[Closed] Retreads on a Transit. Good idea or not?

You will need load rated tyres regardless if its loaded up or not, if the retreads come rated, I cannot see why not..

Your call obviously but I would NEVER use retreads on anything. The tyres are the only thing holding you to the road and it's not a place to cut corners, pardon the pun, IMO.

Part worn can be had cheap if need be but I always buy new for my vans as I know where they've been then.

No

Transit tyres are really not very expensive new.
Personally I only buy new tyres.

I had some kingpin retreads as temp tyres on the defender for the last 2,000 miles - paid about £55 each. I thought they were OK (based on a michelin XPC). Then I finally got round to buying some new/OEM take offs. General All Grip thingies, 500 miles old. New they are £125+ each. I got the four for £360 on OEM steel wheels.
Quite a ntoiceable difference despite having a much more aggressive tread, the OEM tyres are much quieter and the defender is less prone to understeer as well. Fortunately with over 10mm of tread on them they wont expire any time soon, but when they do, I will buy new tyres again.

Some years ago I worked in the tyre industry (at the UK's largest tyre wholesaler)

As a result I would NEVER buy part-worn tyres (you don't know where these have come from, but many are from vehicles that have been written off and you can't guarantee that the tyre hasn't been damaged), or retreads for any vehicle other than an HGV / bus

It is the only part of the vehicle in contact with the road

So, that's a No then, although with no supporting evidence.
There must be a lot of retreads out there, yet it's not like you see cars and vans at the side of the road with burst tyres all the time. Are they really that bad?
Same with part worn tyres. If you buy a second hand car, you're buying four part worn tyres, yet no one seems to worry about that.

I don't mean to dismiss the replies here, but I was hoping for something a bit more evidence based.
There are lots of companies with fleets of vans. I wonder if any of them do long term tests on tyre life and make the results public.

Get mud and snow tyres if you are going to use it on campsites. And put the new ones on the back.

I don't think re-treads are unsafe, but grip and handling is probably inferior to all but the worst budget tyres.

I work in the motor trade unfortunately...

but i digress we had a corsa come in on remolds it was the most foul handling bag of crap, when we had it on the ramp the quality of the tread was atrocious. 4 tyres and it drove like new.

part worns are a weird thing, if you buy a used car you get part worns on it.
if its a premium tyre and has not been damaged yes it better than a budget. but you just don't know.

I Bought some avons for my Mams car they where a tenner dearer for the pair than some cheapanese crap.

so in a word just say no to remoulds and get something semi decent they're not much dearer, they last longer and they might just perform that bit better when you really need it.

Oh and al tyres are shite if they are not properly inflated

So, that's a No then, although with no supporting evidence.

You don't have evidence either way regarding safety/reliability. I would say this backs up the decision to err on the side of caution and buy new, rather than see it as a reason to be a cheapskate/save money.

I bought a civic that had new retreads on almost understeered off the road 3 times in 20 miles couldnt get new tyres quick enough. Id imagine in the dry perfectly good, in the wet or carrying any load wouldn't trust them.

OP - I don't have any specific evidence, and you would expect tyre manufacturers to strongly recommend new

However, you really don't know the provenance of part-worn or re-treads, and for the sake of the extra cash it has to be worth the peace of mind getting new

And always get the tracking checked when putting new tyres on - you'd be amazed how many people don't and then find their tyres have worn so unevenly that they're junked within less than 5k miles

For most people their car will be their second biggest purchase they ever make and it never ceases to amaze me how many cut corners to save a few £ hundred on a vehicle that has cost them over £15k

I see massive difference in performance of different premium tyre brands, so can only shudder at the thought of some budget remoulds.

It's a no from me

Put remould technics trackers on my last 4 wd

It was fine , predictable and good onsnow and off road compared to the well worn bfg trac edge. That came off complete with cracks and bulges .

Did 10k on them and sold the car

Remounds are oopular on 4wds though due to high risk of damage when off road.

I was considering some insa turbo winter remoulds for the van.... Not done it yet , but lie everything you get bad remoulds and bad new tires.......insa have a decent reputation.as far as remoulds go.

Only thing that bothers me is remoulds are exempt from the tire labling system- you know noise , economy etc...

I work as a patrol for a well known yellow breakdown company.
I change [i]a lot[/i] of blowouts. Remoulds and cheapo Chinese seem a lot more susceptible to them. I hardly ever see quality makes of tyre fail dramatically.
We also do the breakdown service for nearly all the major fleets - none of them use remoulds or budget tyres. In fact they all go for the best - nearly all use continental or Michelin.
I wouldn't trust part works either - the majority come from write-offs.
Stick to the top brands - they grip better, last better and are more puncture resistant.

[url= https://1stdirectory.co.uk/companies/tyron-remoulds-ltd.htm ]Tyron remoulds, Lockerbie. Give them a call, been doing it for years[/url]
All depends on what use and how Mrs MTG drives?
I've not been in the "trade" for over 30yrs but lots of people used these tyres locally back then. There was the odd reject and you had to drive with more caution than normal in poor weather.

'afraid it's a bit like your other DIY post, how much do you value your safety 😉 💡

Would I use them? Yes on a banger which wasn't doing a lot of miles but it's possible to get cheap East European tyres which are probably near enough the same price as with any goods nowadays.

Have some excellent 'proper' van tyres on the Vito camper, at £48 each, smoother, quieter, better in the wet, lasting well - not sure why one would get anything else.

Question about part worns - the people who warn against them, do you always fit four brand new tyres immediately on buying a s/h car ? Logic says you should.

Sundayjumper - I would always check all tyres carefully (eg sidewalls for any bulges / cuts), treads for any uneven wear etc

And check that all 4 tyres were the same - if not I'd want to know why

When I sell a car I've always given the buyer ALL receipts for work done, including replacement tyres

But then I don't buy second hand

Edit - seems like I was talking gonads.

Tyron remoulds, Lockerbie. Give them a call, been doing it for years

Went under about 10 years ago IIRC. (Used to work just round the corner from them)

Manufacturing unit is now divided up into small business units, the warehouse is owned by a tyre wholesaler (Nordic Tyres?) and the offices got converted into a house...

I use GT Radial Maxmilers for my van. They're reasonably cheap, seem to be pretty durable and grip well enough in everything I've driven in.

As others have already said your tyres are the only contact with the ground, it just ain't worth skimping on them.

Get onto tyreleader and get some decent tyres delivered, no need to use remoulds when you can pick up new tyres so cheap.

Even Michelin tyres for my van were only £80 each!

Half-decent new tyres are relatively cheap now anyway,especially if you haggle hard for x4.IMHO it's worth buying new if only for peace-of-mind over false economy.

Max Milers are ace for the money.

£80 each!

Is that cheap ?

must admit i dont drive even remotely close to the limits of my vehicle , it putters about at 55/60 and so i see no need to put funcy tires on.

10 years on what evers cheap , the only tire thats ever failed me was a new toyo open country , got a front wheel blow out on the landy after only 500 miles for no apparent reason......it didnt result in a fire ball - i pulled over from 50mph calmly to a stop at the side of the road.

I used to use remoulds when I got my first car (late 80s) as I couldn't afford anything else. I've also had one set in a motorbike, believe it or not.... Never had a problem. They don't last as long and don't save money in the long run, but I see no other reason not to use them.