OMG.....i would go on a killing spree if that happened to me.....Firestone SHOULD be held liable for that.....because the tread separated from the tire.......you didnt have a blowout same thing that was happening with the wildernesses on the explorers.....

 

If they come back and tell you that they aren't going to pay, then immediately tell them that you have talked to a lawyer, and will be hiring them later that day to file a lawsuit if they don't agree to settle it. I'm sure that Bridgestone/Firestone is going to be scared of something like this getting to a jury - even if it is in small claims court. The only downside to this is if you get a lawyer, you will probally only be entitled to the maximum value of the damages and you will have to pay for the lawyer out of your pocket.


Good Luck.

 

Was the tire low on air? it looks low in the picture. I always thought that Bridgestone was their own company and was better than firestone, even though one owns the other.
I always run my tires maxed on inflation pressures if the tires are not overly wide, are not run on the back of a pickup, and only up to a max of 40 to 45 psi depending on if the tire had a max inflation of 45 to 50 psi. Tires of max inflation to 35 most always get 35. Tell me the Revos are good cause I JUST bought a set for my 4 runner!

 

hey man, this sucks. im in ATL too, what hwy were you on?

 

In the picture it was low on air, I think it was losing air straight through the steel belts. I could hear the air leaking out, and that was with highway traffic buzzing by.


Well I have put about 1500 miles on them already, and i am satisfied. I recently had to ditch my flowmaster, and since I was on the road I just went with the cheap-o mieneke muffler. The point is that I never heard my Dueler A/T's over the exhaust, but with the quieter exhaust, I can just barely hear the Revo's. Not a problem for me, but I know some folks can't stand tire noise. I like the aggressiveness of the tread, and the wet handling as well as dry are noticably better. I went with blakwall out again, and I think they look great.

Thanks to all for the replies. I am going to try to get a local Firestone shop to send the tire ASAP. If not, I will just take the gamble and ship it anyway. Maybe they will realize that they could be getting a wrongful death suit, and $3000 is probably less than it would cost them to shut me up!

 

Dang that's a lot of damage! Sorry man!!

I am an ex-Firestone front desk salesman. I can tell you that the store won't be too much help. But they can send the tire in for you (my store did anyways).

I will bet you that they will blame the tire seperation on the plug. We never used plug's at our store, it was always a patch and filler.

 

Thanks for the info SLC Punk.

I was actually in New Jersey at the time, on I-287 near Plainfield.

July 5th. Happy Holiday Weekend! Sux!

 

i just bought a set of these, hope this doesnt become a common occurance with this tire. 265/75/16- what shoudl they ideally be inflated to- they say max PSI is 44, wouldnt you have better wear if they were inflated more?

 

I can guarantee you that you are wasting your time. There is nothing wrong with the tire. You punctured the tire. You need to understand tire construction to realize what happens. You see, rubber and steel do not bond very well; they coat the steel with copper in order to get the materials to bond. When you puncture a tire, you expose the steel. Exposed steel rusts. Tires are built in layers, when one layer becomes weak they separate. It sounds like your separation occured in the steel belting which would make sense.

You may be able to convince a jury in a court of law that you were wronged, but Bridgestone is not going to assume liability. The tire was not made with a hole in it. They may offer a new tire, maybe more to settle, but you are going to have to get a lawyer.

Can you get a close up of the area that the tire was repaired?

 

PistonSlap-

So are you saying that if we have punctured a tire we can expect a tread peel to occur at some time in the future?

 

No, absolutely not, but if you have a problem, and the tire was not properly repaired, you have voided the warranty.

Tread separations are very rare, and even more rare are they caused by a defect. Even in the Explorer/Firestone problem, there was a significant amount of contributory negligence that caused the problems.

I am not saying that this situation is not a defect, but he put himself at a significant disadvantage in his battle by having a tire that had been repaired.

 

Well, I guess a jury didnt find that to be true. But yes, you dont start slamming on your brakes and jerking the wheel because of a treadpeel OR blowout.


I do agree about the the rariety of tread peels, but i disagree with the rariety of it being because of a defect. If he had a plug in the tire...in my own opinion...that would might have caused a blowout not a treadpeel.



I have had Dueler ATs on my 4runner since september of 2001....i have had 2 blowouts in them...not tread peels...due to nails....but other than that they are awesome tires.....

Shoorty

 

The problem with the Explorers and their Firestone tires was that the tires where not rated to carry such a heavy vehicle, plus Ford had the PSI on the door jam set at 26 so they heated up, at least that is what I was told, I ran mine at 35psi and when the Ford and FireStone inspected them they told me they where underinflated and still after 10+ hours of driving in 90 degree plus heat and doing an average speed of 90+ I had 3 Firestone tires seperate that was a fun ride when I went sideways

If you had a Firestone or Bridgestone shop plug the tire then they messed it up

 

The problem is that the tires were on the vehicle when purchased, and had been repaired by the previous owner.

 

Yep, I gotta say you are on the wrong end of the stick here.. Even though I have no problems with plugs.. they are not a long term repair.. A tire must be removed from the rim, and patched from the inside. That will be the smoking gun. As for the tire.. I will lay money on it that they will pro-rate the tire (which was shot, being it only had 3/32" left..) Your insurance should cover the resulting damages (however, not the tire as it was the root cause of damages) I agree, tread seperation may occur if the plug was put in while the tire was new and years later the belts have rusted and now failed.. (Gee, I gotta have that tire I had to plug the day after I got my new 32's patched. Eh?) I think the best you can hope for (money wise) is a new tire (pro-rated or not) As for the resulting damages? Is that a snowball satan has there??

 

Looks as though he was still in NJ when it happened... because no one stopped to see if he was alright.

People just blow past ya doin' 90. I love NJ!!

 

The tire had at least 26,000 miles on it with the plug. In addition, there is NO rust on the steel belts. I am sending the tire today, wish me luck.