Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| TIRES | |||
| 04/18/2010 | 76000 | ||
| Driving 70mph on the interstate complete blowout 2x in one week... sidewalls look like the rubber was weathered and extremely cracked... | |||
| 06/14/2009 | 1 | ||
| The family was traveling on us highway 77 about 45 miles north of raymondville on king ranch in 2001 f150 supercrew (lariet). we heard a loud explosion and saw smoke coming from rear tire on passenger side. we had complete tread separation but did not lose air. we were able to drive to crossover to change tires. there was extensive damage to the truck's wheel well, fiberglass fender, and rear panel of truck. according to collision center, it is at least $1800 worth of damage. *tr | |||
| 03/19/2009 | 108000 | 1 | |
| I heard a popping sound for a couple of days. then it just blew out. *tr | |||
| 10/11/2008 | 83564 | 1 | |
| Yesterday i noticed one tire was flat - tried to put air into it and it wouldn't take the air. when i crawled under my truck i noticed the inside wall of the tire had dry rotted. *tr | |||
| TIRES - TEMPORARY/EMERGENCY SPARE TIRE | |||
| 07/28/2008 | 158000 | 1 | |
| Vehicle in question is a 2001 ford f150. as the truck was traveling at 20 mph, the braided steel cable that retains the spare tire in the rear underside of the truck broke. this caused the spare tire to bounce down the street and strike a following vehicle. investigation on web forums has information that this is a common problem with these trucks that are exposed to winter salt, the salt has caused cables to corrode in numerous trucks. if this happened on the highway, it easily could have caused serious injuries or deaths. *tr | |||
| 03/15/2006 | 28000 | 1 | 01/18/2001 |
| Dt*: the contact stated while driving 25 mph the cable that secures the spare tire in place fractured without warning. the incident occurred on march 13, 2006. *ak updated 4/6/2006 - *nm | |||
| TIRES - TREAD/BELT | |||
| 09/05/2007 | 1 | ||
| I purchase a used truck that had 4 fairly new continental contitrac suv tires (p26570r17). the tread wear on all 4 tires was similar and very low, implying to me that the tires were relatively new. approximately one year after purchase, my right front tire suffered a total tread separation. at about 75 mph on a hot dry day, i heard a loud roar and an 'explosion' from the front right side of the vehicle. i pulled over immediately thinking i had a blowout, but discovered the tire was still fully inflated but had completely lost all tread. i moved the vehicle to a safe location and installed the spare. i examined the tire, and could see that the steel belts were still intact and appeared clean and new. the layers of rubber that seal the belts in were visible, and it appeared to me that the tread layer had simply not adhered to the core. there is no evidence of a problem with the other three tires. i took the tire to discount tire co., which carries continental tires, and they said continental would only cover half the replacement cost. considering the danger of a total tread separation like this, and that it is clearly a manufacturing defect, i'm concerned that the company (continental) isn't so much as inconvenienced by the fact that their product is causing this dangerous situation. i was lucky, but had i instead been on a curve when the tread separated, i can see how the outcome would have been substantially less favorable. the damage to my vehicle was minimal, but again, this is more luck than anything else. just glancing through the list of complaints concerning catastrophic tread loss on this particular model of tire, it's difficult not to be struck by the staggering number of them. i would very much like to see the nhtsa investigate this matter. *jb | |||
| 09/17/2006 | 50000 | 1 | 10/19/2001 |
| At approximately 9:30 pm, while traveling north on i-81 near winchester, va at 65 mph in a 2001 ford f-150, the left rear tire sustained tread separation. the tire did not deflate. vehicle yawed across two lanes of traffic, but was brought under control and did not roll over. there were no injuries. the tire was b.f. goodrich model radial long trail t/a p235/70r16 and was an original tire on the vehicle. it had over 0.2 of an inch of tread remaining after 50,000 miles. vehicle sustained major damage to the wheel well, side panel, and supports. the remaining four tires (including spare) are being replaced. *jb | |||