Leave them Bridgestones alone on site work Chap, I’ve got lumps leaving mine weekly, non down to the cords thankfully, they are rubbish end of. If your wanting remoulds go down the Bandag route or better still a Michelin re-mix. I have 729’s on mine & am wholly disapointed with them.
8wheels:
We use Bridgestone tyres on our 6 wheelers and artic unit all doing plant transport, dunno about the cost but they seem to cope well with the thrashing they get. Unfortunately due to one expensive tyre bill at MOT last year on one of them, one of the others (Guess which) got a crappy Green Dragon Chinese job on the steer. This one tyre has transformed the ride quality from fairly bad to downright bloody awful and luckily is not looking like it will last anything like as long as the Bridgestone, hopefully it will last even less as I moved it to the nearside front today so that it will scrub out quicker.
I would imagine that is really false economy, a bloody Chinese import on a steering axle. Not for me TA
No, me neither I’m doing my best to kill the bloody thing off but it’s hanging in there, luckily it was a momentary lapse in tyre buying.
Although when my other wagon had 7 new tyres for test last year one of the inner drive tyres that came off was a cheap Chinese job and it had red paint spray on from where the body had been sprayed 3 1/2 years previously when we bought the truck. I was amazed because I don’t suppose the tyre was new when the vehicle came to us.
repton:
I think good quality remoulds are probably OK but I would avoid the very cheap ones. It only takes one roadside callout to more than offset any saving you made so cheap ones are probably a false economy IMO.Personally I haven’t (yet) put any remoulds on my own wagon, I prefer to go for decent quality new tyres. Tipper work is very hard on tyres and I worry that remoulds wouldn’t be up to the job.
Paul
In an ideal world I would but new Michys (When they were on offer) Put them on the back axle (Fastest wearing and most likely to be expensive if anything goes wrong) Retread them and put them on the front. Finishing them off on the middle.
My other rule was 'Never fit new tyres on the middle axle, on the trailer, and leave them on they will normally go bang or wear the shoulders out before they go bald…
I would never fit anything other than quality new on the front steering axle on my unit.
I run Michelin Energy all round (both tractor unit and trailers) and adopt the following policy:
Tractor Unit …
Steer axles: always brand spanking new!
Midlifts: Recut steer axle tyres.
Outer Drive: Always brand new.
Inner drive: Recut outer drive.
Trailer …
Trailing axle: Always new.
Leading axles: New, or recut as appropriate.
I don’t entertain recaps, remixes, remoulds etc. I would rather trade the casing in against a new tyre knowing that I’m going to get 250,000+ kms out of it!
Remould tyres have come a long way in the last 5 years or so. I don’t know if this helps, but here in Canada, they can put a band of tyre tread on your old tyres, as long as they have never been run flat, they should be good. New on front ALWAYS, but as the work you said you do, Michelin or BFG remoulds should be good. I put remoulds on my trailer, and the last about 18 months, or around 300k KMS. they about $350 fitted each, or 230 Pounds Sterlingshire. Like most have said, you get for what you pay for.
FH16Globetrotter:
I run Michelin Energy all round (both tractor unit and trailers) and adopt the following policy:Tractor Unit …
Steer axles: always brand spanking new!
Midlifts: Recut steer axle tyres.
Outer Drive: Always brand new.
Inner drive: Recut outer drive.FH16, wont you get faster wear tho with just fitting a new outer tyre and a re cut to the inner?? instead or matching the pairs up?? due to both tyres been slightly diffrent in wear and causing the other tyre to run of quicker than the inner■■?
globby 480:
FH16, wont you get faster wear tho with just fitting a new outer tyre and a re cut to the inner?? instead or matching the pairs up?? due to both tyres been slightly diffrent in wear and causing the other tyre to run of quicker than the inner■■?
You would have thought so, but for some reason the Actros seems to be harder on the outer tyres regardless of what is on the inner wheel. A recut on the inner easily outlasts the brand new tyre on the outer, and putting brand new tyres on the inner wheel too doesn’t improve things. Also, fitting recuts to the outer wheel is a waste of time, as it seems to chew them up in no time at all.
I know it goes against the grain, but it seems to work (on the actros at least).
