RatRod tires and their cost

[IAM-LDS-2]

What I did . I wasn't real happy with the quality of the ride my very expensive Bias ply tires were giving me . So I decided to try some radials . Now this kind of experiment could get expensive , especially if you don't notice any improvement . I paid a visit to my local used tire shop . I got 4 used Radial tires , 2 - new to me - front wheels ,mounted and balanced for $60.00 ,not each ,total . I liked the ride so I kept riding , been using them for 2 years now and they look the same as when I bought them . I fig they just might last till I get tired of looking at them . Were building rats here and some are on a tight budget . I will never buy a new tire for my rat again .

 

[donsrods]

Glad it worked out for you, but used tires can be a real crap shoot. You have to wonder why they are "used". When I was struggling financially I would sometimes buy used ones and sometimes they were ok and sometimes they blew out on me. Since safety is the firt thing we should be concerned with when building any car, rat or not, good, safe tires are extremely important.

I say skimp on some cosmetic items and spend the money where it will keep you and your loveds ones alive.

Don

 

[lvin4jc]

True enough about the safety, although i'm going with used this first time around because a couple of 16ths of tread might last me a year or two because of the few miles i'll be driving it in the beginning. And so mine will be customer take-offs that just don't have enough tread to make soccer moms feel safe.

However, I might add that a good compromise in safety vs. economy is modern (not the old skool horror story) retreads. I've run two sets now from a company now called treadwright, used to be hi-tech retreading. I've had no problems with either set, they have a guarantee that they'll use almost no balancing weight and I believe they even have a pro-rated warranty. Forget what you've heard about retreads of long ago, this is a new process and these guys can hardly keep up with demand, at the same time their reviews are incredible. That being said, take the lowest price you can find for the tires you want and cut it in half. My last set were BFG all terrains and the lowest online price I found was $150 per tire, I paid $75 at treadwright and in my experience they lasted longer than the BFG version. Just my .02

 

[Sam_Fear]

Yep. New retreads are even allowed on steer axles now.

 

[MACKAZ]

Mines got Hankook 225/75/15 DynaPro AT on the rear and Bridgestone Potenza RE080 185/60/15 on brushpainted gloss red Mitsubishi 15x6 steel rims. Tyres are secondhand. As I work in a tyreshop I got access to millions of them. Secrets are stick to known brands, inspect the sidewalls carefully for rubber loss thru being driven on flat. Rub your hands carefully over the tread and if there are signs of lumps or wire hanging out run a mile and dont look back. Happy to help with any questions that you may have..

 

[jfg455]

FREE. I hate buying tires. They just seem to wear out so fast! I usually score tires from my dealer or other dealers that friends work at. funny that I actually plan the look of a vehicle around whatever free tires I am using....

 

[bob w]

Got these Mickey Thompson Drag Radials last night off of Craigslist. The kid put 'em on and they rubbed. 50 miles. They still have the nipples on them (Can I say that on RRR?)
$100.

 

[VonHyde]

bias plys just have a quality ride anyways even if they are brand new from what ive heard. they do make radials that look bias plys
http://store.cokertire.com/tire-brands/cars-trucks/excelsior.html?tire_type=96

http://www.federaltire.com/en/html/pdetail.php?DB=suv&pdline=1&ID=13

 

[cycledog]

all cars run on used tires.

 

[Fe2O3]

I was a tire buster for Firestone during the glory days of the Firstone 500 radial tire(1976). Firestone like a lot of companys really didn't have the whole steel band to rubber bonding thing figured out to well back them. I think we took off blown belted tires as fast as we sold them. I clearly remember a guy coming in with a wheel off his new corvette and what was left of the tire and slamming it on the mgr's desk. He was hot & slinging together curse words in ways a 18 y.o. kid never even thought of.

Even though tire manufactors have come a long way in 35 years, it's still wise to keep them rolling in the same direction.

So bargin shoppers head over to the local tire store and take a box of donuts for the tire busters, give them your ph# or Email. Ask the to keep an eye out for you for your size, ask them to mark the tires "R" & "L" and you'll tip them for the trouble. The mgr. should be happy as they have to pay to have them hauled away today. What anything they charge is straight profit. Everyone wins.

 

[rex1927]

My brother runs used 16" tires on his van.30 bucks for a mounted used tire.120 + for a mounted new tire.
I cannot find any used tires for my truck.It has 235/75/15.Man at tire place says 15 inchers are getting rare.Most trucks use 16 or larger,cars use smaller.

 

[militarycckw]

people around hear refuse to pay the tire disposal fee,any road you travel out of town has piles of tires off the sides,I think i could run a used tire store with plenty of free inventory,ever since the envirmentalist have taken over we have tires in the ditches and those dang plastic bags tangled up in the trees and land fills full of plastic water bottles

 

[RAT FINK]

Years ago I had a major crash because of a front tire failure...mostly because I didn't have alot of money and run used or poor tires....I figure my life and who ever else is on the road at the same time as me is worth more than cheapin out on a set of old tires.....and as far as bias over radials..I'll take the radials...bias were usually out of round and were all over the road anyway...radials may not have the old school look but for me I'll be able to keeper on the road and hopefully out of the path of an oncoming semi!

 

[Gastrick]

but for me I'll be able to keeper on the road and hopefully out of the path of an oncoming semi!

You're taking all the excitement out of driving

 

[RAT FINK]

You're taking all the excitement out of driving

Been there once...wasn't much fun...luckily nobody died!!!!some people drive with two hands on the wheel,some with two feet on the pedals,I just like good tires...and LOUD PIPES

 

[2.3Turbo_T]

Craigslist or the junkyard! Pick-n-Pull yanks the good tires off their later model cars and sells the sets. A full set of Toyo Proxy4's with 80% tread left off a Lexus - $250 out the door. $5 per wheel to mount and $5 per wheel to balance at WalMart! Been running them on Thunderstang for over a year!

 

[lvin4jc]

I'm glad you had luck with WalMart, i've tried a few times and never had good luck. The last set I took in was horribly un-balanced, I thought maybe it was because the tires were all turning in the opposite direction of before the tire rotation and it all had to get into sync again. I headed off on vacation and rattled my brains for a couple of thousands of miles, guess it really was their balance job. The time before that I got in an argument with the tire person because I wanted them to move the tires with more tread to the rear (RWD car) and they told me they had to leave them up front so I could turn/brake better!