[Climber]

Now I Had been looking at tires for awhile. I wanted something in the 265/75r16 size to last me a couple years till I could afford a lift and 33s. There were many tires to choose from but based on reviews the treadwrights seemed like a great bargain for what I was wanting so I picked up a set. onto the review.

Now most reviews I read online are very one sided, not saying anyone was wrong but a lot of what I read was either "they are a gift from god and I will never ever run anything else" which is fine if your happy with them, or "if you run these tires your putting your childrens and everyones life at risk because its a retread" and "they are crap just buy new tires" without any of the people even running them. So im just going to give my honest opinion of what I think of the tires and the company in general. Going onto the website, they are very professional offering many different tread patterns its countless sizes. The most popular 2 being the Warden (BFG all terrain tread) and the Guard Dog (which look to me like goodyear wrangler MTRs tread) so I opted for the wardens as I like the BFG look.

Treadwright Warden


Guard Dog


So I order a set of 4 with BFG sidewalls hoping to fool some people. :P I also ordered them in the D rating. The next morning I have the money taken out of my account, 516$ was the total with shipping, but no shipping confirmation... I wait 3 more days and decide to call and see what was up, well they inform me they have a shortage of BFG carcasses and were in the process of tracking some down but they had set with yokohama sidewalls they could send(wish they would have told me this three days ago..) so I said what the heck send em and 3 days later this is what was delivered


First impressions-
I really liked how they turned out! they appear to be very solid and you can BARELY tell that they are retreads (both tire shops I went to thought it was a new yoko tread...it was quite sad.)
Next, these things are flippin heavy!! I had just got off work and didn't feel like mounting them myself so I took them to wallyworld to get them mounted and it was a chore lugging those things around.
They also appear to run large, I didnt measure but very close to a full 32in.

First problem, And thus far the only problem, Balancing... I took them to walmart for a mount and balance hoping they could get it right, after giving them the balancing instructions I went to go browse the store. well 3 hours later I get a call saying my truck is done. I go out to see the tech standing there with a big smile on his face like he accomplished some huge feat and then says "man they took a lot of weight! each tire needed close to 12oz!" If looks could kill you seen me on the news for murder. I know for a fact that they did not need that much weight, I understand they will need more weight that a standard tire but 12oz!!! treadwright garuntees that each tire will require no more than 5oz so this kid just didn't know what he was doing... Well on my drive home it was surprisingly smooth and was about to eat my words when I got on the highway and I felt like I was if a rocketship about to take off. Frustrated I drive home to barely get any sleep while I begin my plan to find the boy responsible and give him a firm talkin too. Im kidding in all reality its my fault for going to walmart but it was the only tire shop open late enough to do it that late and I was desperate...







A few days later I took my truck to a small mom and pop tire shop hoping to get a better balance and they got each tire down to 2-4 oz except one which took 9.5oz which I emailed treadwright about on Monday and never got a response so looks like im gonna have to call them again... but the shop was able to eliminate the death shake at 65 but now theres a smaller shake from 35 up which im dealing with for the time being but I plan to have them balance AGAIN so if anyone has had their treadwright balance anywhere in the valley let me know im willing to drive.

Offroad performance-
Here in the valley of phoenix Arizona we had some nice showers this past week so on my day off I took out a few guns and made my way to queen valley and I have to saw with the dirtroads hiding the imbalance I was very impressed and the mud I was willing to go through, I hate mud unless pretty girls are watching, the traction was excellent, I was aired down to about 30psi and I wasn't getting thrashed at all.
decent view, I wasn't in a picture taking mood


Overall-
Build Quality 9/10
offroad 9/10
onroad 8/10 (pending due to balance issues)
customer service 9/10

If I had to do it over again I would probably save up just a bit more and go with a local shop deal but that's not to say i'm not happy. As long as they balance out correctly and wear properly I will be perfectly happy. Now are they a gift from god? No just another option for the general offroader. Do I feel like they will ever leave me stranded with a blowout or tread separation? absolutely not. I inspected all 4 tires upon arrival and they really did seem to be well made. Realistically im only expecting 25 or 30k miles maybe even less as I plan to upgrade with lift. Who knows if these work out I may end up with 285/75r16 guard dogs. If you find yourself in a situation like me with a little cash and need some tires these may be great for you, these next 10k miles will be interesting to see how they turn out but I will be sure to update this periodically!

-Alex

****4 MONTH UPDATE****
After driving on these tires for about 4 months I can tell you I definitely don't think I wasted my money. light hum on the highway but barely noticeable and wearing is very even. Ive since takin them more offroad aired down to 20psi (I know not super low but I don't have a good compressor so I try to save time on the way out) and they haven't let me down. I will say this, don't mess around with balancing, do it right the first time. Use the roadforce balancer and the correct adapter for lug centric wheels and call it a day. We will see how they handle the phoenix heat and ill give another update in a few months after I take a trip to cali and the brutal Arizona summer. Any questions don't hesitate to PM me.

-Alex

[t4r4life]

screw weights, balancing beads ftw!

[Climber]

Originally Posted by t4r4life

screw weights, balancing beads ftw!

never thought of that...how much weight do you think ill need?

[t4r4life]

Originally Posted by Climber

never thought of that...how much weight do you think ill need?

5oz for 32s. if you do use them throw some Talcum Powder in with the beads so they won't ever stick together.

[Illestreker]

beads ftw. I know a guy with 35" guard dogs and he was able to balance them perfectly with the bead method.

[Cree]

Did either shop use a lug centric machine?

[kernel.panik]

Originally Posted by Cree

Did either shop use a lug centric machine?

Good luck finding one of those in the valley, I've tried...

Some shops will Road-Force balance (Camelback Toyota was the cheapest I found) but either no-one knows what you are talking about or they don't have the lug-centric adapter anymore...

