Since tires take up so much space in landfills, and there seems to be no easy way to recycle them, why not retread them? I understand that in the past, bias ply tires could have more rubber bonded to them, making them fit for further use; however, except for some classic car enthusiasts, radials are the tire of choice today. When I enquired about this issue to local tire shops, I got a range of answers, from “its technically impossible”, to “tire companies make more off new tires”. I don’t want to sound paranoid, but are tire companies supressing retreads to sell more new tires? Hope someone can help.
Retreads have an unfortunate tendency to shed their new treads, and retread radials are worse than retread bias-ply. It’s not technically impossible, trucks do it all the time. But if you look at those large chunks of truck tread that line the highways, it’s not always the best idea.
One of the less posturing statements I’ve heard come out of the Firestone mess was an engineer saying that with all the different things that go into making a tire, sometimes it’s a wonder the things come out right at all.
Hey, it’s Elkman! Remember when Elkman used to post on the SDMB?
How’s the taxidermy coming, Elkman?
(Yeah, sure, this is a hijack, but what the hell. Let’s all give a big welcome to Elkman!)
New tires don’t cost all that much, $50-$75 retail typically, so I can’t see how it would cost all that much less to retread old ones. The manufacturing process for new tires is pretty much completely automated and high-speed, but retreading would require a fair amount of individualized labor.
It’s also true that retreads don’t hold up as well as new tires, since it’s hard to get a as good a bond with the old rubber. That means they’d have to sell at a discount vs. new tires, further cutting any cost advantage they might have.
But the biggest cost factor, I would think, would be the liability issues. If a retread fails due to some flaw that existed before the retreading, the retreading firm would be on the hook for mucho dinero whether or not it’s their fault.