315/75/16 Treadwright Guard Dog ?'s

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Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Threads
24
Messages
45
Location
Carlisle, PA
I see on their web page they list these as being for off road only. I emailled them and the response was that many of their customers use them on their daily drivers but they "assume" that these larger tires were used off road in their first life so they do not warranty them like their other sizes. I am seriously considering a set of these for my LC and want to order them soon because they say they have a 4-6 week lead time. I will be running them on my stock cruiser until I get my ironman lift and get it installed. Is anyone else running the 315's on the street without any issues? How do you like them so far? Most reviews give high marks and I am on a budget until I sell off a few things (grand wagoneers) and can then add some aftermarket parts to my landcruiser. Thanks.
 
I'm running the 285's guard dogs with the kedge grip, had them for 3 or 4 years now. I am so incredibly sold on this product I doubt I will ever buy anything else.

I daily drive these tires, wheel anything I point the nose at, and they absolutely rock in deep snow and packed/ice. After 45k these tires are about halfway to the wear bars. My next set will be either 315's or the 16.5 37's they offer.

Great tires, definite bargain.
 
As for the size vs lift question, the 315 will fit fine for street driving, but may scrub when fully articulated on the trail- ymmv.
 
You might want to seach Treadwright here in the 80's forum. IIRC they were the retreads that got a fellow an amusement park style ride with the fam all packed in the 80 (rolled it several times) - I might have my brands wrong, but I swear it was them - if you have a streeter then I'd avoid - if you trailer it to a trailhead, that's a different story totally.
 
There are many stories of tire failure with multiple different tire brands. Retread tires frighten people because they are just that used tires with new tread and I believe they are now doing all new bead to bead which is that much more reliable. From what I have seen there really is not that many failures compared to tires sold and who is to say that the failures weren't due to improper tire maintenance. I think it is a good option and just like any tire keep up the maintenance.
 
i also got a little worried when i saw that about no warranty on the larger tires. I did a bunch of research and found that a bunch of people are running them in that size as their daily driver tire with no complaints. I can't get mine yet cuz the :princess: wont let me buy new tires unless i sell the ones I have. the plan was to sell mine, buy some super cheap used tires in a 16" rim to throw on there till the guard dogs came...but then we planned a trip to moab :) and i dont want to risk not having the new tires in time for the trip, so i'm going to order them after. there is a thread on here about a very unfortunate rollover that happened on the freeway when a treadwright failed, but there are sooooo many more threads about non-retread tires failing (sometimes brand new). the treadwrights get a bad reputation on mud (IMHO) because that blow out caused a very bad rollover. So even though there have been more failures on new tires, this one got a ton of attention because it was so scary. luckily nobody was hurt in the accident if i recall correctly. good luck and do a write up on them if you get them :)
 
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You might want to seach Treadwright here in the 80's forum. IIRC they were the retreads that got a fellow an amusement park style ride with the fam all packed in the 80 (rolled it several times) - I might have my brands wrong, but I swear it was them - if you have a streeter then I'd avoid - if you trailer it to a trailhead, that's a different story totally.

From what I recall, the guy was running heavily loaded in excess of 80mph through the desert heat after he went wheeling. The tire failed and he rolled, totaling the truck but everyone was fine.

My take away from this story- avoid high speed runs through high heat when heavily loaded, and watch your inflation pressures. That goes for any tire.

Zero problems with mine. Great balance, wear characteristics, and durability. I wouldn't be afraid of these tires- they aren't the cheap recaps made in the seventies, totally different animal.
 
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From what I recall, the guy was running heavily loaded in excess of 80mph through the desert heat after he went wheeling. The tire failed and he rolled, totaling the truck but everyone was fine.

My take away from this story- avoid high speed runs through high heat when heavily loaded, and watch your inflation pressures. That goes for any tire.

Zero problems with mine. Great balance, wear characteristics, and durability. I wouldn't be afraid of these tires- they aren't the cheap recaps made in the seventies, totally didn't animal.

This would be about my take on them as well. If you plan on lots of highway driving, I would stick with a new tire, if its an inner city or short commute daily driver with some wheeling not to far away, their probably fine. :meh:
 
From what I recall, the guy was running heavily loaded in excess of 80mph through the desert heat after he went wheeling. The tire failed and he rolled, totaling the truck but everyone was fine.

