Tire Recalls For Tread Separation Still Plague Automotive Sector

Aug 5, 2012 by RickenbackerSeverin166

The story, highlighted by several rollover deaths, remained in the news for months, and had a severe effect on the manufacturer. Amongst other issues, angry consumers often had been told that replacement tires were not in stock. The recall did not go smoothly. Congressional investigations followe…

Firestone had to undertake a massive tire recall back in 2000 involving tires created for SUVs. Out of some 14 million sold, the approximately 6.five million nevertheless on the road had been recalled.

The story, highlighted by quite a few rollover deaths, remained in the news for months, and had an extreme impact on the manufacturer. Amongst other items, angry buyers often had been told that replacement tires had been not in stock. The recall did not go smoothly. Congressional investigations followed, and new tire safety legislation was enacted.

Reminiscent of these days are two recent tire recalls involving the identical defect that prompted the 2000 recall, namely tread separation and high failure prices, risking unsafe blowouts. The danger is exacerbated in hot summer time months.

Now, as if there are not enough woes with recalls of Chinese goods, you can to the list of tire recalls some 450,000 tires imported from China. This recall is particularly troublesome as will turn out to be evident from the story.

The present problem arises out of instances of tread separation of truck tires sold to U.S. distributors. The tires are light truck radials imported from the Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. located in Hangzhou, China. The dilemma is compounded by the fact that the recall does not involve a manufacturer that has a large U.S presence like Firestone.

In fact, the importer is a little New Jersey business with only six workers which lacks the funds to implement a recall. It does not even have a warehouse. Apparently the tires are drop shipped from the manufacturer directly to U.S. distributors. The Chinese firm is not becoming cooperative according to the National Highway Visitors Safety Administration (NHTSA). There allegedly have been two rollover deaths attributable to the tires.

The NHTSA has received some criticism based on indications that it was informed of the issue as early as 2005 and took no action.

Yet another recall just occurred (in 2007) involving the Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. Again, the hazard is tread separation dangers with about 92,000 light truck tires. Cooper denies that there is any defect, but is cooperating in performing a recall. Cooper had previously imported tires from the Hangzhou manufacturer, but ceased in 2005. The tires recalled in 2007 had been created in the U.S. Cooper is the second largest U.S. tire manufacturer.

Whilst it’s comforting to know the these defects are getting identified, it seems that from a customer point of view, the huge recall in 2000, coupled with subsequent federal legislation, ought to have eliminated tread separation problems. Evidently this is not the case. Obviously, consumers must not be complacent about tire safety concerns which continue to plague the tire business in the form of tread separation dangers.

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