I haven't bit the bullet yet on the Road-Force because I have too many maintenance parts to buy first and I've paid for at least 3 regular balances already with no results... If I could pop a bead, I'd try the airsoft BBs as I have a few thousand...

Rig looks good OP, same size tires as mine, I have the BFGs (real ones) with over 50K and most of the tread left. (measure about 31.7" new) They are over 5 years old now, so I'm just worried about the life left in the rubber as the previous set that came with the truck when I bought it were OK for tread, but the sidewalls were splitting due to age. That is my only concern with a re-tread. AZ summers bake and dryrot rubber so fast...and the sidewalls aren't new.

Let us know if you get that balance figured out!

[BrianSD_42]

To put out in perspective you can order a set of General Grabber AT2 for $636 plus tax and shipping, so about $750.

And .... you get brand new tires.

The AT2 is a great tire. I've run it and BFG and can't tell the difference.

[Cree]

Originally Posted by kernel.panik

Good luck finding one of those in the valley, I've tried...

Some shops will Road-Force balance (Camelback Toyota was the cheapest I found) but either no-one knows what you are talking about or they don't have the lug-centric adapter anymore...

I haven't bit the bullet yet on the Road-Force because I have too many maintenance parts to buy first and I've paid for at least 3 regular balances already with no results... If I could pop a bead, I'd try the airsoft BBs as I have a few thousand...

Rig looks good OP, same size tires as mine, I have the BFGs (real ones) with over 50K and most of the tread left. (measure about 31.7" new) They are over 5 years old now, so I'm just worried about the life left in the rubber as the previous set that came with the truck when I bought it were OK for tread, but the sidewalls were splitting due to age. That is my only concern with a re-tread. AZ summers bake and dryrot rubber so fast...and the sidewalls aren't new.

Let us know if you get that balance figured out!

That sucks. My dealership had an ESP machine, so I lucked out.

I had TW's on my 85. I loved them. Mine took 7.5 on one wheel, but I think that might have been a bent wheel rather than a bad tire. They're still on the truck. My buddy is happy with them too.

[JBecker]

After hitting a retread on a motorcycle and almost dying, I hate them with a passion. You saved, what, $150 over a set of quality tires?

False economy.

[Robb235]

Originally Posted by JBecker

After hitting a retread on a motorcycle and almost dying, I hate them with a passion. You saved, what, $150 over a set of quality tires?

False economy.

+1

As a rider myself, I make sure to stay FAR away from 18-wheelers to avoid this issue. That's all I need is to be behind some jackass who I have no idea is running retreads, and have his tire fall apart, putting everyone else's safety at risk.

[Shibby!]

Originally Posted by Robb235

+1

As a rider myself, I make sure to stay FAR away from 18-wheelers to avoid this issue. That's all I need is to be behind some jackass who I have no idea is running retreads, and have his tire fall apart, putting everyone else's safety at risk.

For the ill informed, your own government did a study on truck retreads and the conclusion was that a retread is just as likely to delaminate as a new tire.

That being said, I bought Treadwrights to give them a try and won't be buying again. In fact I want to sell them and buy new tires. Your balancing issues have just begun. Plus the mileage you suffer from running an ultra heavy tire will remove any gains from a cheaper initial purchase. Not to mention the rough ride because of the tire construction.

I've mounted my snow tires and was so excited for a smooth ride again. The snow tires are C rated where my Treadwrights are D rated. Way smoother and no vibrations. My Treadwrights have had one tire replaced under warranty (at my cost of install, shipping, etc) and I've had them balanced four times now in ~30,000km's. I get about the same mileage in winter with winter gas and my 33" snow tires because of the reduced weight of the tire.

In the spring I'll probably try to sell these to some offroader for cheap and buy some new, lighter mud terrain tires.

[Climber]

Originally Posted by JBecker

After hitting a retread on a motorcycle and almost dying, I hate them with a passion. You saved, what, $150 over a set of quality tires?

False economy.

This thread was not designed as a I love or hate retreads just to give an honest opinion...and I can almost garuntee it wasn't a treadwright you hit as most tire treads you see on the road are caused by truckers neglect. So let's not argue everyone

[Climber]

Originally Posted by BrianSD_42

To put out in perspective you can order a set of General Grabber AT2 for $636 plus tax and shipping, so about $750.

And .... you get brand new tires.

The AT2 is a great tire. I've run it and BFG and can't tell the difference.

Please let's not go down this road, if most people don't understand why I went with treadwrights it was for the price. I save 200 with treadwright total so far and as a 19 year old who just got back from Thailand for 6 weeks and about to leave in January for panama I have to make every penny count. When I buy bigger tires I'm 95% sure they will be a higher quality tire but that's when funds permit and I don't see that anytime soon.

[Climber]

Originally Posted by kernel.panik

Good luck finding one of those in the valley, I've tried...

Some shops will Road-Force balance (Camelback Toyota was the cheapest I found) but either no-one knows what you are talking about or they don't have the lug-centric adapter anymore...

I haven't bit the bullet yet on the Road-Force because I have too many maintenance parts to buy first and I've paid for at least 3 regular balances already with no results... If I could pop a bead, I'd try the airsoft BBs as I have a few thousand...

Rig looks good OP, same size tires as mine, I have the BFGs (real ones) with over 50K and most of the tread left. (measure about 31.7" new) They are over 5 years old now, so I'm just worried about the life left in the rubber as the previous set that came with the truck when I bought it were OK for tread, but the sidewalls were splitting due to age. That is my only concern with a re-tread. AZ summers bake and dryrot rubber so fast...and the sidewalls aren't new.

Let us know if you get that balance figured out!

I will for sure! I'm gonna focus on it in a couple months when I get home and hopefully get everything straightened out, thank you!