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Review: Treadwright BFG A/T 30" retreads.

Hubbazoot

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Saudi-Arvada, CO
lefthandcanyon1008.jpg


I got 5 treadwright 30" A/T BFG retreads mounted last friday, I've had time to drive them on highway, off-road, and in the snow (light) since then. Here's the verdict:

Fit: These tires fill up the wheel well, giving my XJ a more beefy look. They have very minimal rubbing on turns, and no rubbing in back on flexes (I don't have front disconnects yet....slacker.)

Balance: They balance terribly, no lie. I looked at the spare, two massive weights on one side to balance it out, I can feel some vibe coming from the rear end not being balanced so well.

Road noise: Both on highway and off, these tires are quiet. No more noise than my other ones, even at speeds of 75mph they didn't make much noise at all, would easily blend in with other vehicle noise.

Off-road performance: The tires handled well, even when aired down to 20~25 psi. Very grippy overall, impressive handling on the sandy/rocky trail I went on (see trail report: lefthand canyon).

Weather: I had a few different times to test these out on snow and ice. On the trail, there were a couple spots where there was some old snow on the ground. On regular snow, these tires handled fine, with good grip and plenty of stopping power. On ice, these tires handled decently too, including the patch of ice I went over on about a 30% grade, but I could not start from a dead stop on this patch of ice, I had to back up until I was on gravel; they did hold up their speed alright though.

Delivery time: Alright, I'll give them the holiday mercy for delivery time, but it was still longer than posted. At time of order, delivery time was expected to be 6-10 business days. I called them once, they said they would look into why the delivery was taking so long, and I should get a call the next morning. I did not recieve that call, but after heckling the man I spoke with that day, I finally got a tracking number out of him. After about business day 12, the tires arrived on my front porch, I did not sign for the tires. Because no signature was required, you may want to request a signature upon delivery or else make sure someone is home.

Treadwright service: Service was decent, at best. I ordered over the phone. They were anxious to get my payment information, but gave me very little information on the tires themselves until I asked for it. At the end of the call, I noticed they neglected to mention how much these five tires would be, they said a figure around $400.

Ratings:
Grip: 4.7/5 - Other than a patch of ice I was on, I encountered very little in the way of grip problems, these tires hav excellent traction:
Noise: 5/5 - Way quieter than I expected, also way quieter than comparable A/T tires I have heard on vehicles with them equipped.
Cost: 5/5 - Even after $62.50 mounting fee (the cheapest I could find, Big O tires did mount/balance for this amount, I kept the old tires to resell.), these tires were the cheapest for five all-terrains I could find: $473.40, after all was said and done.
Balance: 3/5 - They're balanced at lower speeds, but develop vibe on the highway after about 60 mph; this shouldn't be too big of a problem since I'm rarely up that high speed.
Treadwright service: 2/5 - The staff was semi-helpful in pointing me in the right direction, but failed to verify information or ship in an expiditious manner. When they promised to call back, they again failed here. I had to call them three different times in order to get the shipping information for my tires, after they were already two days late.

Overall: 4.5/5 - these tires work great for what I need, but I was not very happy with treadwright's performance. The amount of weight these things need to balance also upsets me.
 
Great review - thanks for the information!

Just for the record, however, for those of you who are leery about retreads (or just don't want to pay shipping), I paid $60 more and got brand new BFG A/Ts (the tire these are based upon) last week from Discount Tire / America's Tire Company.
 
Great review - thanks for the information!

Just for the record, however, for those of you who are leery about retreads (or just don't want to pay shipping), I paid $60 more and got brand new BFG A/Ts (the tire these are based upon) last week from Discount Tire / America's Tire Company.
Oh I'd buy new tires if I could afford them, but a couple notes: The final figure I posted included shipping and mounting ($473.40). I checked out those same tires you were talking about, they wanted $600 for a set of four.... which I would have paid if budget allowed.
 
Liftkit + Highway speeds + losing a tread = death
No thanks.
I got 4 BFGs for $550
I don't have a spare, but at least I'll be alive as I walk to a phone.
 
I have to chime in on CharlieMopps. Your math is not right, I ran the Liftkit+Highway speeds and DID NOT loose a tread, not on one 4x4, but on 2 different vehicles, XJ and ZUK. From 30's like the ones mentioned above, where driven from Colorado to Memphis, and then out to Seattle and now tread lose. 33's where DD on highway speeds, and beat the piss out of on a trial. Until you have them, DONT bash them. Mac
 
Liftkit + Highway speeds + losing a tread = death
No thanks.
I got 4 BFGs for $550
I don't have a spare, but at least I'll be alive as I walk to a phone.

