Tire scam: regrooved passenger tires

[LeeH]

I've bought used tires before and actually had a good experience. This will make me think twice about that in the future.

Investigation reveals 'regrooved' passenger tires are hitting the road.

[slodave]

That's why I run slicks... Don't even bother with the grooves.

[masraum]

As far as I'm concerned, the most important thing on the car is the tires. If the tires are crap, the car won't stop, accelerate or handle well and can't be relied upon to keep me and my family out of trouble.

I don't buy used tires, and I wouldn't buy a tire with an 80,000 mile warranty. I want grip, and lots of it, in every car.

[nota]

pure stock racers use shaved tyres to cut weight and tread squirm

a good quality used tyre is worn to about the same point
just stick with major brands and newer dated ones

you can see tool marks on the recut groves

[cashflyer]

Some tires are designed to be regroovable.
Not usually passenger tires, though, afaik.

[manbridge 74]

Ever heard of retreads? Illegal for passenger cars in US I think, but there are guys here who buy up worn tires and replace the entire outer casing. Then sell them to Canada/Europe.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by masraum

As far as I'm concerned, the most important thing on the car is the tires. If the tires are crap, the car won't stop, accelerate or handle well and can't be relied upon to keep me and my family out of trouble.

I don't buy used tires, and I wouldn't buy a tire with an 80,000 mile warranty. I want grip, and lots of it, in every car.

^^^THIS!
I read somewhere that race cars are built around the tires.
My wife had a tire blow out... duffus are the tire store threw some cheap a$$ no name on as a replacement... I demanded my wife take the car back immediately and get the exact replacement... I NEVER demand anything from my wife so she was adequately freaked out enough (that I was freaking out) to take the car back and request the exact tire to match the other three.

[oldE]

Poor reporting.
Reading that article, one might be lead to believe that truck tires are regrooved in the same fashion.
The reality is tires are shaved to the underlying structure and new tread belts are vulcanized in place.

Best
Les

[Chocaholic]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

^^^THIS!
I demanded my wife take the car back immediately and get the exact replacement...

Wow...nice guy. I would have probably thanked her for taking care of it and taken it back myself. Perhaps you were traveling.

[Evans, Marv]

Retreads (recaps) were commonplace decades ago. My father sold them for a period of time. Nobody thought much of it. As a kid, it was interesting to see how they did it. They would grind the tread area down with rotating spiked cylinders, apply a new tread belt around the outside (as Les said), and put them in metal forms with a tread pattern to be heated up and vulcanized to the carcass. Nobody thought much about it then. I imagine now they would fall far behind the technology of tires today. I don't blame you for insisting on her taking it back to be replaced with an original. Though it would have been OK to take it back yourself, having her take it back might cause her to be more aware - learn something & be more thoughtful next time the same type of situation pops up.

[legion]

My grandfather always told me that retreads on semis were responsible for most of the tire debris on interstates. I've always thought that they were MUCH more prone to failure.

[oldE]

In your Grandfather's day, that may have been true.
Today the vulcanizing procedure to attach the new tread to the shaved carcass is exactly that used to make the tire in the first place. The tread is not made in the vulcanizing chamber, but is molded into the outer rubber belt which is adhered to the carcass of the tire.
I worked for a dairy for 25 years. We ran recaps on the rear wheels of our fleet almost exclusively. We never had a failure. Granted we did not do a lot of high speed sustained running. The thing that causes delamination of the tread from the carcass is heat. That always comes from either overloading or under pressure.

Best
Les

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

Wow...nice guy. I would have probably thanked her for taking care of it and taken it back myself. Perhaps you were traveling.

She was in Oregon and I was in California... when I gave her the car I showed the Americas tire warranty that specified FREE replacement of the exact tire for road hazards. Because I was a 900 miles away she forgot and took the car to her tire guy at Charles Schwab (not a bad place) and of course they didn't have the replacement (a very common KUMHO) and charged her for the tire.

And yes they have Americas tire stores in Portland.

So I guess I was being a dick by wanting her to have four matching tires in a city that is famous for having wet roads.

[Por_sha911]

Recaps are commonplace on 18 wheelers ONLY on the rears or on the trailer. The fronts are always top of the line new tires. They do come apart (hence, strips of tread on the roadway) but the danger is minimal since the rears are dual wheels and there is another tire to carry the load for a short distance.

[EarlyPorsche]

Regrooving a tire that is not intended to be regrooved is straight negligence and fraud. The definition of regrooving is not being followed - this is deception. I just hope these guys are shut down before any accidents.

Now I did briefly consider Hi Tech Retreads (I believe Treadwright now) for my project truck 4x4. So I googled "hi tech retread fail" and decided I'll get any new tire made in a non-chinese factory over those things.

[Mark Henry]

Originally Posted by manbridge 74

Ever heard of retreads? Illegal for passenger cars in US I think, but there are guys here who buy up worn tires and replace the entire outer casing. Then sell them to Canada/Europe.

Ya ...OK

Might want to think harder

[legion]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

Recaps are commonplace on 18 wheelers ONLY on the rears or on the trailer. The fronts are always top of the line new tires. They do come apart (hence, strips of tread on the roadway) but the danger is minimal since the rears are dual wheels and there is another tire to carry the load for a short distance.

They are very dangerous to other drivers. I had one come off right in front of me. It took out the air dam on my truck.

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by oldE

Poor reporting.
Reading that article, one might be lead to believe that truck tires are regrooved in the same fashion.
The reality is tires are shaved to the underlying structure and new tread belts are vulcanized in place.

Best
Les

Some truck tires are designed to be regroovable.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

She was in Oregon and I was in California... when I gave her the car I showed the Americas tire warranty that specified FREE replacement of the exact tire for road hazards. Because I was a 900 miles away she forgot and took the car to her tire guy at Charles Schwab (not a bad place) and of course they didn't have the replacement (a very common KUMHO) and charged her for the tire.

And yes they have Americas tire stores in Portland.

So I guess I was being a dick by wanting her to have four matching tires in a city that is famous for having wet roads.

Les Schwab, not Charles Schwab. Still a decent place.

[DanielDudley]

Nobody thinks you are a dick. It's just another Schwab story...