FH16Globetrotter:
globby 480:
FH16, wont you get faster wear tho with just fitting a new outer tyre and a re cut to the inner?? instead or matching the pairs up?? due to both tyres been slightly diffrent in wear and causing the other tyre to run of quicker than the inner■■?You would have thought so, but for some reason the Actros seems to be harder on the outer tyres regardless of what is on the inner wheel. A recut on the inner easily outlasts the brand new tyre on the outer, and putting brand new tyres on the inner wheel too doesn’t improve things. Also, fitting recuts to the outer wheel is a waste of time, as it seems to chew them up in no time at all.
I know it goes against the grain, but it seems to work (on the actros at least).
I see. oh well as long as it works for you thats the main bit, 
globby 480:
FH16Globetrotter:
globby 480:
FH16, wont you get faster wear tho with just fitting a new outer tyre and a re cut to the inner?? instead or matching the pairs up?? due to both tyres been slightly diffrent in wear and causing the other tyre to run of quicker than the inner■■?You would have thought so, but for some reason the Actros seems to be harder on the outer tyres regardless of what is on the inner wheel. A recut on the inner easily outlasts the brand new tyre on the outer, and putting brand new tyres on the inner wheel too doesn’t improve things. Also, fitting recuts to the outer wheel is a waste of time, as it seems to chew them up in no time at all.
I know it goes against the grain, but it seems to work (on the actros at least).
I see. oh well as long as it works for you thats the main bit,
That was my concern too, just look at the difference in rolling circumference when you calibrate a tachograph between old and new rubber! more rubber makes mph 
Bolts ,steel ect dont care if it is a michy ,bridge, or a chinese tyre they will win.
Tyres were always an issue with us,until a few years back when we changed a few minor policies;
Tractor units;
(1) Super singles of a decent brand up front balanced and pumped to 85~95psi depending on make of vehicle and weight imposed on front axle. As soon as a trailer calls for tyres,the two steers are tranferred to that axle as a pair,pumped to 120psi,and a brand new set of super singles up front on the unit again. After a few years you end up with decent quality tyres on the whole trailer fleet and brand new ones always on the steers of tractor units.
(2) A matching pair(same brand,model thread depth etc…)on either side on the rear always balanced.
(3) We fit cats eyes to rear axle dual fitments(maplefleetservices.co.uk/cats_eye.shtml). An excellent product(reasonably priced) and the drivers love it as it makes prejourney checks so simple and easy. Furthermore,they can easily identify/monitor a slow pucture or a nail stuck in a tyre with just a glance. They can also pump up the tyres easily through the single external pumping point.
Rigids;
(1) New tyres of a decent brand up front,balanced and pumped,to the recommended pressures. These are then transferred as a pair to either side on the rear as and when required.
(2) We are careful with rims as some manufactureres have different rims on front and rear axles(Volvo FM 8 wheelers).
(3) Cats eyes fitted to the rear axle dual fitments.
(4) We end up with steer tyre patterns all around,but the drivers report no problems on tipping site work and we have noticed a slight inprovement in fuel economy.
Cars;
(1) Brand new tyres up front ,a decend brand,balanced and pumped to the manufacturer’s specifications.
(2) Fronts transferred to the rear axle when required.
All Vehicles;
(1) All tyres are replaced as matching pairs. Any tyre removed part worn due to damage of its counterpart ,is kept in the stores and fitted at a later date as a replacement to a damaged unit. This allows us to keep matching pairs on all axles at all times.
Results;
(1) We have had no tyre breakdown or call out in over 4 years.
(2) The drivers are happy because they always have good rubber under them,pumped to the correct pressures.
(3) The monies paid out to tyre centres are small because we are only ever buying a matching pair of tyres now and then.
(4) The vehicles always drive very well due to the correct pressures,balancing and matching units fitted to them
(5) We don’t seem to have to replace as many suspension or steering components as we used to.
(6) We never have any problems with wheel studs.
