FastEagle wrote:
snip
So, the bottom line. Is the China Bomb Syndrome Valid? There have been zero recalls for ST tires.
FastEagle
FE has made a key observation "zero recalls", but the reason for no recalls has nothing to do with the quality or possible lack therof of the tires.
As FE and CapriRacer know, if people do not file proper complaints to NHTSA there is no reason or justification for NHTSA to initiate an investigation and with no investigation there will be no recall.
Having reviewed a few of the complaints I could find on the NHTSA site, I saw incorrect or missing tire size, incomplete or missing DOT serial, incorrect or missing tire manufacturer information, and no documented scale loading of the tires.
NHTSA is not going to start an investigation based on an owner relating how upset the co-pilot is or the fact the owners were on their way to grandma's house or were otherwise inconvenineced.
If you review the statements on this thread on the number of tires that have failed you will see the lack of complete statement of facts. A lot of complaining but few facts.
It is well established fact that over half of the trailers that do get weighed have one or more component overloaded. This is the easy and perfect argument from the RV dealer that it is not the tire's fault but the owner that overloaded the unit. Now before you take issue with what I have said please review the facts, review the complaints on the NHTSA web site, review the complaints on this and other threads and see if you can find any that provide:
Complete and correct tire size info
Complete DOT serial
Statement of when and how the individual tire loads were confirmed
Pictures of the failure. In focus close-ups are of great value.
Date of purchase of the RV or of the tire if a replacement
Minimum inflation and frequency of checking
Does the RV have TPMS
Honest statement of the max speed driven
Was the tire ever repaired
Name of dealer that inspected the failed tire
Who has the failed tire and is it available for further examination
Number of miles the tire has been driven.
RV VIN
I have seen recalls started with as few as five well documented complaints. I myself initiated the actions that led to a recall based on an examination of two tires. BUT the key fact is that the information was accurate and well documented.
