[Ledslinger]

I bought a brand new set of Firestone Wide Oval redline tires from Summit Racing.

Brand new tires weren't holding air, so I had the valves checked and replaced.

I noticed small cracking in sidewall before any driving use, so I called and complained to summit. They offered to ship me ONE replacement tire.

The FIRST TIME I drove with these tires the belt seperated from the sidewall entirely (just like the notorious ford explorers w/firestone tires)and my 1968 396 camaro began to swirve on the freeway, almost causing me to crash into other drivers on the road. (LESS THAN 10 MILES)

The seperated tire still has the rubber bossing tabs that any brand new tire has. these tires are incredibly SOFT.

Summit still wants me to replace only 1 tire, and is assuming my other 3 are safe to drive on, but I already found a similar crack on another tire's sidewall.

What should I do?

[Kamcoman]

Contact a product liability attorney, if the threat of calling one does not spur Summit into replacing all four tires, as it appears they should. It is possible that the production date is visible on the sidewall of each tire (check Firestone or D.O.T. websites) and the tires may be many years old. If only failed tires have excessive age maybe replacing the oldest ones will be satisfactory.

Keith

[Ledslinger]

Originally Posted by Kamcoman

Contact a product liability attorney, if the threat of calling one does not spur Summit into replacing all four tires, as it appears they should. It is possible that the production date is visible on the sidewall of each tire (check Firestone or D.O.T. websites) and the tires may be many years old. If only failed tires have excessive age maybe replacing the oldest ones will be satisfactory.

Keith

can you suggest a Product Liability Attourney to me? there are MANY for firestone tires. MANY.

[joels]

Sounds like Summit is not going to do much. I think I would figure a way out to contact Firestone direct. Good luck.

[bikerz]

I would first go to my local tire shop and have the damaged tire and all remaining tires checked for defects (physical and manufacturing dates). Then talk with Summit about what they will do to make things right. If not satisfied then you may want to contact a lawyer. Do NOT, however, send the damaged tire back until full resolution of your problem. Been there, done that. Remember, document everything including phone conversations, with whom and what was the content of the conversation.
Good Luck

[Kamcoman]

Here is a link to show how to find the age of a tire:

http://www.safetyissues.com/site/tra...dangerous.html

Choosing an attorney is best left to the person who is planning to use one. If there are any locally listed (yellow pages) you could always ask them for references before "signing up" Unless I have personally used a specific attorney, I would never recommend one over another (too much liability on my part).

Keith

[69-Pace]

You might suspect that the tires were dry rotting on the shelf at Summit for a while in some remote warehouse. I only buy tires from a tire places just so you know and hope the inventory is fresh.

[Garfields Maro]

Yep, check the date codes on all tires. There's some good info about dates and repro tires in this thread.....http://www.camaros.net/forums/showth...tire+date+code

On a side not, the T/A's I got from Summit a few years ago were only about 2 months old....probably a more common/popular seller , but....

[Ledslinger]

Originally Posted by Garfields Maro

Yep, check the date codes on all tires. There's some good info about dates and repro tires in this thread.....http://www.camaros.net/forums/showth...tire+date+code

On a side not, the T/A's I got from Summit a few years ago were only about 2 months old....probably a more common/popular seller , but....

2 months old is new enough?

i believe the DOT code says these are from 2010

[69ZNC]

Led slinger

go to handel on the law web site. he has legit product liability lawyers and they can help you understand how you stand, if there is a case, and against who. Handel not handle!

[HwyStarJoe]

Go up the chain at Summit first. They may find they have a bad lot of tires.

[Garfields Maro]

2 months old ?....Well, I sure aint gonna complain.

Did you read the post by "Vintage 68" in that link I provided ??

[L30 327]

Summit is a good company with great customer service. Keep dealing w/ them they will take care of it. A while back I think they had a bad lot of Auto Meter mech. oil press. gauges. I had 3 go out ,1 after another. They were very good about it and would have just kept sending new ones. Then I told them I was done trying them and got an electric one,they credited the price of mech. one off the price of the electric.
And once I ordered wrong backspace front wheels and they switch them for free. Even after I scratched them up putting trim rings on them. Summit is a very good place to do business imo.
I would be very surprised if they did not make this right with you.

[alanrw]

Contact your credit card company and see if you can get any traction in that direction. Under no circumstances would I drive that car with those tires. Stand your ground. I would call Summit and ask to speak to a supervisor. Explain what happened and ask him if he would like to take a ride with you on the freeway with your car.

alan

[Moonpie]

X2 on going up the chain with Summit first.

Be prepared and know the date codes of all the tires you have from them.

Personally I would take them all off and go with another tire and get my money back from Summit. If you just had to have that tire then get it from a local Firestone.And read the date codes before buying.
BTW, I'm glad your car and you are OK. That could have been disastrous.