Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| TIRES | |||
| 09/11/2010 | 76380 | ||
| We were driving on the interstate and noticed the vehicle was shaking. when we arrived at our destination we found that the right rear tire has a large buldge on the tread of the tire. we went on line to investigate these type of tires and found that cooper tire co. had a recall on those similar type of tires however, we have the mt style tire and they had recalled the rt style due to steel cords busting in the tires. the recall is for the exact same tire except that ours are a mud terrain and the recall is for the radial tread tire. | |||
| 03/15/2009 | 143815 | 1 | |
| Without any warning (i.e., no noise, no vibration, no sound), all of sudden heard very loud slapping sound coming from front right wheel well of f350 truck. the right front tire had a 50+% tread belt separation with no loss of tire pressure. significant damage to wheel well, twisted running board, quarter panel, and front bumper moved. *tr | |||
| 08/16/2007 | 53000 | 1 | 11/23/1998 |
| I was traveling on the expressway with my 99 ford f-350 pulling a 5th wheel trailer when the front driver's side tire blew out. as i wrestled the truck to the shoulder, the brakes completely failed. as far as i could tell, even the electronic brakes on the trailer weren't helping to stop me as i drifted to a stop on the shoulder. the tire tread when it shredded apparently blew out a vacuum hose and there may have been some other connector or line associated with the abs system that was affected - but i think it was just the vacuum hose. the mechanic who got us back on the road said that when the hose went out, the abs system thought the tire was locked so it shut off the brakes - apparently all of them. if i had been in city traffic, we'd have plowed into vehicles in front of us potentially resulting in death or severe injury for someone. trying to remember to downshift or hit the parking brake while wrestling a truck pulling a trailer that is riding on the front wheel rim and trying to pull back into traffic is rather challenging. i've lost a lot of confidence in abs and wonder if this was an isolated incident, something associated with that particular vehicle or a basic hazard of abs systems that is unknown to the public. *tr | |||
| 10/09/2005 | 18800 | 1 | 07/27/1998 |
| 1. left front tire on 1999 ford f350 four wheel drive dually with 18,800 odometer miles started to shake at highway speed approximately 10 seconds before tire blew from cord separation. tire has almost full tread depth as new tire. it is a general grabber tr in 235/85-r16 size that was equipped as original equipment on this vehicle. tire was inflated to manufacturers specified air pressure of 65 psi. all seven tires on this vehicle had been recently checked (within the last week) for proper inflation and any abnormalities. i was not towing a trailer. there were four adults in the vehicle at the time of this incident. 2. tire blew violently, causing vehicle to swerve into oncoming lane of traffic. fortunately, there was no oncoming traffic at that time. tire remains ruined fender, abs system, bumper guard, and inner fender well, along with wheel and other components before vehicle could be stopped from 60 miles per hour. 3. i was able to limp home approximately 100 miles using spare tire, and wiring, fender well, etc. out of contact with tire. i do have the defective tire. *jb | |||
| 09/01/2004 | 4 | ||
| While driving the tire tread separated causing damage to the vehicle. *nm the first tire was replaced within the first year of owning the vehicle because the tire was leaking air. the second occurrence was when the tread separated while driving 65 mph. the third and fourth tires developed a bubble. *jb | |||
| 03/06/2004 | 1 | ||
| Driving north bound on i-95 at 60mph heavy vibration for 15 to 20 sec then tire exploded. replaced with spare. defective tire is available. this is the second tire from a set of four i have had trouble with. the other tire had the belts slip causing vibration and loud noise. another tire from that group is chunking in the center. *ak | |||
| 03/20/2004 | 72200 | 1 | 12/15/1998 |
