Welcome to Car Tires Online
Classic Tires Article
This is a selection made from among articles on Classic Tires. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for future reading, click here.
Are Used Tires A Safety Risk?
from:
Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, a world leader in tire manufacturing, earlier instructed retail stores to stop selling them - safety advocate urges the industry to tighten their standards. Amid growing safety concerns, the company has decided to stop selling used tires at company-owned stores.
Bridgestone told its 2,200 retail stores to stop selling used tires. Meanwhile, the Rubber Manufacturers Association for the first time sent a service bulletin warning that "used passenger and light truck tires that have an uncertain or unknown history pose a potential risk."
Sean Kane, the president of Safety Research and Strategies, a consumer group, has urged tiremakers to adopt strict standards before selling used tires. "Tire manufacturers have a lot at stake if something goes wrong with a used tire at the end of the day," Kane said. "If their name is on the side of the tire, they have to clean up the mess. I think there is a sea change and selling used tires is yesterday's thing."
In December, Kane submitted details about 108 accidents linked to tread separation of tires more than six years old to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Those accidents resulted in 85 deaths. Nationwide statistics are not available.
Bridgestone said last Friday that its chief operating officer, Bill Perdew, had told its outlets to stop selling used tires immediately. Perdew told the stores to stop selling used tires in a previously unreported March 29 letter.
"It was really a small percentage of our business," said Dan MacDonald, a Bridgestone spokesman. "Our strength is to sell new tires, and from a profit standpoint it is a much better market." But MacDonald noted that many independent dealers sell used Bridgestone tires and said that the company was not urging others not to sell used tires. "It may make sense for some tire shops," MacDonald said.
MacDonald stressed that when Bridgestone sells used tires, they do a very thorough inspection. "We wouldn't sell anything that wasn't safe," he said. "But taking the time to inspect used tires: Is that a good use of our time?" He added that the prohibition on used tires does not apply to switching summer and winter tires or for tires with less than 500 miles "that are essentially out of the box.”
On May 29, the Rubber Manufacturers Association issued a bulletin on used tires. It offered a number of criteria that indicate used tires are unsafe for resale, including the evidence of tread separation, use in "run-flat" mode or a defaced tire identification number.
“Any previously recalled tire should not be used, nor tires filled with temporary sealants. Used tires may have been exposed to improper service, maintenance or storage conditions and may have been damaged, which could eventually lead to tire failure," the bulletin said.
Other situations that make used tires unsafe include punctures, penetrations, inner liner or bead damage, wear, cuts, cracks, scrapes, bulges, ozone cracking or weather checking, impact damage, punctures, splits, snags, and a history of continuous inflation pressure loss.
Wal-Mart, one of the nation's biggest tire sellers, does not sell used tires at its stores, while some other major outlets do. Jim Davis, a Goodyear Tire & Rubber spokesman, said that the company sells a small number of used tires at its 750 company-owned stores. "The bulk of our business is new tires," Davis said, saying used tires are inspected before being sold.
Used tires have been the subject of intensifying concern by automakers and safety advocates. In addition, automakers have backed guidelines that tires should only be in service for six years. To promote safety and convenience, it is best to use proven auto parts like the Exedy.
About Author
Mike Bartley, 49, is a professional automotive journalist domiciled in Irvine, CA. He travels from one state to another to cover the hottest auto shows, racing events and automotive revelations. His penned compositions cover press releases, reviews, and suggestions. Where the auto action is, that’s exactly where you can find Mike.
Source: ArticleTrader.com
Classic Tires Specific Links
Classic Tires News
Prairie Dirt Classic revs up for 2 days of racing
FAIRBURY — An expanded Prairie Dirt Classic weekend getsunderway tonight at Fairbury’s American Legion Speedway as fans andteams from several states descend on the community for the two-dayevent.
Read more..."I Need To Borrow A Bead Stretcher" [Auto Forum Troll Of The Week]
# autoforumtrolloftheweek What do you do with a pile of 15" tires when you have only 18" wheels? You get a bead stretcher of course. This week's troll asks NASIOC for help finding one. We always find 'em near the blinker fluid. More »
Read more...N.J. attorney raffles off classic T-Bird to raise funds for nonprofit law center
Car evokes memories of lawyer's son, who was stabbed to death in 1989
Read more...John Gossage's The Pond @ Smithsonian American Art Museum
John Gossage, Untitled. From The Pond, 1985. Gelatin silver print. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Gift of anonymous donors. In the early 1980s, John Gossage photographed a small pond on his commute between Washington and Queenstown, Maryland. Or so goes the story. These images went into his first and now classic book, The Pond , and are gathered for the first time in a gallery setting at the ...
Read more...Coalcracker is set to run Sunday night
The 30th annual Coalcracker 100, paying $10,000 to win, is set for Sunday night at Big Diamond Raceway in Forestville. Big Diamond management has announced format changes to the Labor Day weekend classic.
Read more...Revolution: Race Wheels Take A Leap Forward
Aaron Hersh recaps the technological advances in wheels that were on display at Eurobike
Read more...'Public Enemy' Wraps Up A Criminally Good Saga
Neither director Jean-Francois Richet's style nor star Vincent Cassel's swagger falters in Public Enemy Number One , the exhilarating follow-up to Mesrine: Killer Instinct . With its shootouts, prison breaks and wild flights of ego, the saga's second half was sure to be watchable. It's also smart, funny and incisive -- about the criminal and his era. (Recommended)
Read more...‘Stutz’-ing his stuff
Gary Cochrane becomes a hazard every time he hits the roadway, but it’s not because he’s a bad driver.
Read more...BRIEFLY: Sept. 3
See what's happening in and around Halifax.
Read more...These cars are so 50s!
PARSIPPANY — Terry Cook's 28th Annual Lead East '50s Party starts tonight at the Hilton Parsippany Hotel. Drive-in movies, more than 30 bands and 1,200 pre-registered cars from 1972 and earlier are featured throughout the weekend.
Read more...