Treadwright - 235/80R17 - Winter Kedge

[Sleepeyes]

In recent years I'm becoming more eco-conscious. I was interested in the idea of remolded tires as the process is a bit more extensive than just retreading, and overall I could get tires that have an overall smaller carbon footprint. Held off for a long time due to mixed reviews, and it frankly being just as cheap to buy whatever the cheapest Load Range E "el cheapo" Chinese AT tire (or whatever the cheapest Chinese studdable winter Load Range E is). What tipped me to finaly taking the chance on Treadwright was a 7% off discount code on a FB ad, and a couple of beers.

My stock tire size was 245/70/R17, but Treadwright doesn't carry that size. Closest options to my size were a 265 and the 235. I opted for the 235 with the kedge (bits of walnut and glass in the rubber compound) because I was buying tires to replace my winter tires (they were approaching racing slick status, the studs were lost LONG ago), and figured the smaller treadwidth would be better than the wider.

Just picked up my truck from the mechanic. I plan on using this thread to chart my experiences. As I said, Treadwright has mixed reviews, people either seem to absolutely love them, or they seem to absolutely hate them, with no reviews that are in between. I'm want this all to be unbiased as possible, so if they end up being terrible, I will be honest about it, and if they end up being at least as good as cheap Chinese tires, I will be honest about it. Frankly I'm not exactly expecting BFGs or Yokohamas here.

Pictures are related. Never seen wheel weights distributed quite like this, but I also didn't notice any unusual vibrations on the trip home. Real test on that will be tomorrow morning on the interstate.

Next post will be at ~500 miles. I have a super long commute (~1.75-2hrs, one way, 4x a week), so it will only be a couple of days.

 

[nwjones18]

Be curious how they work out for you. That one tire did take a ton of weight to balance out..

 

[hemitom]

that one tire has a lot of weights on it,
I don't know man but four hours a day commute !
i would not cheap out on tires , keep us posted maybe there are a better value ??

 

[UG_Passat]

Never had a Green Diamond remolded tire take a lot of weight to balance.

I do miss them, with their carbide impregnated tread for grip on packed snow and ice

Interesting that TreadWright doesn't claim the walnut shells (and glass) are used to bite into the snow and ice, like Toyo does with their crushed walnut shells

 

[02SE]

Well, I wish you luck. Covering an old, worn casing of indeterminate age and condition (that was never intended to retreaded) in new rubber, doesn't give you a new tire. I've known of several cases of these blowing with no warning, and disastrous results. I might consider them for low-speed off-road use only. But I can think of decent Chinese tires (like Sailun) I'd buy first.

 

[Bird's_Garage]

I hope you like the Treadwrights and I hope they do well for you. I have only heard bad things about them. I've seen the "new tread" separate from the old tire carcass more than once. That was a few years ago though, so maybe they've gotten better. The high amount of weight to balance seems to be common and I'm surprised only one tire needed a lot of weight.

 

[CKN]

Treadwrights reviews are more negative than good. Yes-I can think of at least three Chinese tires (or other country of origin) that get decent reviews over the OP's choice.

Glad he won't be on the road anywhere near me.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I'm on my 3rd set of retread tires on my Jeep. First set was fine, the Jeep outgrew them so I gave them to a friend to run on his dually. Second set worked great but I took out a sidewall one one of them and decided to go bigger. On my 3rd set now.

The second set I never balanced. Mounted on the wheels and never had a problem. Weird stuff.

Anytime someone in a truck runs a tire low, it's going to throw the tread off. Doesn't matter if it's a brand new tire or a recap. Common misconception. Treadwrights are popular with the dudebro crowd who do stupid stuff and have tons of problems with regular tires.

My truck is due for tires next year. But given it's state, it's getting the cheapest tires I can get for it. Not treadwright since they have been going up in price.

 

[userfriendly]

I'm on my 3rd set of retread tires on my Jeep. First set was fine, the Jeep outgrew them so I gave them to a friend to run on his dually. Second set worked great but I took out a sidewall one one of them and decided to go bigger. On my 3rd set now.

The second set I never balanced. Mounted on the wheels and never had a problem. Weird stuff.

Anytime someone in a truck runs a tire low, it's going to throw the tread off. Doesn't matter if it's a brand new tire or a recap. Common misconception. Treadwrights are popular with the dudebro crowd who do stupid stuff and have tons of problems with regular tires.

My truck is due for tires next year. But given it's state, it's getting the cheapest tires I can get for it. Not treadwright since they have been going up in price.

I guess that makes me a DudeBro. The week and year of the tire build is on the sidewall. I will recap a 5 year old 3-ply side wall tough tire with bandag's BDRW directional snow tread and go anywhere on or off road. Unfortunatly no one makes steel case tires in 18's and 20's for LTs.

www.bandag.com

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Do they do 16s? That would interest me for my truck

 

[Sleepeyes]

Did ~200miles today. No unusual vibrations on the highway. Had her up to 75mph on the highway. Weirdest thing for me was driving on tires that weren't borderline bald. Was refreshing.