I've run my Treadwrights (they were Hi-Tech back then) for over 2 years now, up to 80 on the highway with no issues. I've had them aired down for wheeling to about 10psi, they make great tires.

I run their MT's which are VERY loud though.
 
I have the 31 inch a/t.

Quiet, super grippy, awesome looking and cheap.

Can't beat it.

Oh, one tire took 6 grams of weight (I balanced them at school) but 6 grams is HALF the legal weight limit for highway use tires. Not bad at all.
 
Oh I'd buy new tires if I could afford them, but a couple notes: The final figure I posted included shipping and mounting ($473.40). I checked out those same tires you were talking about, they wanted $600 for a set of four.... which I would have paid if budget allowed.

My quote included shipping, mounting and balancing, and rotating my best original tire to the spare. Maybe I got a particularly good deal. Dunno.

Anyway, for those of you who are doubting the quality of these particular retreads, know this: I ran a set of these on an old Ford van I used to use as a tow rig. I put almost 40,000 miles on the tires, until they were bald as hell, and had not a single issue.
 
They do seem to have gotten pricey to the point where I doubt I'd buy another set. Mine were $300 to my door.
 
I'm not bashing tread-rights... all I'm saying is I wont use any re-tread at high speeds. Planes and big-rigs all have duel tires for a reason. If my truck had duelys, sure, I'd totally put on retreads.

I think this is just a matter of experience. I've SEEN a re-tread come off a tractor-trailer. It basically threw the trailer in the air when it got lodged between the rear tires and the deck. It was quite the site. If that happened on a lifted truck, you're going to roll... no question about it.

I'm not saying these are likely to fail. I'm just saying that seeing what i saw scared me enough to pay an extra $100 and not have a spare. I would totally use them on a trail rig, but would be terrified to use them on a freeway. I'm sure the chances of failure are very low... just not low enough for me.
 
I'm not bashing tread-rights... all I'm saying is I wont use any re-tread at high speeds. Planes and big-rigs all have duel tires for a reason. If my truck had duelys, sure, I'd totally put on retreads.

I think this is just a matter of experience. I've SEEN a re-tread come off a tractor-trailer. It basically threw the trailer in the air when it got lodged between the rear tires and the deck. It was quite the site. If that happened on a lifted truck, you're going to roll... no question about it.

I'm not saying these are likely to fail. I'm just saying that seeing what i saw scared me enough to pay an extra $100 and not have a spare. I would totally use them on a trail rig, but would be terrified to use them on a freeway. I'm sure the chances of failure are very low... just not low enough for me.
1. The only reason why the trailer went flying was because the tread got lodged in a place where it can't get lodged on an XJ.
2. Rigs use a lower quality retread that is cheaper to do yet. These have a higher chance of failure than passenger vehicle retreads.
3. Maybe use a retread for a spare? Would be nice to have a full-size spare to finish a trail ride on, it can be a long walk to the nearest phone; cold weather only makes it a longer walk.
4. www.retread.org has more info on different uses of retreads and stuff.
5. You're right, these types of tires do stand a chance of throwing a tread, and it is something I will watch out for. Should I happen to throw a tread and should this happen to roll the vehicle, a suit between me and treadwright to cover the full cost of the damages will follow.
 
Retreads have been throwing treads forever. I imagine the cost of the last tread thrown is what is jacking up the price - it takes time to vulcanize the new treads properly, and slower production costs money.

Most truckers never use retreads on the steering axle. I believe DOT outlawed it. Aired down and offroad, the extreme flexing should actually increase tread separations, just like it does on new tires. The US Army actually limited speeds of CUCV's (Blazers) on Wranglers until the maker came up with replacements that wouldn't separate from off road use. Extreme tread flexing followed by highway use was defined as the cause. We were limited to 40 MPH max for a year to prevent loss of control from a wiggling belt. Rollovers were related to driving off the road into a steep ditch, not from a tire directly.

I've used retreads on the highway - they won't flip your rig unless it's dynamically unstable to begin with. Lift kits do things like that, not tread separations. Off road, it could be a slow process noticeable long before it came flying off.

You all do look at your tires once a week and air them, right?
 
Yes I do a visual inspection almost every time I walk up to the vehicle. I don't really mind looking at those tires anyway. I do keep a good eye out for any new puddles, smells, behavior, etc. all the time.
 
They do seem to have gotten pricey to the point where I doubt I'd buy another set. Mine were $300 to my door.

Yeah! I'm looking at $500 (494, actual) for five of the new 31" MTR lookalikes shipped to Toledo. If I stay with 235s the price is ~$350. That's not much of a difference compared to new conventional tires.

EDIT: Then again, I just checked and Cooper Discoverer STTs are $233 each in a 31! I hope that's a misprint.
 
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