| Bought 6-10ply heavy duty truck tires for my ford 350, dually, diesel truck & i rotated them every 6 months. when i was in a mall, a passer-by stopped me to tell me my left front tire, on the inside had a huge bubble in it. when i looked, it was around 8 to 10 in. around & when i stopped, it did not go down, it stayed there. i only had them for about 2 yrs. i bought them from a & k tires on moody blvd., in flagler beach, fl. 32136 goodyear would not even pro-rate them, i had to buy another tire. now, i am afraid the other 5 will do the same & as a retiree, i can't afford to buy 6 tires every two years for my truck. i am afraid another bubble will come up on the other tires, but i am stuck with them. if it had blown out on the expressway, there could have been a serious accident, but thanks to a concerned passerby, there was no accident. hope i am that lucky again, if the other tires go out too. *jb | |||
| 1 | |||
| Front left aluminum wheel cracked, causing the tire to leak air. *ak | |||
| 05/28/2001 | 1 | 05/06/1999 | |
| The front tires always need air, the consumer believes the tires may be mislabled (the tire says 2 ply but it should have an 8 or 10 ply rating), the tire inflation spec is 65 but the tire manufacturer has 80, the outer drivers side tire has a buldge and upon further inspection there are numerous cracks in the tire sidewall which appears to be dry rot (general gripper lt235/85r16). nlm | |||
| 10/17/1998 | 1 | 07/01/1998 | |
| On october 17, 1998 after driving on a us montana 300 miles i had a front passenger tire blow out. the last i recall was jerking the wheel and when i corrected i struck a small irrigation bridge in the on coming lane causing my truck to roll. this caused me to fracture my skull, break my neck, and be hospitilized for seven weeks. i had an engineer, who is a private consultant for goodyear, examine the photographs of my tire and sent me a report saying the tire failed due to lw air pressure. i had my tire checked by a certified ford dealership the day prior to my accident and i have proof of that. if this tire is the fault of goodyear it should be recalled before others nearly die like i did. i have two peices of the tire and the rim in my possession. the engineer said if i found the tire i may find melted nylon on the sidewall which i did find the tire. it does have melted nylon on the rubber and it is a 360 degree seperation with the inside and outside of the tire still on the rim and the tread section missing. (tiresize: 235/85r16)( dot number: tire size: 235/85r16 ) | |||
| 10/17/1998 | 1 | 07/01/1998 | |
| I nearly died as a result of a front, passenger tire that failed causing my vehicle to leave the roadway after i tried to correct after the blowout. i struck the end of an irrigation bridge and rolled my truck, breaking my neck, fracturing my skull and being hospitilized for seven weeks. i had a private engineer who is a consultant for goodyear look at the photographs of my tire and give a report that it was a failure due to running low on air. i had my tire pressure checked 1 day prior to the accident and have proof of that. i found two parts of the tire and the wheel recently and as the engineer said i would find melt nylon on the sidewall, i did find melted nylon. i have the two pieces of the tire in my possession. (tiresize: 235/85r 16)( dot number: tire size: 235/85r 16 ) | |||
| 11/19/2000 | 1 | 04/01/1999 | |
| A few weeks ago, i was travelling home when the right front tire of my 1999 ford super duty blew out. as i was driving, a heard a loud bang followed by a hard pull to the right and major vibrations in the front end of the vehicle. i was able to pull the truck off to the side of the road and no one in the truck was injured. it appears to me by looking at the tire, that the tread has separated from the sidewall all the way around the circumference of the tire. i took the tire into firestone to let them examine it. the manager has given me a report that states found no visual problems in the tire. with this type of blowout, i would have expected to see some scrap steel in the tread or a large nail hole (or something). we found no indications that the tire was injured. the tires were properly inflacted because i always make it a point to check air pressure on all long road trips, just as i did on november 19, 2000. the tires have more than half tread remaining on them. i've registered complaints with both ford and firestone regarding this issue. no one is responding other than to tell me that this is not a tire that is being recalled.6 maybe it should be. i'm concerned about the safety of my family riding in this vehicle. (dot number: vnw81xl119 tiresize: 265/75/r16) | |||
