Tire Recalls For Tread Separation Still Plague Automotive Sector
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The story, highlighted by several rollover deaths, remained in the news for months, and had a severe influence on the manufacturer. Amongst other items, angry buyers usually had been told that replacement tires had been 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 produced for SUVs. Out of some 14 million sold, the around 6.5 million still on the road were recalled.
The story, highlighted by several rollover deaths, remained in the news for months, and had a severe impact on the manufacturer. Among other items, angry consumers frequently were told that replacement tires had been not in stock. The recall did not go smoothly. Congressional investigations followed, and new tire security legislation was enacted.
Reminiscent of these days are two current tire recalls involving the identical defect that prompted the 2000 recall, namely tread separation and high failure rates, risking unsafe blowouts. The danger is exacerbated in hot summer months.
Now, as if there are not enough woes with recalls of car repair denver Chinese merchandise, you can to the list of tire recalls some 450,000 tires imported from doral tires review info China. This recall is specially troublesome as will become evident from the story.
The existing dilemma 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 problem is compounded by the reality that the recall does not involve a manufacturer that has a big U.S presence like Firestone.
In truth, the importer is a little New Jersey business with only purchase denver auto repair shops 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 getting cooperative according to the National Highway Traffic Security 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 dilemma as early as 2005 and took no action.
An additional recall just occurred (in 2007) involving the Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. Once 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 made in the U.S. Cooper is the second biggest U.S. tire manufacturer.
Although it is comforting to know the these defects are becoming identified, it seems that from a consumer point of view, the massive recall in 2000, coupled with subsequent federal legislation, ought to have eliminated tread separation issues. Evidently this is not the situation. Naturally, consumers must not be complacent about tire safety issues which continue to plague the tire sector in the form of tread separation dangers.
