[oldmxdog61u]

165/65R14 Bridgestone RE92

I check tire pressure weekly, run them at recommended pressure. I just put on a new set as the last set (all four) were at 50% and I had a blow out (carcass separated by the time I got it down to stop and off the highway). On the new set <one month old factory installed at honda>, the right rear tire (again) let go on the highway at 55mph . I had just checked tire pressures (all were good) two days prior. Has anyone else had this problem or heard of a quality prblem with the stock tires? Otherwise I love this car.

[modedit]cross post deleted and minor edit[endmodedit]

 

[atlaw4u]

I've had zero problems and I run my tires from 55-60psi. Coud there be a problem with the rim considering it was two different tires that blew out but the same rim?

 

[boogetyboogety]

atlaw4u is on my wavelength, that's my first thought... check the wheel! :shock:

I won't mention the debacle with all those Ford Explorers doing cartwheels due to failed tires a few years back... because surely Bridgestone has fixed whatever happened with those tires by now...

But for all you conspiracy theorists out there (says the man from the town with the Grassy Knoll): "Once is bad luck, twice is coincidence... three times is enemy action..." :roll:

 

[flymuck]

Haven't had any problems with the OEM tires on my 'skate, and I've had OEM tires on the blueskate for 4-5 years. I don't have the PSI as high as you guys, but I'm thinking it's a bad rim, like the others have said.

IIRC, the Ford Explorers had problems with Firestone tires, not Bridgestone. Plus, it was a combination of issues -- the tire manufacturer had a minimum PSI rating, but Ford wanted to recommend a lower number because it made the ride softer. So, basically Ford was more to blame than the tire company, because the tire company made their recommendation, and Ford chose to ignore it.

-fly

 

[oldmxdog61u]

Well, i am not sure that it is the same rim as I had the tires rotated since the new tires went on (it was free so I went for the service). When they changed the tire i asked them to pay particular attentiomn to the condition of the rim and they said there were no untoward mars or defects that might have caused the blow out. Since the tire destructed by the time i got it back down to a stop, i was thinking that it may have simply been a puncture (slow) flat gone bad. This would be consistent with the audio feedback I noticed wherein the tire made thumping noise for about 10-20 second before I realized it was my tire making that noise (freeways are LOUD!). At first I did not think it could be me, as I had NEW tires. Ha. Sure. At 42 psi (or 44psi) I wouldnt think that pressure was related. I guess I will see. thanks!

 

[Caryfd227]

IIRC, the Ford Explorers had problems with Firestone tires, not Bridgestone.

Firestone = Bridgestone

Same company

 

[james]

If you hit something that punctured the tire badly enough for a quick deflation, then new or old wouldn't make any difference. The only one I've had blow out was only a few weeks from new - hit something lying in the road.

 

[flymuck]

Firestone = Bridgestone

Same company

You know, before I posted that I did a quick google search to find the Bridgestone site, to see if it was the same company as Firestone... the site I initially found from my search did not link Bridgestone to Firestone, so I thought the other poster had gotten them confused.

I just googled for "Firestone Bridgestone", and got a different company site that clearly links the two companies!

Thanks for correcting my error, Caryfd227.

-fly

 

[boogetyboogety]

Go out to your car (or anyone else's car ) and take a look at the code that's molded into the side of the tire(s). The first two letters (or number and letter in some codes) identify the tire plant that manufactured the tire... The last three numbers reveal the month and year of manufacture.

Write the info down, and check here to see who manufactured the tire(s):

http://www.tirebusiness.com/subscriber/ ... l?letter=A

You might be surprised to find some of your local tire discount store's El Cheapo bargain brands are made by some of the best and largest manufacturers of tires on God's Green Earth...

 

[flunkysama]

Well, you can add me to the list of people who have had trouble with OEM tires.
To make this a little more real, Let me scare you with some actual pictures I took.

I can put up some more pictures if you want.

These are the original tires on a 2000 with about 50K miles. I normally run 50psi.

Note that the tire is still holding air! This happened about 3 blocks from home at around 25MPH. I heard a flapping noise in the right front wheel well. I pulled over, checked it out and drove straight home. Before this happened, the last few times I took the car out, the handling felt strange, like the tires were too hard, but there was definitely not any thumping that varied with speed. In hindsight, I should have checked the tires as soon as I felt anything strange.

