treadwright guard dogs

[kpredator]

retreads

the most common problem overlanding will be your tires.
we always have two spares,compressor and plugger.
also when we get home,plugs come out and tire is patched.

something I have learned it is wise to spend the money and buy quality
boots,rain suits,optics and TIRES

jm2c

kp

 

[kojackJKU]

exactly. I think treadrights are fine on a rig, you leave at your cottage, and go in the woods hunting etc. On something that sees long distance or daily driving duties....NOT A CHANCE

 

[BrutalGuyRacing]

I have been running guard dog m/ts for 2 sets and 80k
I love them
Great off road
Great in snow
I did have kedge grip
And great on road performance

 

[archmckinnon]

My experiance with Treadwright Tires

live in Houston Texas where the Treadwright plant is located. I researched tires for Two months before I made my decision on what tires to get. On most forum's they have threads about Treadwright and it seems people are devided on the quality. I found people who actualy owned them were generaly pleased with their performance. But... many people have already formed their opinion with never really trying the product. years ago I worked in a truck tire retread plant and watched haw they retreaded their tires. From inspecting and grinding the used tire casings to applying the tire tread and how they cured the final product. I am not familiar with the DOT laws concerning the steer tires now but back then(1982) the use of retread tires on the steer axles was prohibited. and for good reason. You dont ever want a steer tire to blow! You would not be able to steer out of the problem. With that knowledge I too had doubts about using them.

With the Treadwright plant less than a mile from my office I decided to give them a look. I was meet by Randy Koch, He is their director of marketing, and told of my interestes and concerns. He then proceeded to give me a tour of the plant.
It was very interesting how they prepair the casings. The way they prpaired the bandag truck retreads was to just grind down the treadwear area and apply the predeveloprd tread. then put a rack of about 10-15 tires into an oven and let them bake.

Treadwright actually ground all the rubber from bead to bead to remove any problems. during their process any problem with the casing showed up here. During their procedure they would put the casing on machines that inflated the casing to check for leaks and also test balance the casing. That impressed me.

They would then apply virgin ruber from bead to bead and layer it to the specified depth. At this point the tire resembled a large rubber doughnut. no side wall markings and no tread paterns. Ater this process they again inflated the casing and balanced to thing wityhin tolerance. if they needed any extra rubber in areas it was layred at that time. iIf it needed to muck ruber it was then scraped. from there it was sent to the molding area. where they decided what tread patern that was going to be used. once applied each tire was put into a single mold/oven where it was pressurized and cured. there must of been 20 single ovens rockin at the same time.

Once cured they were removed and inspected. any axcess rubber was trimed and cleaned. They were then deturmaned if they were first runs, blems or no sales.

I was very impresed with the quality of their process and product. I purchased 5 265/70 16 Guard Dogs and had them installed. All my tires only required minimal weight to get them balanced and ride great. both on the highway and off road.

I would not hesitate purchasing another set of Treadwrights and would recommend them to anyone who is looking for a quality tire priced right!

ofcorse thats my opinion and like they say opinions are like arsholes..........


Arch

 

[3205lpv]

