Treadwright Nightmare

So I wanted to get some mud tires for my truck because my stock duelers were getting pretty shot. I saw Treadwright tires and a number of positive reviews on a few other forums.

I got on their email list to be alerted when my size was in stock. After a few weeks I got the email so I rushed to get my order in. I ordered four 285/65R18 Guard Dog MTs from their website in July 2014, The tires didn’t show up until October 2014.

First of all they charged me about $200 more than the invoice amount but I called them and they refunded the difference.

It was a long wait but when they got here the tires were beautiful. Instead of just being retread they actually remolded the sidewalls and everything. I couldn’t wait to get them mounted so I borrowed my parents car and had them take my truck with the tires to be mounted at my favorite shop while I was at work.

I told my father to make sure he gave the notice that came with the tires to the technician before he mounted and balanced them. You see when you buy Treadwrights they come with a little neon green notice on the packing slip that says something like ATTENTION: These tires must be mounted on the static setting with the weight split on the inside and outside at a twelve o clock position. That should have been a sign rite there…

When I got out of work I rushed over to the shop to pick up my truck. I saw my truck parked outside rocking the aggressive MTs and I couldn’t wait to take it out for a drive. Unfortunately when I got inside the tech told me that he spent an hour trying to get these tires to balance and something is wrong with them. I asked him if he followed the balancing instructions that came with the tires and he said he did and no matter what he tried they wouldn’t spin true or even close for that matter.

At this point I’m upset but my truck looked so good I figured how bad could it be. I had to shell out $50 for his labor and I took the truck for a ride.

Well I got up to about 25-30mph and the truck started shaking violently like the wheels were going to fall off. I knew immediately that the tires couldn’t even be close to balanced.

I didn’t want to believe that after all this time the tires were defective and I figured the first guy just didn’t know what he was doing so the next day I nursed the truck to a shop that specializes in recap tires for commercial applications. I told him the story so far and gave him the same balancing instructions as the first guy. he assured me he could balance them no problem.

After work I swing by to get the truck and he tells me the same thing, the tires must be defective they are calling for over a pound of weight.

I’m getting pretty upset at this point but the guy said he wasn’t going to charge me and told me I should return the tires to the manufacturer.

So on my way home I figure what the hell I’ll try one more place and I’m going to wait there while they work on them. Pep Boys was the only place I could find that was open late enough to do it. I took the truck in explained to them the situation, showed them the instructions and they of course assured me they could balance the tires. After waiting a half hour or so the tech comes out to the waiting room and said he wanted me to come with him. We went into the shop and he told me there’s nothing he can do with these tires, He showed me that he was placing the machine in the static setting and we loaded them on the machine one by one. I watched as the machine came up anywhere from 26-28 ounces per tire and said there’s no way he could stack that much weight on the tires.

So the next day I called Treadwright and told them everything, I asked them if there is something that I am missing on the balancing procedure and they said it didn’t sound like it. I asked them if I could return the tires and they told me I had to file a warranty claim through their website. I immediately did so after hanging up the phone.

A day later a customer service rep calls me and left a voicemail saying that they can take the tires I just have to ship them back to them for inspection and they will refund the purchase price. I called back and said you can’t expect me to front the shipping to send them back, I have already waited this long and spent a ton of money on the tires. She put me on with a manager that told me since they didn’t have any more tires in this size and I had written documentation from the tire shop they would refund my money and let me keep the tires. I was stunned I couldn’t believe how cool he was about it. He apologized to me and everything.

Well here’s where I screwed up. I didn’t get the guys name or contact info and sure enough 2 weeks later still no refund. I call to check in and they tell me “Well it says on the file that you are shipping the tires back so that we can inspect them, have you shipped the tires back to us yet?” So I told them that the manager said he was going to be refunding me and that I didn’t need to ship the tires back. Well of course they ask me if I got the managers name and tell me how their policy is that the need the tires back to receive a refund. I argue back and forth some more and they finally agree to take up the shipping costs to ship the tires back.

I was so frustrated at this point so I agreed to that until I realize that I don’t have any tires to put on the truck and I’m going to have to buy a whole other set just so I can ship these out. I called Treadwright today and asked them if they could just process my refund so that I could get a new set and then I would send theirs back. They just kept repeating vet and over that it's their policy and they can't do anything until they inspect the tires. I asked them if I'm just supposed to leave my truck on jack stands in the tire stores parking lot until they decide to refund my money and they said it would only take about a week and a half. Then I asked if they were going to refund the cost of mounting and balancing if their tires were defective and they said that they would no because that is something everyone had to do.

I mean is it just me? The manager says he's going to refund me, 2 weeks later they claim no one ever said that. Now they are holding my money hostage until I ship their defective tires back at which point they will only refund the cost of the tires even though I had to pay to find that it would be impossible to even balance them?

It old them to tell the manager thank you for not helping me in any way and hat I was going to spread the word on every forum and chat and tell everyone I know and she responded "that's ok we get that all the time"...

I just wanted to warn you guys about this company and I was wondering if anyone knew of s place like consumer protection or something could help me out. Thanks!

 

ouch. Thats a messy situation. At least this didnt happen (check the thread below)
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/wheels-tires/228773-treadwright-fail.html

 

Zach's Treadwright Review +blowout http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=340958

 

Thats the thread I was looking for. I know a couple guys running treadwrights and they love them but it seems hit and miss to me and not worth the risk for a little savings.