You can see the treadwear in the second picture, all the other tires showed the same amount of wear. I had the alignment done when I put new RE92s on and was told the the alignment was not off.

(The soap-opera-esque part of the story is that this happened leaving for work on the first day at a new job.)

IMHO, get another person or 2 who had the same failure and this goes from anecdotal to a possible problem.

 

[Ecfool]

Actually I think it is the tires between both my previous 5 spd Insight and My current CVT Insight GASMIZR it has happened to 5 different tires. I now run a different tire suffered a slight mileage loss and slight miscalibration of the speedometer/odometer but ride is better and tires I now have have approximately 30000 miiles and no problems and still look dang near like new. By the way I am running Hancock Optimo P175/65R14 from Pep Boys, all 4 tires were less than just 2 OEM Bridgestones. Plus I am not seeing the funky outter tire wear I was used to on the Bridgestones which I would only average about 40000 miles to a set of.

 

[Willie Williford]

I think you mean "Hankook" tires don't you? :lol:

Willie

Good choice.

 

[red1dr]

You might be surprised to find some of your local tire discount store's El Cheapo bargain brands are made by some of the best and largest manufacturers of tires on God's Green Earth...

Makes sense: El Cheapo saves money by not needing to build and maintain a factory, and the big mfrs keep their operations running closer to capacity.

But anyone who thinks that the El Cheapos are made with the same materials and to the same specifications as the name brands is probably dreaming. Because if the big mfrs could do it more cheaply they probably would. If something is cheaper there is usually a reason, which often (but not always) revolves around quality.

 

[Ecfool]

aww heck Willie ya might be right dang oletimers is kicking in and by time I got from car in driveway to computer mind furgot how to spell dang name heck was hard enough remebering size. really sucks gettin old but sure as heck beats the alternative.

 

[boogetyboogety]

If something is cheaper there is usually a reason, which often (but not always) revolves around quality.

It has more to do with keeping the lines going (read: more profit and job security for your employees) than with cutting quality. Think about it: Liability issues would keep a manufacturer from reducing quality on a safety component like tires just to make a couple of bucks on the back end, because if a tire failed catastrophically and caused injury or death, the lawyers would make sure the survivors ended up owning the foolish company...

The lower wholesale cost (passed on to the final customer) is justified by having fewer associated final costs to the manufacturer (advertising, transportation, storage, etc.) which are usually absorbed by the retailer of the differently-branded tires... you get a good "off-brand" product for a few bucks less, retailers make a little profit, the manufacturer keeps the lines humming, and everyone's happy...

 

[The Citrus Smoothie]

Regarding the blown tyres, bear in mind it could just be bad luck. However having a great, distinctive car can also make neighbours jealous (I have had nails left under tyres before) especially by those getting 10MPG in the more bulky cars....

 

[jgessling]

Age of tires in warehouse

Those pictures are pretty scary. Good thing that separation didn't happen at higher speed.

I just got back from the tire place, they will be putting on four new OEM tires. It got me thinking when the guy said they had three of the tires in the next door warehouse. (other one a short distance away). Now I wonder how long those tires have sat there? There's only one other insight in town, and I don't think he drives that many miles. Were those tires ordered for the warehouse two years ago (or more) when I bought my previous set? (from the same store)

Well, we'll see. My limited understanding is that depending on storage conditions, tire do deteriorate.

Regards, Jim
'01 #191

 

[nitrocars1]

How old are your tires? After 4-5 years, its time to replace them because the rubber degrades. The DOT number on the tire ends in 4 numbers. It is the week it was made (1-52) and the last two digits of the year. Old tires are much more susceptible to blowouts. The pictures look like the rubber is not in great shape on your tires...you should go ahead and replace them. Also, how fast are you driving? I believe they are only rated to 89 mph. If you're going faster than that, they'll get hot and the glue that holds the tread on will degrade.

I got Discount Tire to put four new ones on for $263 total. You might check into it...

I just looked at the pictures again. You can see the DOT number in one of them. You're tires were made in the 24th week of 2000. (2400 are the last 4 digits of the DOT number). They're well beyond their recommended useful life.