Tires are known to be the most important safety mechanism of any vehicle. Be it a passenger car or a light truck, each and every automotive vehicle depends on tires for efficient running condition. Now that the prices of new tires are skyrocketing in the market of Tampa FL, car owners are looking for alternative ways of salvaging their old and used tires. Tire professionals within the area recommend recapping or regrooving procedures for tires with worn out tread.
Basically, a recapped tire is a tire that has its old tread layer removed. Recapping is the process of restoring a used tire to make it usable again. This is done by bonding new rubber unto the worn tire tread and the whole lateral surface. You just take an old worn out tire, remove the old tread by slicing it off, then mold unto it a new layer of tread.
Recapping is also called retreading by some tire specialists. The only thing that you need to remember before recapping your tires is that you need to be aware of your tire temperature. Tires that have been recapped should never get too hot. Otherwise, the tread would come off the tire and lead to road mishaps.
Another tire procedure closely related to recapping is tire regrooving. Regrooving is another tire procedure aimed at prolonging the life of tires. However, there are legal boundaries when it comes to this tire procedure. Tampa FL and other states have legal tire depth requirements that should be followed. As such, certain prohibitions and limitations apply to tire regrooving. For one, recapped tires should never be regrooved for there may not be enough tire rubber needed for a successful regrooving operation. In addition, if the metal weaving within the rubber is already exposed after a regrooving procedure, then the tire is not fit for legal use in Tampa FL and nearby states.
To have an idea as to how regrooving works, here is a brief summary of the whole process:
- The tire regrooving tool is allowed to heat up until the required temperature is achieved. the cutting edge of the regrooving tool is placed in between the trough and tire tread. Apply sufficient amount of pressure to the cutting edge in order to cut through the tire rubber.
- As the tire rubber is cut by the tool, pull out the end of the rubber that gets stuck on the regrooving tool at the end of each cutting stroke. It is advisable that you cut a straight line through the tire tread rather than following the original tread groove or trough pattern.
- Lastly, measure the tread depth to ensure that it is still within the legal requisites as required by law. For commercial trucks, a minimum tire tread depth of 0.125 inch on power unit steering axles and 0.0625 inch on all other axles are required. Meanwhile, the out-of-service criteria only requires 0.0625 inch tire tread depth on power unit steering axles and 0.03125 inch on all other axles. You can continue regrooving in each circumferential groove as long as you are within this bound.