More than 250-thousand Chinese-made tires are being recalled as unsafe because they lack an important safety feature that prevents treads from separating.
The Made in China label is just not having a good year.
There's a major recall of Chinese-made tires for pick-ups, vans and sport utility vehicles.
This is just the latest of a series of recalls in recent months involving dangerous and deadly imports from China, including toothpaste, seafood and pet food. And toys. More than one million Sesame Street and Nickelodean toys marketed by Matell have been pulled off store shelves and spirited out of children's toy boxes by anxious mothers, for containing lead paint and other safety issues.
The tire recall involves tires imported by Foreign Tire Sales Inc., previously identified as possibly posing a risk. More than 250,000 tires are being recalled, all of them steel-belted radial replacement tires purchased between early 2004 and mid-2006, sold under the brand names Westlake, Compass and YKS.
The import company was ordered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recall as many as 450,000 tires bought from Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. since 2002. The reason is this --
NHTSA determined that the bands, called gum strips, which hold the treads together and prevent them from separating are simply not strong enough Tire separation is the official term for something consumers -- we drivers and passengers -- know as a blow-out.
The president of Foreign Tire Sales, which is based in Union, New Jersey, told the Associated Press that the recalled tires met all all federal motor vehicle safety standards, but then failed the company's own testing, which president Richard Kuskin claims is more rigorous than federal NHTSA standards.
Manufacturer Hangzhou Zhongce disputes the recall.
The recall applies to the following Westlake, Compass and YKS brand tires in these sizes and models:
- Size LT235/75R-15, models CR861 and CR857, with a DOT number beginning 7DT5FTS.
- Size LT235/85R-16, models CR860, CR861 and CR857, with a DOT number beginning 7DT2FTS.
- Size LT245/75R-16, models CR860, CR861 and CR857, with a DOT number beginning 7DT3FTS.
- Size LT265/75R-16, models CR860, CR861 and CR857, with a DOT number beginning 7DT4FTS.
- Size LT31X10.5 R-15, models CR857 and CR861, with a DOT number beginning 7DT6FTS.
The Chinese tire manufacturer has told NHTSA it has received nearly one dozen 11 claims for vehicle and property damage from the tires purchased by Foreign Tire Sales. Also, it has paid out more than 1,500 warranty claims.
Foreign Tire Sales is being sued by the families of two men killed when a van they were riding in crashed in Pennsylvania in August 2006, and two other occupants who survived the crash.
Tread separation is not a new safety issue. It is what prompted the nation's largest tire recall, which involved 17 million Firestone tires in 2000. These were the ATX and ATX II and Wilderness AT tires that were original equipment on the Ford Explorer.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration -- NHTSA -- has a comprehensive databse of recalls. Check it periodically to see if your vehicle or its tires, or the school bus your children ride in.
For more on the saga of dangerous products made in Japan, read these two related Suite 101 articles:
