Consumer Complaint Detail

FIRESTONE / STEELTEX A/T / 9999

VN11 BAC 3101

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 004261322 Incident Date: Feb, 15 2004
Consumer's City: BRADENTON Consumer's State: FL
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations
Model Name: STEELTEX A/T Model Year: 9999
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Tires:tread/belt
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 3GNGK23G62G Date added to File: May, 25 2021
Date Complaint Received: Feb, 25 2004 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Nov, 10 2001
Was Original Owner: No Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 8 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: Total tread ply separation on a firestone lt 265 r75 16 steeltex at load range e tire. tire came as original equipment on my 2002 chevrolet avalanche 2500 4x4, with a 12,000 lb tow package. when i took delviery of this vehicle in 2001, firestone was in the process of recalling other tires that were failing the same way, i was assured by both chevrolet and firestone that this product far exceeded the specs for the purpose i selected this vehicle, and these were not part of the recall. now i see that this tire has had a limited production date recall. i am in the process of filing a claim with firestone to re-coup $1600.00 of body damage to the vehicle, but i thought i should make my voice heard to you. as a side note i was towing my travel trailer at somewhere between 55 to 60 mph on an overcast 60 degree day in florida, when i felt what i thought was a trailer tire going down. as i was in heavy traffic in the right lane with limited guard railed emergency shoulder space to pull off, i immediately begain to slow even more and put on my emergency flashers to warn following motorists of my future intentions. as my speed dropped to around 45 mph in the process of trying to find enough shoulder to stop on, the tread grenaded off. i have always been especially aware of proper infations of tires, checking by gauge both the tow vehicle and the trailer each day before hooking up and pulling, as i did this day before leaving the campsite. so under or over inflation is not an issue here. the trailer was balanced so perfectly that by the time i was able to safely get off the road, the tire casing was still inflated and the trailer was holding the truck up in the rear. this and the lack of speed were probably the only reason i did not lose control, because i am sure that under normal driving conditions the casing would have blown.*ak