2001 Ford F-250 SD tires problems

Filed Jun 16, 2015 · Tires · 42,498 miles · MO · crash · 2 injuries

On september 12, 2011, a kumho road venture at tire, size lt235/85r16, dot k2oryd4a3508 (manufactured at kumho?s binh duong plant in vietnam in the 35th week of 2008) suffered a catastrophic tread separation, resulting in severe injuries to the front seat passenger of the ford f-250 and the death of her son, who was 32 weeks old and still in utero. A lawsuit has been filed against kumho tire co., inc. And kumho tire u.s.a., inc. In the united states district court for the district of kansas (case no. 2:13-cv-02393-jtm-tjj). During the discovery stage of the case, the passenger retained troy cottles, a renowned tire failure expert. After inspecting the subject tire, mr. Cottles found the following defects in the subject tire: (1) inadequate bonding between belts (trapped air/steam blister impressions); (2) premature oxidation of the belt skims; (3) belting defects (coincidental belt endings, irregular belt wire spacing, gapped belt splices, dog-eared splices, snaking, and spread cables); (4) cord shadows on the innerliner; (5) low top belt width to tread width ratio; and (6) inadequate application of nylon cap plies. As part of his work on the case, mr. Cottles tested two exemplar kumho road venture at tires of the same size as the subject tire that were also manufactured at kumho?s vietnam plant. Both of those tires failed in sidewall failure mode in approximately 10,000 miles or less under proper loads, inflations, and speeds that were monitored daily. See attached test reports and photographs. This information is being submitted by the attorneys for the injured passenger, and with her permission, in hopes that this tire (and those similar to it) will be investigated and recalled to ensure no one else is needlessly injured or killed as a result of these dangerous and defective tires....updated 07/30/15 *bf updated 10/23/2017

Filed Jun 11, 2014 · Tires · AL

Tire blowout with complete tread separation while traveling on interstate pulling a horse trailer. Was able to safely pull to shoulder & change tire for spare. Tread damaged truck panel, tailpipe & bent front axle of trailer. Tires were well maintained and had been checked before departure. Tires were nitto terra grappler lt 285/75r16 126/123q load range e.

Filed Jun 16, 2011 · Tires · 36,000 miles · TX

I had another uniroyal liberator tire (265/75/16 e-rated, light truck tire) failure. Both tires failed within one thousand miles of each other and in the same exact way. I filed a complaint with the federal safety agency on the first tire approx. 2-months ago. Both tires at about 35 to 36,000 miles, while driving at speeds approaching 65 MPH formed a balloon on top of the tread causing an imbalance. After changing the tire, it exploded in the bed of my truck. It was obvious to me that a tread separation had occurred. One could see the smooth areas where the tread had separated from the belt carcass versus the area where the tread pulled away when it exploded. These uniroyal liberators should be recalled because of how quickly this failure occurs. Both tires had plenty of tread and were run within the proper pressure ranges (70 to 80 psi). I have sent uniroyal email complaints concerning these tires. I have one remaining on my truck that will be replaced because I know it will also fail any moment. Please do what you can to get these tires off the market. The tires date of manufacture was 14th week of 2007.

Filed Sep 14, 2010 · Tires, Wheels · 6,900 miles · IN

Driving my truck on highway. The spare tire cable broke the tire went under a trailer and bent two rims and the axle. I bought the truck new has 60,900 miles the spare has never been of the truck.

Filed Jun 21, 2010 · Tires · 190,000 miles · OH

I've had two of the tires going 65-70 MPH basically go flat and tear into pieces after only a few seconds. Both times there is hardly no identifying parts of the tire left on the rim. The last time I was hauling a 20' trailer when it went flat and tore to shreds. The first time I was driving with no trailer and I heard it go flat then the tire just tore to shreds also. These tire are only a year old. It did bend the rear quarter panel. A employee was behind me and said basically the whole tire came off the rim and went across the median of the interstate.

Filed Jun 16, 2008 · Tires · KS

I was driving on a 2-lane state highway at approximately 65mph. My pickup is a 2001 ford superduty diesel supercab 4x4. The weather was overcast, temperature about 75 degrees. I was pulling an 18' flatbed "car hauler" type trailer, total weight (trailer & load) approximately 1,000lbs. I had driven 60 miles with no indication of vibration or problems. I stopped for an hour then resumed driving. I noticed some vibration, so stopped and checked both pickup and trailer tires. Inflation was good and there were no indications of problems with any tires. I continued my trip. Within the next 5 miles the tread separated from the left front (drivers side) tire on my pickup. The pickup immediately lurched to the left across the centerline. I regained control and was able to pull off the shoulder without further incident. The tread separation damaged the fender, running board, inner fender, insulation liner, and front bumper. There were no persons injured. I was able to "tie-wrap" the inner fender panel back in place and install the spare tire to continue the trip.

Filed May 18, 2008 · Tires · 23,400 miles · TX

I was driving my 2001 f250 ford truck and pulling a trailer. I was traveling at a speed of 60 MPH on a two- lane hwy. I had just checked all the tires for correct air pressure before leaving home since I was taking a load of pigs to market. Without warning, suddenly I was in an uncontrollable jerk left into the oncoming lane. Fortunately, I was able to gain control just in time to avoid a head-on collision as my truck went into the ditch and stopped. The complete outer layer of rubber came off my left front tire and wrapped itself around the inside disc brake/axle assembly and tore off all of the brake lines from their mooring leading to the left front brake. (I only have 23,400 miles on this truck and have had no other tire incidents). I had to remove the tire which stayed inflated minus its complete outer shell in order to entangle and remove the outer shell portion of the tire from the brake/axle assembly. The main steel brake line was not broken as were other rubber lines to the brake assy. I am awaiting an evaluation from ford on the front left wheel alignment and brake assembly/lines condition. Ford had no recall on the tires and at first firestone service manager promised to replace all of my tires free of charge because there was a recall on that firestone tire. The next day, once they replaced the tires they came in and advised me that the recall did not match the serial number on my tires and told me then that I would have to pay for the replacement. To compensate me for their mistake on the recall they told me that they would not charge me for the labor portion of the replacement if I would pay for the tires. I was not about to drive on the removed tires again and was between a rock and a hard place, so I paid the bill. While cash layout is an issue here the real issue is poor tire performance that came within a heartbeat of killing me and many other innocent people.

Filed Mar 20, 2008 · Tires · 33,500 miles · NC

None at this time.

Filed Sep 4, 2007 · Tires · 64,000 miles · KY

Firestone steeltex a/t m/s, lt265/75 r16 123/1200 load range e, tire exploded on high way. The tread came off the tire. This happens on retreads but should not happen on the original tires. The tire did not deflate immediately but there was considerable damage to the truck. The tires are on a 2001 ford 250. Original tires with 64000 mile. Tread depth was recently checked and were well within standards. *tr *updated 12/12/07 *bf updated 12/12/07

Filed Oct 13, 2006 · Tires · 45,000 miles · NM · 1 injury

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the rear driver side tire shredded without warning. The contact sustained minor injuries. The vehicle was taken to a service dealer, who was unable to provide a resolution. There was a the federal safety agency recall # 00t005000 which pertains to the tire tread. The vehicle was not included in the recall due to the VIN. The tire manufacturer was firestone. Tire line: steel belted tire. Size: p265/75r16.