Be curious how they work out for you. That one tire did take a ton of weight to balance out..

They apear to be balanced. The weights DO seem like a lot on that one back tire, but the rule of thumb I learned is that the weights are OK until they exceed 1% of the total tire/wheel assembly weight. I bet if I did the math out I wouldn't even be close.

that one tire has a lot of weights on it,
I don't know man but four hours a day commute !
i would not cheap out on tires , keep us posted maybe there are a better value ??

See above for the wheel weights.
Truck is really getting up there in mileage, and value to me isn't just a simple cost/benefit analysis. A big part of the appeal for me is the recycling.

Never had a Green Diamond remolded tire take a lot of weight to balance.

I do miss them, with their carbide impregnated tread for grip on packed snow and ice

Interesting that TreadWright doesn't claim the walnut shells (and glass) are used to bite into the snow and ice, like Toyo does with their crushed walnut shells

Never had a Green Diamond remold. They are still around (at least the website is), but they seem to be unobtainum. See above concerning the weights.

Well, I wish you luck. Covering an old, worn casing of indeterminate age and condition (that was never intended to retreaded) in new rubber, doesn't give you a new tire. I've known of several cases of these blowing with no warning, and disastrous results. I might consider them for low-speed off-road use only. But I can think of decent Chinese tires (like Sailun) I'd buy first.

Please keep the FUD-ing to a minimum. Do you have documentation of these blowouts you claim to have seen?
Do you have evidence that the blowouts were not due to a road hazard, or user error (such as improper inflation pressures, or overloading)?

Most tire issues are the result of under inflation and overloading of the tire. Even brand new BFGs can blowout if the user is a dofus about things. THAT IS NOT TO SAY that manufacture error could not be to blame (think Firestone in the early 90s), but given how common owner caused tire issues are, you can't just default to it being the manufacture without evidence that the issue was due strictly to a manufacture issue.

Treadwrights reviews are more negative than good. Yes-I can think of at least three Chinese tires (or other country of origin) that get decent reviews over the OP's choice.

Glad he won't be on the road anywhere near me.

Again, please keep the FUD-ing to a minimum. Have you actually read the negative reviews?

I have, and many seem to be an owner issue, such as:
Airing down the tires for extreme off-roading (any tire can fail unexpectedly after doing this)
Inflation issues, both too high and too low
Trying to claim something caused by a road hazard as a manufacture defect so that they can get a free replacement, when they didn't purchase the road hazard warranty
Not following the warranty instructions when trying to make a warranty claim
Leaving a bad review, even when they have never actually purchased a tire, just because they claim they know someone who knew someone who had an issue with a retread back in the 50s
etc.

The legitimate ones I found on BBB seemed to addressed by Treadwright, though admittedly a common complaint was getting in touch with them was difficult. I personally did not have that problem, but it seems to be common that getting a manager on the phone is difficult (though not impossible).

I'm on my 3rd set of retread tires on my Jeep. First set was fine, the Jeep outgrew them so I gave them to a friend to run on his dually. Second set worked great but I took out a sidewall one one of them and decided to go bigger. On my 3rd set now.

The second set I never balanced. Mounted on the wheels and never had a problem. Weird stuff.

Anytime someone in a truck runs a tire low, it's going to throw the tread off. Doesn't matter if it's a brand new tire or a recap. Common misconception. Treadwrights are popular with the dudebro crowd who do stupid stuff and have tons of problems with regular tires.

My truck is due for tires next year. But given it's state, it's getting the cheapest tires I can get for it. Not treadwright since they have been going up in price.

Hopefully I don't catch the "dudebro" cooties from the Treadwrights. I like using my truck for actual truck stuff.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

I guess that makes me a DudeBro. The week and year of the tire build is on the sidewall. I will recap a 5 year old 3-ply side wall tough tire with bandag's BDRW directional snow tread and go anywhere on or off road. Unfortunately no one makes steel case tires in 18's and 20's for LTs.

www.bandag.com

Interesting. How common are retreads and remolds, outside of commercial vehicles, in Canadaland?

 

[userfriendly]

Do they do 16s? That would interest me for my truck

Yep. I had about 12 285/75/16s and 4 of 265/75/16s done by Kal Tire. 210 mm tread on the 285s. Maybe N speed rated at best.

 

[jonlandrum]

Did ~200miles today. No unusual vibrations on the highway. Had her up to 75mph on the highway. Weirdest thing for me was driving on tires that weren't borderline bald. Was refreshing.


They apear to be balanced. The weights DO seem like a lot on that one back tire, but the rule of thumb I learned is that the weights are OK until they exceed 1% of the total tire/wheel assembly weight. I bet if I did the math out I wouldn't even be close.


See above for the wheel weights.
Truck is really getting up there in mileage, and value to me isn't just a simple cost/benefit analysis. A big part of the appeal for me is the recycling.


Never had a Green Diamond remold. They are still around (at least the website is), but they seem to be unobtainum. See above concerning the weights.


