Regrooving a tire.

[Jarlaxle]

No. Big no-no to regroove or even repair a nail puncture in a steer tire.

Most owners only run steer tread down to 40%, then move them back as a set to a drive position if they are tractor-only owners, but most tractor-trailer owners mover them to the trailer for the remainder of their service life.

Pablum. Patching steer tires is perfectly fine. (Indeed, I have a patched steer tire on my tractor at work.)

I would hazard a guess that 90% of the gators you see on the road are peeled hot caps. I lost three of them in one night going up I-5 the night they opened the stretch north of the grapevine in 1972. No cops and over 100 mph in the summer creates a lot of heat over a long distance, LOL. I had two spares, but when the third one went, I was stuck with my thumb. I haven't ever seen a cold cap fail but I've heard of a few.

I would guess 90% are not. If there is steel wire in it, it's not a cap.