Tire Recalls For Tread Separation Still Plague Automotive Sector
Aus Salespoint
The story, highlighted by many rollover deaths, remained in the news for months, and had a extreme influence on the manufacturer. Amongst other items, angry consumers usually had been told that replacement tires were not in stock. The recall did not go smoothly. Congressional investigations followe...
Firestone had to undertake a huge tire recall back in 2000 involving tires made for SUVs. Out of some 14 million sold, the around 6.five million still on the road were recalled.
The story, highlighted by quite a few rollover deaths, remained in the news for months, and had a serious influence on the manufacturer. Amongst other factors, angry buyers frequently were 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 current tire recalls involving the exact same defect that prompted the 2000 recall, namely tread separation and high failure rates, risking dangerous blowouts. The danger is exacerbated in hot summer time months.
Now, as if there are not adequate woes with recalls of Chinese items, you can to the list of tire recalls some 450,000 tires imported from China. This recall is especially troublesome as will turn out to be evident from the story.
The existing problem arises out of instances of tread separation of truck tires sold look into tire denver to U.S. distributors. The tires are light truck radials imported from the Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. located in Hangzhou, China. The issue is compounded by the fact that the recall does not involve a manufacturer that has a big U.S presence like Firestone.
In fact, the importer is a tiny New Jersey firm with only six staff which lacks the funds to implement a recall. It does not even have a warehouse. Apparently the tires are drop shipped automobile tires from the manufacturer directly to U.S. distributors. The Chinese look into swis tire denver business 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 doing a recall. Cooper had previously imported tires from the Hangzhou manufacturer, but ceased in 2005. The tires recalled in 2007 had been produced in the U.S. Cooper is the second biggest U.S. tire manufacturer.
Even though it really is comforting to know the these defects are becoming identified, it seems that from a consumer viewpoint, the massive recall in 2000, coupled with subsequent federal legislation, ought to have eliminated tread separation troubles. Evidently this is not the case. Naturally, consumers should not be complacent about tire security concerns which continue to plague the tire industry in the form of tread separation dangers.