I'm on my third set on 3 different vehicles. My roommate in college also had a set, as well as my brother no issues with any of them. I had a set of 285/75/16's on a 98 Tahoe that had 50,000 miles when someone ran a red light and totaled the truck. My current set of 285/75/ 16's is on a 98 K/2500 with a 7.4, not a light truck by any means, and they have close to 20,000 miles at half tread life. I've loaded an entire pallet of hardwood floors in the bed drove 3 hours at 70 mph, I have towed countless trailers on the highway for 10-12 hours with no issues what so ever. For the price I don't think they can be beat.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Well, I'm guessing that on any truck-type forum the divide between retread lovers/haters is something like religion or politics - a debate with lots of passion and opinion on both sides and nobody's going to change anyone else's mind.
.
I'm a born cheapskate and will generally try to save money wherever I can (must be my Scots heritage) but when it comes to tires my thought is to balance risk vs. reward. Seems like retreads offer a significant price premium in the larger sizes (33" and up) but from what I've seen in the 32" and below sizes the savings is not much - call it $40 - $50/tire or maybe $200 for a set. If you figure most of us can probably get 2 - 4 years out of a tire (split the difference and call it 36 months), then that $200 you're saving comes out to $5.50/month. That's really not a lot of money to "save" for the uncertainty of a remanufactured tire.
.
Then you have to look at the consequences of failure. If I buy a cheap air compressor, and it fails, then I'll have to borrow someone else's compressor, limp along until I get to a gas station with a compressor, or buy another compressor. If I buy a cheap air mattress and it fails, then I will have a few uncomfortable nights sleeping. If I buy a cheap stove and it fails, I might have to eat cold beans from a can for a couple of days.
.
But if a tire fails, I have to replace it NOW. And if I happen to be in Podunk, NV when I get a failure, what then? Limp to the nearest Highway Robbery auto shop and they'll happily sell me a single cheap tire for $350 or a complete set for $1200.
.
After seeing a fellow ExPo member go through this very scenario with a less expensive set of factory tires, where he had two catastrophic failures in the space of 3 days and had to drive 100 miles to the nearest small town to get new tires (on a holiday weekend, no less!) I decided that while I will cut corners in a lot of areas, tires aren't one of them.

 

[Kevin108]

I've always had good luck with them, but I always called and got matched casings, either Goodyear or Michelin.

Now they cover over the sidewalls as well, fully branding the tire, and you don't know what casing a given tire has.

That said, I will definitely still buy from them.

 

[mr_ed]

I had a Guard dogs on my Samurai...worked and wore great! But then that Sammy only weighed something like 2800-3000 lbs kitted out IIRC. I think the weight of the vehicle you're running them on is going to really play into how well they hold up.

When I was researching them it seemed the only people who had actual bad experiences with Treadwrights (as opposed to folks who just didn't like the idea of retreads) were clowns who said "oh but semis run them" and put them on 1 ton trucks and towed 20k pound 5th wheels through the desert at 80 mph. No wonder they failed. There's a reason it's illegal for big rigs to run retreads on singles...

I'm not sure if I'd run em on my Montero though...it's closer to 5k and can cruise waaaay faster than the Samurai haha.

Also, I'd heard somewhere (on here I think) recently that something changed in the Treadwright company and that their quality control has gone down. Don't know if that's true or rumor...someone else would have to weigh in on that...

 

[Sabre]

I have no personal experience with Treadwrights, but there are a few things to consider.

They're made and sold in the United States, the most lawsuit-happy nation on earth. Our litigious culture makes it necessary for any company selling a product to be financially responsible for ANY sort of adverse outcomes associated with the use of said product. Treadwright would have gone out of business years and years ago if they made a shoddy product.

Further, the interwebs will reveal 10 tales of woe for every success story when asking about ANY product. People love to talk about their problems with purchased goods, but only rarely take the time to spread the word about products that do a good job for them. For example, the online stories would lead you to believe that kids are dropping dead left and right as a result of childhood immunizations, when in fact virtually all of them have positive, even life-saving outcomes, as a result of vaccination.

If you're in doubt, why not just call the company up and ask them what their failure rate is? Search various .gov websites to research recalls or safety concerns. Query legal databases for civil suits against the company. What would you find if you did all that? I'm guessing (only guessing, mind you) that you'd end up finding that they're a really good deal on some nice tires. YMMV.

 

[mr_ed]

I'd run em again in a heartbeat on a lightweight, low speed rig like a Samurai, I just personally wouldn't feel comfy running the Monty with em


Sent while on the toilet using Tapatalk

 

[IdaSHO]

From all the reviews Ive read, it seems like regardless of tread pattern, Treadright tires wear FAST

Id be real interested to see an actual cost per mile of life vs a good name brand BFG or Toyo

 

[summerprophet]

Treadwright's don't make any financial sense to me. Let's take a look at the cost breakdown between retreads and virgin tires in a popular size, 265/75r16.