(7) We never have any tyre issues with the police or the RSA at their increasing number of roadside checks
(8) We now have no remoulds fitted to anything,as tyre cost isn’t a huge issue to us any more as we are only buying in pairs.
i know it’s only a van but my service van was new in oct 2007 and has run at around 3.5 ton ever since,just having clocked up 95,000 miles.
in that time it came with firestones,then had 2 yokohama’s on the front axle at 35,000m.then at 75,000m i had 2 pirelli’s fitted to the front which are still like new.
here’s the interesting part there are still 2 of the original 5 firestones on the rear axle(which 2 i’m not sure as they have all been swopped round at various services).they are now on about 2mm…
the spare is now one of the yokohama’s(at about 2mm).
i’ve only had one puncture on one of the yokohama’s.
in my experience with trucks don’t run re-caps as when they go they take everything with them within a 6 ft radius.
michelin and conti seem very good ,with hankook,fulda and barum seeming to do ok on trailer work.
don’t forget about quality major repairs.
and i’ve run re-cuts on the front axles of units if they are done well they will wear well.(not everyones cup of tea i know)
re-cuts should be put on middle axles of tri axle trailer due to scrubbing when turning ripping off the tread.
I had a new tyre fitted a few weeks ago when i got back to the yard, night bloke did a trip, i jumped in in the morning, after an hour i felt a bump bump bump, then a bloke in a van beeped me, i pulled into a layby he said your tyre is throwing rubber off, found this…
offside outer drive
i checked my mileage from when i booked off (when the tyre got fitted) to when i stoped in the layby, this tyre lasted 530 k’s!!
kindle530:
i pulled into a layby he said your tyre is throwing rubber off, found this…
I had the same thing happen once to a Bulldog retread. It has put me off them for life, you only need one callout for something like that and by the time you price up the callout and the lost time any cost saving from using retreads has gone.
Paul
we now only fit michelin tyres to the trucks when they need replacing you get better life as kindle has shown a nasty budget tyre may seem the way but in the long run it works out a lot more expensive, for a cpl of pound saving, and have only ever fitted michelin steer "super single tyres " anyway
kindle530:
I had a new tyre fitted a few weeks ago when i got back to the yard, night bloke did a trip, i jumped in in the morning, after an hour i felt a bump bump bump, then a bloke in a van beeped me, i pulled into a layby he said your tyre is throwing rubber off, found this…
offside outer drive
i checked my mileage from when i booked off (when the tyre got fitted) to when i stoped in the layby, this tyre lasted 530 k’s!!
Was that a remould or a new tyre Kindle…What make was it?
Riverstick:
kindle530:
I had a new tyre fitted a few weeks ago when i got back to the yard, night bloke did a trip, i jumped in in the morning, after an hour i felt a bump bump bump, then a bloke in a van beeped me, i pulled into a layby he said your tyre is throwing rubber off, found this…
offside outer drive
i checked my mileage from when i booked off (when the tyre got fitted) to when i stoped in the layby, this tyre lasted 530 k’s!!Was that a remould or a new tyre Kindle…What make was it?
sorry mate i thought i said what it was… it was a Bandvulc brand new remould. Tyre fitter said all remoulds should be checked when theyre made at the factory, then a sticker fitted to varify its ok, he reckons what really happens is that around 20-30 are actually tested out of every 100, but all are stickered up as ok.
kindle530:
Riverstick:
kindle530:
I had a new tyre fitted a few weeks ago when i got back to the yard, night bloke did a trip, i jumped in in the morning, after an hour i felt a bump bump bump, then a bloke in a van beeped me, i pulled into a layby he said your tyre is throwing rubber off, found this…
offside outer drive
i checked my mileage from when i booked off (when the tyre got fitted) to when i stoped in the layby, this tyre lasted 530 k’s!!Was that a remould or a new tyre Kindle…What make was it?
sorry mate i thought i said what it was… it was a Bandvulc brand new remould. Tyre fitter said all remoulds should be checked when theyre made at the factory, then a sticker fitted to varify its ok, he reckons what really happens is that around 20-30 are actually tested out of every 100, but all are stickered up as ok.
and i bet the callout and the new tyre have cost the company more that the saving of buying a good non remould tyre over that heap of crap that lasted 530k (330miles)
330 miles thats a long life for a tyre
Anyone know any good tyre websites that offer very good deals?