Is a retread tire a good buy? That may be a question anyone who owns, and drives a car, will have to ask themselves someday. It is getting more and more expensive to replace or repair things on your car when you need them, and sometimes you need to go with a less expensive option.

People always seem to think that retreaded tires are inferior to new ones and would never want them on their own vehicle. However, the bigger ones that would be used on SUVs, jeeps, and commercial trucks, have to go through a complete inspection, and only then can they be approved by the DOT to give you a \”good as new performance\”.

Retreads are not very common for passenger cars, but they are once you get into the larger sizes for off road and commercial vehicles. These wheels are more expensive than the smaller ones are, and when one tire needs to be replaced for an off road truck, or a big eighteen wheeler you can save around 60% by buying one that is a retread.

According to one government website, it takes on average, 22 gallons of oil to make one new tire, but retreading one for a truck uses only 7 gallons of oil. This is one of the reasons that they are less expensive. They other reason is that the retread is made using the casing from a tire that had worn done.

What happens is the old casing has new tread bonded to it by using a process very similar to the manufacturing process of a new tire. It is a fact that school buses, fire trucks, and 80 percent of all United States aircraft, use retreaded tires. The trucking industry in the U. S. Saves more than three billion dollars every year by using retreaded tires.

One challenge that comes from consumers only buying new \”rubber\”, is managing the waste created from the old rubber. Many times old rubber, is \”stockpiled\”, this is when old tires are piled-up and left to sit. One of the problems this presents is when they catch fire.

Rubber burns very hot, produce a thick black smoke, and is very hard to extinguish, in dry areas this can be a risk for people who live in the area, and the firefighters. Another problem with stockpiling is when water builds up inside the rubber, this is a breeding ground for disease carrying mosquitoes.

Knowing that retreads are held up to standards, and have to be approved by the Department of Transportation before they can be sold, eases many thoughts when it comes to buying a first retread.. Also knowing that keeping rubber out of stockpiles where it will take millions of years for the rubber to break down calms the environmentalist in all of us.

There are laws that vary from state to state about the use of retreads. For instance in California any passenger car whose wheel is 16 inches or below will not be sold retreads. In some states you can only have retreads on the back of a vehicle, in other states they cannot be one the front of a construction vehicle.

People everywhere agree that purchasing a retread tire is just as good as buying a new one when you need one. The best way to not have to purchase new tires for your car at all, is to always keep them properly inflated and have them rotated. More flats occur from people who do not follow the advice above, then do from people who run over things.

Author Bio: Each technician is fully licensed with at minimum 5 years experience in servicing your truck and/or for any your Toronto winter tires and general Tires Toronto needs. The Tire Terminal 1750 Britannia Road East, Mississauga, ON L4W 2A3 (905) 565-8406

Category: Automotive
Keywords: Tires, Winter Tires, Family, Society, Auto, Vehicle, Cars, Trucks, hobbies, home, business, shopping