I bought lots of recaps back then.
I remember one set of recapped snow tires I bought for my '64 Dodge van. They cost $12.50 each. It took 13 oz of lead to balance one of them!
In the early 70s my recaps lasted forever and allowed remarkable fuel mileage. But I was also easy on the vehicle and tires back then as today. (Oh, one recap became defective and Goodyear replaced it.)
Are the truck treads so often seen on interstates and highways recapped treads?
Back in the 1950s through the early 1970s, tires were graded as premium, first line, second line, and there were even third line tires. New cars came with 1st line tires as original equipment. The tire dealer I dealt with did recapping right in his shop. He claimed that a recapped premium or first line tire was better than a 3rd line or most 2nd line tires. When I was in graduate school 350 miles from home and knew that I would need a couple of tires, I would call the tire dealer. He would put aside a couple of premium casings in my tire size, recap them and have them ready when I came home on break. I put a lot of miles on recapped tires. Even after I was earning a reasonable living, I bought recapped tires with snow treads for the winter use.
OK4450, I realize that they’re unfortunately still common on truck tires. That’s how “road gators” come to be born. And it pisses me off every time I see a road gator. I almost got hit by one once as it came off the truck’s trailer tire on the highway. Had I not been alert or been driving something that wallowed in understeer like a van I’d probably be history.
I believe that recaps on trucks are dangerous to the rest of us on the road. However they’re still legal so they’re still with us.
One did hit our van while my wife was driving. Luckily it hit off the front of the hood and bounced up over the top of the van. (That’s the story she told me about the mark on the hood anyway). Nothing but a rubber smudge was left on the van that I buffed off pretty easily.
Your wife lucked out, Cig. These road gators do cause accidents.
I’m surprised they are still legal on trucks,you see Gatorbacks on Interstate(nasty) but the biggest cause of failure is underinflation( the heat will make the tire delaminate or explode) some very large tires can actually be rebuilt-Kevin
Just to clear up a possible misconception.
The “Road Gators” being discussed may have been recapped, but it is the tire casing failing, not the retread portion. AND the failures are almost always caused by some sort of road hazard, rather than some sort of problem with the tire or the recapping process.
Put another way, banning retreads on trucks is not going to appreciably change the appearance of “Road Gators” and related debris on the road. This has been repeatedly discussed with various government legislative bodies when the subject comes up. To date, the only bans on retreads are for front positions - and even those aren’t universal.
@ok4450: “Recaps are still common with trucks and many other commercial vehicles.”
It’s illegal to use recapped tires on the front (steering) axle, making them only legal on the dual axles of commercial trucks. Steering tires have to be virgin rubber.
One Florida legislator who got sick of seeing road gators tried to make recaps illegal until someone pointed out the same thing that @CapriRacer said about the recaps not being the issue.
To me, the issue is that road debris of all kinds needs to be cleared from the roadways ASAP. When police and state troopers go on patrol, they should be getting stuff like that out of the way.
To me, the issue is that road debris of all kinds needs to be cleared from the roadways ASAP.
The problem here in the North East is Frost Heaves and pot holes. And with the rain during the day and then freezing temperatures at night it’s IMPOSSIBLE for the DPW to keep up. And this time of year they can’t put down a hot patch. You’re lucky if the cold patch lasts a week.
Siping increases traction; it has minimal effect on gas mileage. Your DRIVING STYLE has the most effect on gas mileage.
Yeah, you guys in the NE don’t have the same issues we have in the SE. I’ve been on some PA interstates that jarred my teeth and backbone so hard that I’ve vowed to spend as little time in that state as possible.
@ Whitey,its to dangerous without traffic control to do that,have seen some Officers getting debris out of the way.We have been fortunate around here to not have as much cold weather as we used to have(regardless of what the weather service says) Our roads are starting to hold up a lot better in the winter(secondary and primary)-Kevin
I agree. On limited access highways, removing road debris can be dangerous, but I expect our law enforcement officials to have the resources to do things like rolling roadblocks to make it safer for their fellow officers.
Whitey, is it your belief that we in the Northeast don’t have roads as chopped up as yours in the Southeast? If so, I beg to differ. Up here the water gets under the pavement, freezes and expands, and lifts chunks of pavement right up off the roadbeds. We call 'em “potholes”. And they get big, and they’re everywhere. In addition, we still have roads that we paved over concrete. The macadam and the concrete expand at different rates, cracks form, and the characteristic sound is “thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump”… one for every concrete expansion joint.
NE is known for potholes and road surfaces torn up by weather.
In short, if that’s your belief, well, you’re wrong. Sorry.
I would suspect that Road Gators (quite common here) are mainly caused by excessive loading, horrid roads, or lack of maintenance; or all 3 at once.
Some of the oil field and grain hauler trucks are horribly overloaded. More than a few grain haulers have had their trailers buckle or just snap in half; dumping thousands of bushels of wheat onto the roadway and creating a lengthy traffic mess.
Bandag,made extremely succesful recaps( UPS used to run recaps on the front) just losing a gatorback doesnt guarentee catastrophic failure,one reason besides the obvious steering problems with recaps on the front is the destruction of the fiberglass cowling on some trucks-Kevin
Mountainbike, is PA in the NE or the SE?
Whitey,Mid-Alantic?-Kevin ( sorry just had to throw that in-Ohio is considered Midwest,so things can get a little confusing)