Jerry Ward
Adventurer
Does anyone have experience with TreadWright tires? The price sure is enticing. Thanks in advance...
Treadwright tires?
- Thread starter Jerry Ward
- Start date
Bamacountryboy
Observer
I had a set of there old retreads before they started doing the bead to bead . They were 33x12.50x15 , I had them on a 1988 YJ. I never had a problem with them . My brother in law has a new set of them in 35's and seems to love them .
rayra
Expedition Leader
From anecdotes I've read, their quality seems to have gone down after the sold / relocated the business. Loss of trained workers? but that was a few years ago, not really sure what their condition is today. I considered them myself but ultimately decided I didn't want them on my daily driver. I wouldn't mind having them on a weekender or trailered off-road vehicle.
IdaSHO
IDACAMPER
Questionable quality, and poor tread life.
Id much prefer to sink my hard earned money into tires that I can trust.
I looked into them years ago, but when you actually calc cost per mile of tread life, you don't save much, if any.
Even their website states the poor tread life due to the type of rubber used.
Id much prefer to sink my hard earned money into tires that I can trust.
I looked into them years ago, but when you actually calc cost per mile of tread life, you don't save much, if any.
Even their website states the poor tread life due to the type of rubber used.
Martinjmpr
Wiffleball Batter
You know, the great thing about the internet is that you can find whatever answer you want. If you want someone to tell you that retreads are the greatest thing out there and that only suckers buy new tires, you can find someone to tell you that.
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I'll confess to being a card-carrying cheapskate (or at least I would be except I'm too cheap to actually carry a card!
) But there are some areas where I won't cut corners because the potential danger outweighs the potential benefit. Tires are one of those areas.
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IMO if you want to save money on tires, get a cheaper major brand of new tire. That is, if you don't want to pay top dollar for BFG AT KOs or Goodyear Duratracs, get something less expensive (I went with the Falken Wildpeak AT3W, ~$200 less than BFGs when I bought them and they have been very nice so far.)
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If I owned a ranch or mountain property and had a vehicle that spent most of its time on the ranch I would be tempted to run retreads just because the consequences of failure would be minor. But on a vehicle that will see thousands of highway miles, usually with my family in it, it's just not worth the risk to me.
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But as I said above, if what you really want is for someone to tell you that Treadwrights are awesome and perfectly safe, I'll bet you can find someone to tell you that.
.
I'll confess to being a card-carrying cheapskate (or at least I would be except I'm too cheap to actually carry a card!
) But there are some areas where I won't cut corners because the potential danger outweighs the potential benefit. Tires are one of those areas. .
IMO if you want to save money on tires, get a cheaper major brand of new tire. That is, if you don't want to pay top dollar for BFG AT KOs or Goodyear Duratracs, get something less expensive (I went with the Falken Wildpeak AT3W, ~$200 less than BFGs when I bought them and they have been very nice so far.)
.
If I owned a ranch or mountain property and had a vehicle that spent most of its time on the ranch I would be tempted to run retreads just because the consequences of failure would be minor. But on a vehicle that will see thousands of highway miles, usually with my family in it, it's just not worth the risk to me.
.
But as I said above, if what you really want is for someone to tell you that Treadwrights are awesome and perfectly safe, I'll bet you can find someone to tell you that.
Jerry Ward
Adventurer
Thanks for the info folks! I had my doubts and have read mixed reviews myself, so it's good to hear from end users that have actual experience with them rather than unfounded opinions based on hearsay. Take care...
paranoid56
Adventurer
have ran a few sets and never had a issue. I ran the mud tires and i want to say they would last around 15k with hard driving. (no mud tire lasts over 20k for me)
would buy them again if they had a size i wanted.
would buy them again if they had a size i wanted.
Kmrtnsn
Explorer
Exactly. With some careful shopping you can get a better quality NEW tire for near, if not the same price.
It appears that people who are running these tires on lightweight vehicles usually don't have too much trouble as they tend to end up using a relatively stout tire relative to their vehicles weight.
Those who are using these with heavy rigs seem to be the ones with most of the issues. However, if a tire is load rated E then the buyer should expect it to behave like an E rated tire.
Those who are using these with heavy rigs seem to be the ones with most of the issues. However, if a tire is load rated E then the buyer should expect it to behave like an E rated tire.
rayra
Expedition Leader
Yes, that fits what I've read as well. The failures are on big trucks.
seconding everything Martin said, same reasoning. I'm cheap and I'm only 1/4 Scots. Just bought another set of 265/70-17 Yokohama Geolanders, for our Tahoe. All four out the door for $650. Newer variant (G015) than the Geos I put on my Suburban 2-1/2yrs ago. They've been working great for me in my light SoCal on and offroad use. ~12k mi and mine still look near new.
I was always a BFG man, 20yrs plus putting 31x10.50x15 BFG ATs on my pickups. $140-150 is my pain threshhold I guess. Once they rose sharply above that I quit. Good tires, did everythign I asked of them, but their price rose too much.
seconding everything Martin said, same reasoning. I'm cheap and I'm only 1/4 Scots. Just bought another set of 265/70-17 Yokohama Geolanders, for our Tahoe. All four out the door for $650. Newer variant (G015) than the Geos I put on my Suburban 2-1/2yrs ago. They've been working great for me in my light SoCal on and offroad use. ~12k mi and mine still look near new.
I was always a BFG man, 20yrs plus putting 31x10.50x15 BFG ATs on my pickups. $140-150 is my pain threshhold I guess. Once they rose sharply above that I quit. Good tires, did everythign I asked of them, but their price rose too much.
RubiconGeoff
Adventurer
I ran the 315/70R17 Guard Dogs (molded to BFG A/T KO casings) for a few years on my JK and I really liked them. The Kedge Grip (glass particles and walnut shells) aren't a gimmick - they work great in snow country. I had zero problems with the tires, from daily driving to rockcrawling the Rubicon to prerunning desert 2-tracks. My biggest gripe was that the tires are rather noisy, primarily because they do not have a variable pitch tread pattern like modern M/T & A/T tires do. Frequent rotations help, but even brand new they are surprisingly noisy.
Now that their price has gone way up with the company's new ownership, I did not buy a 2nd set. With the Tread Lightly membership discounts from Cooper Tires and Discount Tire, I was able to get a set of Cooper Discoverer ST-MAXX for an incredible price. Although I miss the Treadwright's Kedge Grip, these Coopers are better in every way. So yes, the Treadwrights aren't the deal they used to be; I loved mine, but at this point in time I would recommend looking elsewhere for a better deal on a brand-new set of tires.
Now that their price has gone way up with the company's new ownership, I did not buy a 2nd set. With the Tread Lightly membership discounts from Cooper Tires and Discount Tire, I was able to get a set of Cooper Discoverer ST-MAXX for an incredible price. Although I miss the Treadwright's Kedge Grip, these Coopers are better in every way. So yes, the Treadwrights aren't the deal they used to be; I loved mine, but at this point in time I would recommend looking elsewhere for a better deal on a brand-new set of tires.