JImbo1

Just bought truck. It came with Sears, Trail Handler LT 215 85R 16. Are these tires any good to tow a 5 er 15,500#. Tire pressure should not be more than 65 lbs.<br><br>Can I recap them and is that inexpensive. I haven't recaped tires in 42 years. Is that still possible or does everybody just buy new tires. I think these tires cost $125 each. What's the best tire, Michelin? How many ply? how much tire pressure. Is 90 lbs attainable and available? What tire and how much.<br><br>Any help whould be greatly appreciated.

CharterBusDriver

I would buy new. You do not know what kind of abuse the present caseings have been through. DOT only lets you put recaps on rear, not on front. A few years ago I was saftey manager for a bus co in California In one Year over $28,000 :-X Damage/Loss to buses (air lines airsprings other car windshilds towing in of bus) with Re-Caped Tires on 58 busses after that we ran only new tires ;D. My 2 cents Paul

Srigs

New only.<br><br>Do you like to loose control and have an mishap. :-[

bulabula

Personally, I'd never put re-caps on my truck to pull my trailer. Can't say what the commercial folks would do. I still see tire casings lying dead on the road.<br><br>It sounds like you've got 42 years of good experience of NOT using them, why risk changing it now? Just to save a few bucks? That wouldn't pass my cost-benefit analysis.<br><br>What is the load capacity of your tires? Does the sum of the rears exceed the weight on the rear axle of your loaded truck? Does the sum of them all exceed the GVW of the truck? If so, you're probably ok.

JImbo1

Bulabula and others..Thanks. I'm convinced not to mess with recaps. Those Michelins although they are $160 makes sense. I wonder how much air pressure I can put in them? I too new at this to tell you what the sum of the rears in relation to the front means.

rich

i run michelin 235 85 16 XPS's on my truck and have had very good luck and mileage out of them so far ovwer 12k in 3 months

JImbo1

What's the first number &quot;235&quot; on the size of the tires mean?<br>e.g. 235/85R/16

JImbo1

Rich-Cowboy..What does the tire &quot;on the sidewall&quot; say as to how much air pressure your allowed to put in?...Thanks &quot;if you don't mind looking&quot;

Dieseldude4x4

Recaps are fine if all you're going to do is bash around the farm and ocassionally make a run down to the feed store. If you're going to get out on the interstate and run those speeds, forget it. Go with new tires with the right pressure. I bought re-caps like you a lot of years ago when I was up north and run them in the winter time, using tire chains and spinning and stuff like that, cause they were cheaper to tear up (like $24 a piece with winter tread on, that will tell you how long ago that was). Come summer time and highway driving, the recaps went in the shed and the real tires came out for the summer. You don't know with re-caps if you will even get the same size tire casing, same load rating, or anything like that. All of those &quot;gators&quot; you see on the road could be you. The reason the truckers get away with it is cause they have so many tires to carry the load.<br>Just my opinion here.<br>DD4X4

pappyman

I have run recaps what I did was recapped and returned my own casings Bandag will do this they also inspect the casing with a machine before capping to insure casing integrity...I didn't get as much tread life as a new tire but for the cost it was better then cost per mile of a new tire<br><br>If you buy recaps from a dealer theres the chance of gettin a bad casting and this would cause the cap to peel off thats why I cap and return my casings....as with any tire routine tire inspection and pressure checks will prevent a cap from peeling off on the road<br><br>I have also bought new tires and had a sidewall blow out on one and cords let loose causing a bulge in the tread and sidewall on another...so its not a given that new tires are always best

berner

[quote author=JImbo1 link=board=5;threadid=12900;start=0#122054 date=1049022087]<br>What's the first number &quot;235&quot; on the size of the tires mean?<br>e.g. 235/85R/16<br>[/quote] I got this from TireRack.com:<br><br>The first number is the width of the tire in millimeters, measured from sidewall to sidewall. To convert to inches, divide by 25.4 In the example above, the width is 185mm or 7.28&quot;.<br>The second number is the aspect ratio. This is a ratio of sidewall height to width. In the example above, the tire is 7.28&quot; wide, multiply that by the aspect ratio to find the height of one sidewall. In this case, 185x0.60=111mm or 7.28&quot;x0.60=4.36&quot;.<br>The last number is the diameter of the wheel in inches.<br>To figure the outside diameter of a tire, take the sidewall height and multiply by 2,(remember that the diameter is made up of 2 sidewalls, the one above the wheel, and the one below the wheel) and add the diameter of the wheel to get your answer.<br><br>Just a little Sunday morning trivia....(I need a life : )<br><br><br>

wannadiesel

Jimbo- First number is the width of the tire in millimeters. Second number height of the sidewall of the tire as a percentage of the width of the tire, known as aspect ratio. In this case, sidewall height would be 85% of 265 mm = 225mm. R means radial. 16 is rim size, and if these are on your truck I assume it says LT before the 265.

Dang, too slow on the post button I guess. :

berner

[quote author=wannadiesel link=board=5;threadid=12900;start=0#122091 date=1049031974]<br>Dang, too slow on the post button I guess. :<br>[/quote]<br>Copy and Paste will win a dragrace over typing everytime.

doodah

From what you guys have said about retreads is understandable, and from driving a semi, I was the same way, but this place out of Edgemont, SD sell some real good retreads with like savings up to 70% and a warrenty on them even, they are www.high-tec-retreading.com, I have bought a set of 33x12.50x15 mud tires from them for my 96 dodge gaser and loved them! plus, they shiped from central SD to NE Iowa- 4 tires for a grand total of 295 bucks ! that is 65 dollars a tire +45 for shipping, awsome tires, mounted and balanced better then a normal tire+ you can't tell they are even retreads!

JImbo1

Rich Cowboy recommended Michelin XPS Traction 235/85/16. His profile says he's got a 6x6. I have no clue what that is or even if it's the same as mine. My manuel says LT215/85/16. I like the idea of a wider tire, but will it fit on my rims and will it rub inside the wheel well when I make a complete right or left turn