 

I've been there, with Geolanders. Stupid things wouldn't balance no matter how much weight you stacked on them.

I would call back and get a list of manager names, then talk to each one and see if you can find the one who promised the refund. If not, at least you have a list that you can publish on the web. People hate to see their names personally tagged to bad customer service. It's like a badge of shame for all to see. The company owners will know exactly who to fire.

If you are getting a refund anyway, try a tire store that will do a zero down - zero interest finance, then pay it off when you get the money.

 

Im running the hankook dynapro MT. I love them. I know alot of local guys running them too. Its a good cheap MT.

 

I understood the risks dude but stand behind your product and at least attempt to help the customer.

 

Couldnt agree more

 

Thanks, I think the finance thing is my best bet then they can give me the tires back so I can ship them out and when they give me the refund I can put it towards the new ones.

 

The woman's right. There's plenty of negative experiences with Treadwright posted on the 'net. It's a shame folks aren't finding these easy enough to sway them to stay away.

They have an F rating with the BBB: http://www.bbb.org/houston/business...and-repair/treadwright-in-houston-tx-90034998

 

Wished I would've seen some of the negative threads somewhere, im just now seeing them unfortunately. The first one my shop tried to balance was out of round and shaped like an egg plus called for 15 oz. of weight.. Manager at tire shop told me he couldnt take my money and that I should return the tires. I sent them an email today but haven't heard from them yet, trying to avoid a phone call because I have a tendency to be an asshole and that wont help me at the moment. Sucks having to send tire/tires back and not having anything to run in the mean time, thought about ordering another tire and have them refund the charge once they inspect the tire but dont trust them to do that. It a shame they can't stand behind there product and be worried about negative threads like these but in time more and more people will see these threads first and their business will suffer.....hopefully.

 

This is just outright robbery to knowingly and arrogantly sell lame bullshit this bad and then tell people to fuck off when they call them on it. Why the hell does the attorney general in the state they are in not shut this shit down if it is that bad? No way I'd ever try and run these craptastic things even for free. The term retread says enough to me even if they had an A+ BBB rating to just say no.

 

I know it's BS.

They best part is how they market themselves as a glorified American product made in merica by mericans!

They always offer military discounts not to mentions they are claiming to be a "green" company because they are recycling old tires.

They must have a hell of a marketing team. They are thieving criminals period.

 

Filed three warranty claims with Treadwright this week and have had no reply whatsoever ...until this afternoon. Got a tracking email this afternoon, saying a tire to replace the egg shaped one is in its way. Strange, not an email or phone call and they just shipped another tire without pics or anything. I hope they feel lucky, because iv ealresdy told them that is the only tire we checked before the guy wouldnt touch them again. We'll see how 4nis plays out and if they can stand behind their product and behind their customers as well.

 

still loving mine, balanced perfect. sucks you got a bad batch.

 

This is interesting. I had some Treadwright tires on my old 3rd Gen 4Runner and had the complete opposite experience.

I was able to request all newer caracas (BFG all terrains) that would be recapped. Treadwright even helped me get caracases that were no older than 4 years old! The cost was great and I got my tires in under a week on my doorstep. I did have an issue balancing one tire as it needed a bit more weight that normal (i think it needed 10oz) but the other three were fine (the tire tech at the local shop tried to balance dynamically at first, I had to correct him). Once he figured that out all was well. Well kind of.

I drove home just fine at HWY speed with no issue, balance was great. The next morning however i left for work and the Runner drove strange. I pulled over and did a walk around. I had a flat.... there was a puncture in the sidewall. I put on my factory sized spare (much smaller) and drove it back home.

I called treadwright and let them know I had an issues with the one tire, they said no problem and sent me a new tire (BFG all terrain less than 4 years old - without me specifying). The new tire was on my door the next day!!! Thats pretty dang good considering they are on the other side of the country. No cost to me.

Anyway the new tire had no issues balancing and held air just fine.

I do however think you are somewhat gambling when you get any retread. That however can be off set by good specification and common sense. Overall I think their tires are worth it and their customer service was really good and worked with me to make sure I was happy.

I did a ton of research in their company and saw a lot of the threads about people having bad experiences and blow outs with their tires(most of these were the same exact story on multiple forums). I however felt that by getting caracases that were only 4 years old or newer that really help my piece of mind. I would be interested to see the manufacture date of the caracases of the people that have had issues. I can pretty much assure they are 6+ years old. The other things about this is a new tire can blow out at speed as well. Its somewhat luck of the draw.

Overall I think Treadwright gets a bad rap and you do need to do what you can to make sure you get something you are comfortable with.

Anyway not trying to defend them just giving my experience with the company.

 

I been to a re-treader locally and these guys balance the wheels and check for roundness as part of their QA/QC process.

Sucks that your experience was so bad.

 

x2 got the Wardens on BFG casings almost 2 years ago, have but prollly 45-50k miles on them and still have , idk 6/32s left on them, have been excellent on and off road and zero signs of weakness or defects.

sorry you've had a tough time with them OP


I'm in the market now for a new set and was planning on going w/ TW again. have heard a bit more negative reviews lately though so I'm still up in the air about it.. maybe they got too big for their britches..

 

The ones I got were complete remolds they say Treadwright on the sidewall so there's no way of telling what the carcasses were.

I ended up getting BFG ko2s mounted last night. Been trying to call Treadwright all day with no response. Just been leaving voicemails. Maybe they are taking the week off for thanksgiving...

 

Why would anybody buy a retread?