TR wardens shipped to my door would be $552. Mounting and balancing would be $100. Expected lifespan is 25k miles.
Initial investment = $652
Cost/mile =$0.026

Cheap Kumho all terrains from tirerack would be $578. Mount and balance would be $100. I have not run these tires, so let's say the lifespan is also 25k miles.
Initial investment = $678
Cost/ mile = $0.027 (that's one extra penny for ten miles of driving)

BFG AT from tire rack would be $878. Mount and balance $100. Lifespan is 35k miles.
Initial investment = $978
Cost/mile= $0.028 (or two extra pennies per ten miles of driving)

Now if you compare to the local tire shops, of course the prices are going to be much more expensive, but treadwright is an online supplier, so we are comparing apples to apples. And as far as service, I have heard no complaints about tirerack.

Now failure rates. I am sure most of us have had tires fail in some fashion over the course of our driving career. Out of round, separations, unbalancable...... I have rarely seen the images of completely delaminated tires in the numbers you see in write ups on treadwrights. If and when retreads go out, they do so with gusto!

I spoke to big rig driver on the subject of retreads and this what he explained to me. As a professional driver he does not BUY retreads. Buying retreads means you have an unknown tire of unknown age, and unknown internal damage, with no knowledge of the rubber laying in the sun oxidizing or vulcanizing. He would NEVER do that. It is an unknown risk to himself as a driver, a risk to the (insurabile value of) a quarter million dollars in cargo, and a risk to other drivers on the road.
What he does do is sends his virgin tires in to BE retread. He knows the age of the tires, to condition of the tires, and knows how long the turnaround time is, so no chance of them being age cracking in the sun somewhere.

Now when it comes to my personal experience with tires, I have cheaper out on tires a couple times. I buy used when my vehicles are on their last legs, or when a Craigslist deal falls into my lap. Still name brand tires, and haven't really been burned yet on these deals.
Now, when I was short on cash, and desperately needed new rubber, I was talked into cheap "American" brand tires. Tire guy said, same quality as cooper, and come out of the same factory. I bought them. They sucked. most notably was how bad they cornered, like riding on jelly donuts. And I was stuck with them for the next 2.5 years! Buying tires to save money means you are stuck with your choice for a long time.

My tire experience
BFGoodrich. Their popularity is justified.
Goodyear. Lots of people swear by them, particularly the kevlars, I had 3 out of 4 seperate at 15000km's and swore I would never buy them again
Michelin. In my opinion, the best and longest lasting tires made are the LTX
Hankook. Have a set of winter I-pike with 40000 on them (likely their last season)
Bridgestone. Blizzaks are the top shelf winter car tires.
Dunlop. Stock tires on tundra, 4Runner, and mazda3 none were Particulalry good, but that might be OEM specs. Never bought a set.
Toyo. Have their mt's on my 4Runner, heavy and difficult to balance. Good tires to about half tread, then continued rebalancing as the tire wears.

 

[mr_ed]

That's a good run-down. ^


Sent while on the toilet using Tapatalk

 

[IdaSHO]

I agree

Although Im surprised to here the less than stellar review of the Toyo

Im my experience (with AT not MT) they are some of the roundest, most easy to balance tire out there.

 

[jpop8807]

Confused

Not sure where this 25k mileage thing came from maybe I read it wrong. I purchased a set of Guard Dogs in 255/75r17 from them last year for the 2011 Tacoma TRD that I had. I put 20,000 miles on them, and they still looked brand new. The shipping was incredibly fast, they balanced better then my friends KM2's I believe I got them for around 500ish shipped. They were load range E so kinda heavy, but I beat the **** out of them, and never had any issues. I also used to go to Laredo (5 hours worth of driving for me) every other weekend on them. They are loud as hell, but even at 75, and up I never had an issue. You even get a warranty on them, and everything. They said the only thing they will not cover is issues due to airing down under 10psi I believe is what it said. All in all if you want a cheap off road tire, they are probably priced the best. Even 4wheel magazine did an article on them I believe, trust me i researched the **** out of it before buying as I too have never purchased retread before.