Here's the skinny on retreads!
I used to work for Les Schwab Tires, we sold alot of retreads! First of all, all tires are very thoroughly looked over, and then they x-rayed and whatever scanners they use! If there is any doubt they are rejected without hesitation! Then the capping policy of today is incredible! I would run recaps on a DD!
As for running them on front steer axles, that's for tractor trailers! As Glenn has said, most truckers will run new steers for the front axle, and new drives for the rear drive axles and then have the worn out "virgin casings" recapped for trailer tires!
As for the "gators" found along the hwy, there was a study done by many different tire companies and agencies, that 90% of the gators actually started out with a low tire! Due to low air psi. due to not being checked or due to a object causing the leak, ie. nails, screws, metal objects, bone, rocks, cracks in the wheels, or a bad valve stem! The other 10% is due to bad capping process, tire separation, or a weak sidewall due to a prior flat tire and repair that wasn't thoroughly inspected! ie. zipper rip You never lived until you had a truck tire blow up in your face! Which can kill you, luckily I heard the cords popping and turned to get away when it blew!!
Now for us wheelers, recaps will work fine, as long as you don't run the air psi down to get the sidewall to flex! This is especially true if you run in the sand! The high speeds needed for sand will generate enough heat in the tire to cause the bond between the cap and casing to melt causing the cap to come loose! As for lower air psi for running in the hills, I wouldn't recommend it! As the tire flexes, the tire is not going to flex evenly! The recap is usually a harder rubber compound than the casing! So, your going to work the casing and the glue that binds the cap to the casing harder which in turn will heat up and possibly weaken the adhesive and/or casing causing the tire to fail!
Hope this helps!
