I'm going with re-treads.

[BlackRubi]

After extensive research on tires, and essentially TRYING to find bad reviews for Treadwright, I've made up my mind. I'll be going with Treadwright re-treads for the Jeep. Many factors influenced my decision. The warranty offered (which I wouldn't get if I found used tires on CL), awesome reviews (pretty much the only bad reviews I could find were from people that had never used the tires saying something along the lines of..."You get what you pay for"), and low price (which is good in this job change time). I'm going to do it pretty soon. I have developed a pretty good death wobble right around 50mph, but I don't see any slop in my steering linkage or trackbar. I'm pretty sure that it is just my tires coming off balance from the tread wearing so much. Now for the next decision...do I want to go with the Goodyear MT/R style or the BFG A/T?

[Smash]

Interested to see how these work out for you!!

[Aaron]

Can you get really big re-trades to turn 33s into 35s :)

[BlackRubi]

you can order up to 37s

[dustytrader]

Some states it is illegal to run re-treads on your front drive tires, not sure about colorado. My experience with re-treads are that they are impossible to balance and I would personally be weary of them aired down on a trail, flexing the sidewalls where the new tread is attached. But hey, if they have warranty...no big deal. Just my 2 cents.

[JeffX]

I don't think it matters. They will both have the same compound.

[BlackRubi]

I also searched and searched for a Colorado law about retreaded tires on the steering axle and even retreaded tires in general. I found nothing.
As far as balancing goes, the reviews that I have found have all said that they were extremely easy to balance. I looked at other brands as well, like Stone Tire and Rocky Mountain Retreads. Neither of those had a lot of info, but reviews indicate that Treadwright seems to be the hands down best. JP Magazine did a review of them as well as Moab Jeeper Magazine. Those two sources said that they would recommend Treadwrights to anyone. Both of those editorials rated them at full air and aired down, so I don't see a huge issue there.

[BlackRubi]

The only thing that I could find regarding retreads on the steering axle was in regards to buses hauling passengers. Nothing about passenger vehicles or LT/SUVs.

[Metalhed]

retreads are ok on any vehicle. The only exception is the Steering wheels on OTR trucks and Busses
I have used HiTek retreads and they were great.

[BlackRubi]

HiTek is now Treadwright, Inc.
From what I've seen, they've gotten even better after changing names and getting more into offroad tires.

[BlackRubi]

Ordered them today. $394 for four tires out the door. I'll get pics up when they arrive.

[Rob]

$394 for four tires out the door.

I like that price, Kyle. Do you get a warranty? I'll be curious to see how you like them, how they perform on the trail and how they wear on the road. We'll need an update after you've had them a while.

[BlackRubi]

2 year/24000 mile warranty. If something goes wrong with them, take pictures, submit the pictures on the claim form on their website and they'll send you as many replacements as you need, provided it's a workmanship/material issue. EVERY review from people that have run them has been positive. A few offroad magazines, including Peterson's, Moab Jeeper, JP, and a couple others, give them outstanding reviews. They supposedly stick like glue to rocks and do well in the mud. I'll be giving my review on here from initial impressions to a year out. Customer service has already been outstanding. And you really can't beat the price, if they are as good as everyone says they are. Like I said, I TRIED to find a poor review from someone that has run them, and failed to do so.

[cfr]

Did you get the compound with the walnut shells?

[BlackRubi]

Nah. I'm a mile away from work and I only made one snow run last year, so not really too much need for it. I seriously thought about it, but then I realized that my MT/Rs don't have the crushed glass and walnut shell, and they've been just fine. But, I'm kinda hoping that Treadwright messes up and sends me four tires with it anyway. I've read a lot of reviews saying that's what happened with their Treadwright experience.

[Brody]

I like that price, Kyle. Do you get a warranty? I'll be curious to see how you like them, how they perform on the trail and how they wear on the road. We'll need an update after you've had them a while.

One of the off road magazines did a new, then one year later review, of these tires and were quite pleasantly surprised. Re treads have come a long way since we were young drivers, Rob, and don't tend to separate like they used to. They also said that the tires performed well under all conditions.

[Speedwagon]

I would be hesitant to stay aired down on the road though, with retreads. A new tire can fail with low air pressure at highway speeds(Firestone anyone?), so a retread would have to be more susceptible to it. Not saying I wouldn't run them, just saying be sure to air up before hitting the highway home.

[southpaws3]

i think your balance and death wobble is from that nut behind the wheel that watches to many flyboys "enter and exit" ;):D

[BlackRubi]

LOL. Nice.

Speed,
the retreads can fail when aired down at highway speeds. If I have to be on the highway aired down, believe me, I won't even touch 30mph. I have a crappy compressor, so I can air back up, but it takes a while, so I usually just hit the gas station on the way home. No more of that..

[colomil]

I ran some 285/75R16 retreads from Tire King on my suburban. Thay balanced out fine. However, they did not behave well when I was towing anything heavy. I also had a 6 inch chunk of the retread come off one of the tires (still held air). I took it to Tire King (falcon, co) and they replaced it for no charge, and no questions asked. I abused the hell out of those tires and I think I might have done the damage that caused the chunk to come off. I would run them again on a light SUV but not on anything that tows or hauls a bunch of weight.

[BlackRubi]

That was another thing I read about Treadwright...people said that they work great for towing. I don't really have anything to tow presently, but eventually I'm sure I'll find an offroad trailer for camping.