies, I've experienced it too. But my question is: Has anyone had any experience with retreaded RADIALS in the last 10 years or so? Technology changes, processes change...........
I'm 70yrs old, recaps were commonly used in rural KY when I was young. All kinds of good and bad stories. But, today, with all the cracking I have seen on tires, even Michelin, I don't see how there would be good candidates for recapping. Most companies agree the tires should be throw away when they reach 10 years in age. I believe I would not be interested in recaps of normal passenger and truck tires today. I know nothing of big truck tires nor equipment or airplanes. But for me to drive my cars and trucks around I want no recaps. But I have no idea how Coker tires hold up over time nor if they are made from different materials than mass produced tires. The Coker may a good candidate for capping, call them and see what they say. Additionally, there are not many American made tires these days. Another topic to discuss some time. I would like a list of American made tires and background information on them. I know some Michelin tires sold at my local Sam's Club are made at a Uniroyal plant in North Carolina, if the dpt. manager is to be believed. He claims to have toured the plant, we had this discussion about 12 years back.
In the 60s, when I was a teen, recaps were all that we could afford to buy. They cooked these in recap machine outside under a tin roof in downtown Raleigh. The smell of burning rubber was awful so there was no cooking inside of buildings. In my minds eye I can still see the guys in heavy gloves standing around those machines The building still exists but the shed is gone.
In my opinion anyone that puts retreads on their car (even worse a classic car) needs their head examined. You don't wear out a retreaded tire, they peel off. I know it used to be unlawful to put retreads on the front of a semi tractor, sure it still is. It maybe unlawful to put on front of passenger cars too. Keith
