Consumer Complaint Detail
FIRESTONE / STEELTEX R4S / 9999
0 Injured
0 Death
No Fire
| Components - Details | |
|---|---|
| NHTSA Complaint Number: 006075447 | Incident Date: Jul, 14 2006 |
| Consumer's City: MARTINEZ | Consumer's State: CA |
| Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO | Manufacturers Name: FIRESTONE TIRE & RUBBER CO. |
| Model Name: STEELTEX R4S | 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#: | Date added to File: May, 23 2021 |
| Date Complaint Received: Aug, 14 2006 | Complaint Type: IVOQ |
| Incident Reported To Police: No | Purchase Date: Oct, 31 2005 |
| Was Original Owner: No | Anti-lock Brakes: Yes |
| Number of Cylinders: 8 | Date of Manufacturer: - |
| Was Vehicle Towed: - | Description of the Complaints: My wife and i were traveling in our 2003 ford f-250 super duty long-bed pickup with 4 firestone steeltex r4s tires filled to about 70psi (cold). the truck was carrying a light 8.5' pop-up truck-camper (2500lbs) and pulling a small 18' open-bow ski boat (2300lbs) on a single-axle trailer (850lbs - measured tongue weight of boat & trailer = 260 lbs. we began from an rv park in red bluff, california, at approximately 10:30 am, northbound on interstate 5. traffic moderate and weather was clear, dry approximately 95 deg f. thirty minutes later, we were about 1 mile south of redding, california, driving approximately 58 mph in the right lane, when the truck suddenly began to shudder. seconds later there was a loud thud, and all indications of a right rear blowout. i was able to safely pull onto the shoulder and stop. investigation revealed a right rear tire failure. the tread was separated from the sidewall and all but wrapped around the axle. the mud flap and well lining was gone. the chrome wheel-well trim was mangled, the bed side-panel support arm was ripped away from the bed body, and the outside wall of the truck bed was folded under and bent around the exhaust pipe. there were numerous scratches and black marks all over the outside bed body and bumper. later inspection revealed that the right rear shock mount was out of alignment and the shock jammed closed. after removing the ripped tread, blown tire and other broken pieces, i installed the spare. we were able to safely proceed to a nearby les schwab tire store a few miles away. i decided that i could not trust the remaining tires, so i purchased four new tires, new rear shocks and had the shock mount repaired at a total cost of $1000. i asked several technicians as well as the tire store manager to inspect the failed tire. they all agreed that the blown tire appeared to fail as a result of tread separation, rather than a puncture or sidewall failure. *jb |