Please keep the FUD-ing to a minimum. Do you have documentation of these blowouts you claim to have seen?
Do you have evidence that the blowouts were not due to a road hazard, or user error (such as improper inflation pressures, or overloading)?

Most tire issues are the result of under inflation and overloading of the tire. Even brand new BFGs can blowout if the user is a dofus about things. THAT IS NOT TO SAY that manufacture error could not be to blame (think Firestone in the early 90s), but given how common owner caused tire issues are, you can't just default to it being the manufacture without evidence that the issue was due strictly to a manufacture issue.


Again, please keep the FUD-ing to a minimum. Have you actually read the negative reviews?

I have, and many seem to be an owner issue, such as:
Airing down the tires for extreme off-roading (any tire can fail unexpectedly after doing this)
Inflation issues, both too high and too low
Trying to claim something caused by a road hazard as a manufacture defect so that they can get a free replacement, when they didn't purchase the road hazard warranty
Not following the warranty instructions when trying to make a warranty claim
Leaving a bad review, even when they have never actually purchased a tire, just because they claim they know someone who knew someone who had an issue with a retread back in the 50s
etc.

The legitimate ones I found on BBB seemed to addressed by Treadwright, though admittedly a common complaint was getting in touch with them was difficult. I personally did not have that problem, but it seems to be common that getting a manager on the phone is difficult (though not impossible).


Hopefully I don't catch the "dudebro" cooties from the Treadwrights. I like using my truck for actual truck stuff.

Thank you for sharing your experience.


Interesting. How common are retreads and remolds, outside of commercial vehicles, in Canadaland?

Very much this. I don't have the article on me, but a commercial truck publication I used to read cited research where physically inspecting OTR truck tire scraps on highways revealed they were almost all from virgin rubber tires, not recaps. Yet a lot of truck drivers spout these same "statistics" as above, with nothing to back it up.

 

[02SE]

Please keep the FUD-ing to a minimum. Do you have documentation of these blowouts you claim to have seen?
Do you have evidence that the blowouts were not due to a road hazard, or user error (such as improper inflation pressures, or overloading)?

Most tire issues are the result of under inflation and overloading of the tire. Even brand new BFGs can blowout if the user is a dofus about things. THAT IS NOT TO SAY that manufacture error could not be to blame (think Firestone in the early 90s), but given how common owner caused tire issues are, you can't just default to it being the manufacture without evidence that the issue was due strictly to a manufacture issue.

Former master tech.

I'm only referring to ones I've personally seen, or ones my mechanic friends have seen. All were properly inflated. None had blowouts due to foreign objects. Just an old casing that had new rubber applied over it, and the mystery casing failed.

Unlike large truck tires which are designed for recapping, regrooving, etc., passenger car and light truck tires are not.

I could link to numerous failures posted on the web, but I won't because those weren't my personal experience, or those of experienced friends whom I trust.

I'll just wish you luck that you got some decent casings.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Be curious how they work out for you. That one tire did take a ton of weight to balance out..

I wonder if flipping it on the wheel might work. (Honestly...I wonder if it might be a bent wheel.)

Well, I wish you luck. Covering an old, worn casing of indeterminate age and condition (that was never intended to retreaded) in new rubber, doesn't give you a new tire. I've known of several cases of these blowing with no warning, and disastrous results. I might consider them for low-speed off-road use only. But I can think of decent Chinese tires (like Sailun) I'd buy first.

I have run at least six sets (plus many on wreckers) with no issue, including running right at both maximum axle weights plowing snow. No issues. My wife has Treadwrights on her Blazer now. (Third set, IIRC.)

 

[Jarlaxle]

Very much this. I don't have the article on me, but a commercial truck publication I used to read cited research where physically inspecting OTR truck tire scraps on highways revealed they were almost all from virgin rubber tires, not recaps. Yet a lot of truck drivers spout these same "statistics" as above, with nothing to back it up.

Easy check: if the debris has steel wires in it, it is PROBABLY not a recap. (Only Michelin caps have steel in them, the much more common Goodyear and Bandag do not.)

 

[spk2000]

I owned a set of Treadwright Guard Dogs on my Montero. These were excellent tires. Put nearly 60,000 miles on them after other tires were only going 20,000. Very noisy on highway. Very good in the mud. Just changed them out last year for a set of Cooper Discoverer AT. Tried them yesterday in a muddy field and almost got stuck. The Guard Dogs were way better in mud. Also had them on several long trips at high speed on hot summer highways. A friend of mine was on his 3rd set and had nothing but praise for them with long life on his Jeep. No complaints from me and yes I will likely buy them again but have noticed their prices are rising to nearly what you can get new. Wait for a sale around holidays.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I will also note there have been a few occasions where I have had an air compressor failure leaving the trails so I ran them home on the highway at 15PSI.

 

[Sleepeyes]

~550 mile report

No issues, no unusual vibrations. Honestly less noise than the KO2 tires my Forest (I'm a forester for the USFS) puts on the FS vehicles.

 

[jonlandrum]

I'm a forester for the USFS

That's a childhood dream come true right there