I'm curious how they work in the snow and ice with the Kedge Grip?

my truck has the 20's on it now but i'm thinking of picking up a set of 17" wheels for the winter and run these tires. I'll be moving to Michigan in the near future.

http://www.treadwright.com/c-21-265-70r17.aspx

What is the KG or Kedge Grip?

Kedge Grip is a traction additive that we blend into the rubber compound. Kedge Grip consists of a crushed walnut shell and crushed glass particle that works in a two fold manner. As the tire wears down the walnut shell is designed to displace from the rubber leaving a small (1mm) pit or void that provides additional traction edges. The crushed glass is designed to stay in place longer providing additional grit and grip on the surface of the tread.

 

Go to their homepage and pull down the menu for videos, i think you`ll find your answer there.
As for running "re-cap`s/re-treads" (or whatever you wanna call them), i`ll stay with brand new.
I use to run re-treads, never had a good set i could trust... but technology may be better today.
I think i`d chance them on an old rat beater for playin in the woods though, but not for my daily driver.
Last but not least, NEVER TOW OR HAUL WITH RE_TREADS/RE-CAPS on your truck...!!!!!!! (tread WILL seperate...!!!)

As for the added media to their treads (walnuts shells, glass particles)
Ther`s a company here locally doing the same simular thing with adding media to the tread...they`re all but about bankrupt now.

 

I have heard nothing but good about treadwright. I heard they wear really well, they have a 2yr/24K warrenty, the kedge grip is supposed to be really good unless your like me and drive gravel roads daily. I was going to get a set last year but found a good deal on a tire/wheel package. I am really thinking my next set will be a set of tread wrights if they can get me a 33-1250-15 lol. I would say run them, if anything you get 2yrs/24k out off them(i hear people get 40-60K). I also heard one ton guys towing with them and having no problems. I have done my research on this company and they have never had a tire seperate. If you want to know how there made and why they dont seperate go ahead and give them a call, they have really awesome customer support.

 

Here
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...st-thread.html

Not so much about the Kedge Grip. But a good Review on this site.

I would say for towing you just want to have the correct air pressure in the tire.

Another read
http://www.fourwheeler.com/techartic..._ko/index.html

 

Might be better today, but I've been in two vehicles in my life that had a tread separation and blow out on the highway and they WERE BOTH retreads. My step father was an underpaid police chief in a small town and coupled with the fact he grew up during the depression, he was tighter'n hell with a buck and always got re-treads.

Second time we blew one I was about twelve and we were heading on vacation from central NY to Canada and he lost control of the car. Turned out ok as we ended up in the bottom of the ditch beside the interstate.

My mom gave him the ultimatum that day about not putting her a$$ in his car again and that if he ever tried to put re-treads on her car, there would be hell to pay.

I gotta side with Hemi5150 in this one. For a beater it's one thing, but why in the hell would you totally cheap out on re-tread tires on a damn $40,000+ vehicle???

That's like the guys who won't pay $20 for a stainless thermostat and opt for the $8 one instead and post on here how stupid it is to pay more than double for one. Then they come back a year and a half later with the "anyone know where I can get a good used 4.7 engine? My heads cracked after I overheated" post...

 

Retreads are way better today. Infact most of those treads you see along the hwy, are 50% new tires and 50% retreads. They really have improved process's and there inspections. I know several people that run treadwrights and never have had a problem. I also know a lot of truckers that run retreads and new tires, and found out the new ones and the retreads both blow out at about the same rate.

 

Funny how experiences with the same things vary... back in the 80's when I was a young pup with a wife, little ones, and more month than money all I ever bought for my Jeep was recaps - and I never had a single problem. I drove several sets of those "cheap" tires until I wore them out and I never had a single cap come off or come loose... summer heat, winter cold, and everything in between. As has been said, I suspect technology these days is much better and if I had to I wouldn't think twice about them... the only exception might be if I did large amounts of highway driving, since that heat and abuse seems to still kill a retread.

If you can afford it, buy new - that's a no-brainer. But if cash is tight I think you're fine rolling on "caps."

 

I use to work in a re-cap shop, built all size re-caps... car, trucks, tractor, industrial, skiddsters...etc etc etc
to each their own.... nope, i`ll stick with new tires. You guyz run what ya want

I saw the treadwright tire prices... WOWWWW, way over priced in MY opinion...!
I can buy brand NEW tires cheaper than what they`re sellin those caps for...!
Not to mention, new tires have better warrantee`s, miledge, and readily available.
When you blow out that re-cap, how long are you willing to wait for their backorder
(you`ll always end up with a mismatched carcus once again)

HammerZ71 said it best... re-caps on your $40,000 truck...?!?!?!?!?!
(oh and the $8 t-stat scenerio, LOVE it...!!! lol)

Food for thought.... to cap or NOT to cap
re-cap`s are almost NEVER matched sets. (unless you yourself drops off a matched set of 4 to be re-capped, but still wont weigh out the same when done) When re-capping, you have no clue what the carcus is that you`re buying, nore do you know what the rating of what the cap will take under the weight of your truck, because when they buff the carcus for prepping, they remove ALOT of rubber from the carcus, so with saying THAT, each carcus varies with thickness under the new cap. Each new re-cap weigh`s alot different from each other when you check them all as a set. You will also find that, re-caps are ALOT heavier in weight...!

I think i`ll go have a beer now

 

When I lived in WV I had a second set of wheels and tires for winter. Gumbo Monster Mudders weren't good in the winter unless you drove with one side in the ditch. I ran re-caps w/studs every winter and would get 3-4 winters out of a set. I even ran chains on them if it got real bad. Never had a problem and that was back in the late 70's early 80's. I definitly wouldn't worry about running them now for winter tires if I needed them.

 

when i first started working at a dodge dealership i was stuck with tires and oil changes. its probably safe to say about 1 out of every 100 or so tires i saw come in the shop for some kind of work on cars and trucks were retreads but maybe 1 out of every 8 to 10 i was replacing with tread separation or belt conicity or runout problems were retread tires. thats a bad ratio if you ask me.