Not one but two blowouts
Heading out for a trip last week and within 10 miles had a blowout on our FW. More of an explosion actually. Mounted the spare and 5 miles later the one in front of it exploded. Had to have someone come out and mount it on the rim on the road. The dates on the tires were 09/2019 so not that old, no dry rotting and I always check pressure before heading out. No TPMS warning - just BOOM. But when I researched the brand - Ridgway Sport St - I realize should have swapped them out as soon as I bought the FW new. Affectionately referred to as tire bombs and boy were they right. I have never seen a tire explode like that. They literally blew apart and the tread peeled off like a re-tread. Thankfully there was only minimal damage to the skirting and everything functions without issue. I sprung for decent 14 steel ply tires rated for way more than the weight of my FW all around and re-started our trip the next day. I wasn't gambling anymore with the other 2, I felt that warning was enough for 4 brand new tires.
Calling the insurance company today and will see what the damage will cost to fix, but the FW is usable in the interim. Doubt there is much recourse from the tire company since they were 3 years old, but I did read about class action lawsuits on that brand. I'd say I am surprised you pay that much for a decent FW and they put horrible tires on it, but I'd be kidding myself.
I've read the posts on cheap tires before and rolled the dice. Guess my luck ran out. But both blowouts were uneventful in terms of being able to pull off the road with plenty of shoulder and level grass and no one got hurt and very minimal damage - so in some ways we got off lucky. Lesson learned.
Calling the insurance company today and will see what the damage will cost to fix, but the FW is usable in the interim. Doubt there is much recourse from the tire company since they were 3 years old, but I did read about class action lawsuits on that brand. I'd say I am surprised you pay that much for a decent FW and they put horrible tires on it, but I'd be kidding myself.
I've read the posts on cheap tires before and rolled the dice. Guess my luck ran out. But both blowouts were uneventful in terms of being able to pull off the road with plenty of shoulder and level grass and no one got hurt and very minimal damage - so in some ways we got off lucky. Lesson learned.