| TIRES - TEMPORARY/EMERGENCY SPARE TIRE | |||
| 09/06/2005 | 60000 | 2 | 04/15/1999 |
| Dt: the consumer purchased a ford f350 extended cab dually in 1999. three years ago the tire cable that holds the spare tire underneath the vehicle broke while pulling into a driveway. the consumer took vehicle to dealership and they replaced the spare tire cable free of charge. the dealer had no explanation as to why it happened. since purchase the spare tire had not been used or touched by anyone. recently, when at a tire shop while getting tires replaced and an oil change the serviceman noted there was no spare tire underneath the vehicle. the cable was again broken. the consumer was not aware of this, and did not know when the spare tire cable broke. the consumer contacted ford dealer, but the warranty expired and the dealer would not replace the spare tire cable. the consumer contacted ford customer service, and they too declined to offer any assistance. the consumer felt this was a safety issue because the spare tire cable could break on these vehicles, causing an accident or injury to others. *ak *jb | |||
| 60000 | 1 | ||
| While changing a tire consumer noticed that the spare tire carrying device cable frayed. this could have caused the cable to snap and the spare tire to fall out into traffic while driving. *ak | |||
| TIRES - TREAD/BELT | |||
| 03/23/2004 | 78567 | 2 | 04/08/1999 |
| Noticed tire wabbling on highway driving home stop to see if tire was flat/found it inflated ok drove about 1/2 mile at 45 vmph right front tire tread came off could not stop due to no pull over on inter city xpres way.tire stayed inflated no tread attached,found a place to get off highway lots of damaged to truck fender, brake, line 4-wheel drive hubs, bumper, and running board plus paint on door.due to steel cords from tire.i sent tire to cooper tire company they inspected unit said it was not their fault! cost of tire was $123.95 repair to truck was about $3700.00 ford dealer. aug 03 2004,5days afterigot truck from dealer and driving truck only 34 miles a second tire had a tread sepration i took tire to lilburn tire (770)923-4400 /it was removed inspected found to have have sperated also :note tire was inspected found no damaged to inside ,no repair done or brusing both tires are chaparral a/p lt265/75-r16 with the ser number of wew-081-n07r cooper tir has first tire at their plant in ohio.*ak | |||
| 03/06/2004 | 1 | ||
| Driving north bound on i-95 at 60mph heavy vibration for 15 to 20 sec then tire exploded. replaced with spare. defective tire is available. this is the second tire from a set of four i have had trouble with. the other tire had the belts slip causing vibration and loud noise. another tire from that group is chunking in the center. *ak | |||
| 06/04/2003 | 21631 | 2 | 10/07/1999 |
| I have had two separate firestone lt265/75r16 steeltex radial r4s tire failures within 700 miles on my 2000 ford f-350 pickup, resulting in over $4,000. damage to my vehicle. firestone has denied the first claim stating i must have hit a pothole. the second claim is pending, waiting for me to send them the other tire. i expect the same responce from firestone,as the tires look exactly the same, like a hand grenade blew up inside them. these are the same tires that cbs news had a report on last friday night about failures on rescue vehicles from 82 rescue squads in 26 states.*ak | |||
| 37000 | 3 | ||
| A rattling noise can be heard coming from the automatic transmission. the fluids were changed but the noise can still be heard. also, there is a tire complaint. the left front tire disintegrated while driving 50 mph. *ak per results performed; there were metal(s) underlined were elevated excessive wear. the left front tire blew out and caused the vehicle to go hard to the left, and a few weeks later, the vehicle begun to jump and separated like the first tire incident. a whine/grinding noise would also be displayed when the vehicle was driven below 35 mph. *sc | |||
| 12/27/2002 | 24000 | 1 | |
| Tread separation at freeway speed | |||
| 12/15/2002 | 70000 | 1 | 05/31/1999 |
| A bridgestone tire that was 14 months old and had only 14,000 miles separated causing a 2 foot section to peel off and damage the vehicle almost causing an accident. | |||
| 08/01/2000 | 4 | 02/01/1999 | |
| Firestone steeltex at tires (p265 75 r16) experienced tread separation, on all 4 of the tires the rubber was chewed up by dirt and gravel roads. *slc | |||