I think this person also had one or both sway bars removed which added to factors causing the rollover.

I though about running the treadwrights but being in California the shipping cost ate into the savings too much for me so I went new. I probably have another year or so left in my GT Radial M/T's then I may go back to the Kumho A/T's I ran on my Discovery II since the trails I've gone on don't really require a M/T.
 
From what I recall, the guy was running heavily loaded in excess of 80mph through the desert heat after he went wheeling. The tire failed and he rolled, totaling the truck but everyone was fine.

My take away from this story- avoid high speed runs through high heat when heavily loaded, and watch your inflation pressures. That goes for any tire.

Zero problems with mine. Great balance, wear characteristics, and durability. I wouldn't be afraid of these tires- they aren't the cheap recaps made in the seventies, totally different animal.

That's like Ford blaming Firestone for Exploder blowouts when they were installing P series tires at horribly low recommended pressures to try to fix ride quality problems.

I have been very happy with my Treadwrights and will be buying more soon for the Tundra.
 
I love my treadwrights. they are a bit heavy but i have 285/70/17 load E . I was told the load E would last a bit longer and come on a stronger carcas. They look great ! they dig and crawl thru anything . i'm selling mine to go up a size and might just get new gaurd dogs just bigger. they are heavy but they are wearing amazingly !! looks like at least 80K is possible

picture of mine on Fj cruiser rim https://forum.ih8mud.com/tires-wheels/718933-5-285-70-17-fj-cruiser-rims.html
 
I had a tread separation on a long tow with a heavily loaded cab, pulling a car. I replaced it with another Gaurd Dog in the same size. (315/75-16). I've been running them for years at this point and have sold the tire for Treadwright with good experiences reported by all i've recommended to date, other than my blow out.
 
There's a reason why it's illegal to put retreads on the steer tires of commercial vehicles. They are good tires for what the are and no legal prohibition for applying this tires on private vehicles.

My experience with helping manage retreads in a semi fleet is why I don't run retreads. For a trail or off-road only vehicle, no problem. Heading across Kansas in July? No thanks.
 
This is the thread everyone is talking about:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/405093-our-new-land-cruiser-saved-our-lives.html

Lots of factors to this heat, speed, load, new rig, driver abilities and alertness, used core age and rating, tire air pressure and more. Each case of failer has a list.

Retreads are just that used tires with new tread added. The strength of the retread tire is in the core shell used and the bonding to it. Note any tire can fail but used is used and new is new. In the trucking industry retreads are good for any position but never for steer tires (DOT reg's).

I would get the E rated core just for the added piece of mind if buying retreads. The LC is classed for D rated tires so move up a rating class for added safety.

JM2C
 
I just wanted the guy to go into Treadwrights eyes wide open, and personally don't have any issue with them on trailered rigs like I said. Glad someone found the rollover thread, I know it wasn't a black & white case. Beyond that the OP can do literally whatever he wants, that's the beauty of personal ownership. I live where the temp of the asphalt stays cooler & rarely break 70, so extreme tire temps aren't a whopping issue for me & never have bought a retread becase I get new tires that are "cheap enough" by me - but it's all personal choice.
 
I use mine mostly around town and not heavily loaded so I would more than likely never have to worry , but when the family does go on a extended camping trip I think the pictures of that roll over would always be in the back of my mind. I have gone back and fourth on these tires many times and just haven't convinced my self to purchase them. I think I would be hyper sensitive to every strange vibration and road noise. The price point is very tempting though.
 
I just wanted the guy to go into Treadwrights eyes wide open...

Exactly where I'm coming from, too.

Based on what I've heard, the Treadwright is a quality retread. When used in applications where retreads are suitable, they do what's expected of them.

But if you need the reliability of a new tire over a wide extreme of usage, then you should use a new tire.

Any tool is useful, if you know how to use it, and dangerous, if you ask it to do something it's not designed for.

And has been mentioned, things are relative. New tires can have defects and abuse can create other problems. Then there's plain bad luck. Any tire can fail. Don't ignore yours, check PSI regularly and inspect for damage as needed...oh, and don't forget your St. Christopher's medal:D
 
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