Chinese tire recall

[RSorak 71Westy]

(From TrailerLife Magazine website)

July 2007

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has ordered a
U.S. tire importer to recall as many as 450,000 tires sold under at least
four brand names that it bought from a Chinese manufacturer and sold to U.S.
distributors. Foreign Tire Sales (FTS) of Union, New Jersey, said tires it
imported from China's Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Company may suffer from sudden
tread separation failures.

NHTSA officials have ordered the company to recall as many as 450,000 tires.
FTS said an unknown number of the light-truck radial tires it imported since
2002 from China were made without a safety feature, called a gum strip,
which helps bind the belts of a tire to each other. The tires were sold
under at least four brand names -- Westlake, Compass, Telluride and YKS --
in sizes LT235/75R-15; LT225/75R-16; LT235/85R-16; LT245/75R-16;
LT265/75R-16; and LT31x10.5-15 -- sizes popular with trailerists, and SUV
and pickup owners.

FTS said it sold Hangzhou tires to these distributors: Tireco, Compton,
California; Strategic Import Supply, Wayzata, Minnesota; Omni United USA
Inc., Jacksonville, Florida; Orteck International Inc. of Gaithersburg,
Maryland; K&D Tire Wholesalers LLC, Carlsbad, California; and Robinson Tire
in Laurel, Mississippi.

FTS claims it does not have the money to pay for a recall, and no
arrangements are in place yet for replacement tires, but consumers should
contact the stores they bought them from for further information.

[Amskeptic]

tires imported from China's Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Company may suffer from sudden tread separation failures.


Westlake, Compass, Telluride and YKS --
in sizes LT235/75R-15; LT225/75R-16; LT235/85R-16; LT245/75R-16;
LT265/75R-16; and LT31x10.5-15 -- sizes popular with trailerists, and SUV
and pickup owners.

FTS said it sold Hangzhou tires to these distributors: Tireco, Compton,
California; Strategic Import Supply, Wayzata, Minnesota; Omni United USA
Inc., Jacksonville, Florida; Orteck International Inc. of Gaithersburg,
Maryland; K&D Tire Wholesalers LLC, Carlsbad, California; and Robinson Tire
in Laurel, Mississippi.

FTS claims it does not have the money to pay for a recall, and no
arrangements are in place yet for replacement tires, but consumers should
contact the stores they bought them from for further information.

We already have this posted in the suspension forum sticky "Belatedly Discovered Junk". But yours is more thorough. So please take your post here and copy or repost it in the belated junk thread, and I will delete this tomorrow. Thanks for keeping your eyes peeled for this sort of information and posting it.
Colin