NHTSA Complaint #10023781 — 1998 FORD E-SERIES

I OWN A 1998 COACHMAN MOTORHOME, CLASS C WITH STEELTEX RADIAL R4S LT225/75R16 M/S TIRES ON IT. WHILE TRAVELING UP I64 HEADED TOWARD CROZET, VA. FROM MY HOME IN MECHANICSVILLE, VA. I EXPERIENCED TIRE PROBLEMS. WHILE DRIVING ALONG AROUND 62 MILES PER HOUR I EXPERIENCED A SEVERE BUMPING WHICH FELT LIKE A TIRE PROBLEM AND AFTER PULLING OVER AND INSPECTING THE TIRES DISCOVERED THAT THE RIGHT REAR OUTSIDE TIRE WAS THE PROBLEM. AFTER CALLING GOOD SAMS ROAD SERVICE AND GETTING THE TIRE CHANGED THE TIRE LOOKED AS IF THE TREAD HAD SEPARATED FROM THE REST OF THE TIRE AND WAS COMING APART. THESE TIRES ONLY HAD ROUGHLY 16,800 MILES ON THEM AT THE TIME. THE SPARE HAD NEVER BEEN USED AND STILL HAD THE STICKER ON IT SO I WAS ABLE TO CONTINUE ON MY TRIP. I SENT AN EMAIL TO FIRESTONES WEB SITE AND TO THIS DAY HAVEN'T HEARD A WORD ABOUT THE TIRES. THESE TIRES ARE LOAD RANGE 'E' TIRES AND HAD 80 LBS. OF AIR IN EACH BECAUSE I CHECK THEM BEFORE TAKING ANY TRIPS. I'VE GOT ANOTHER TIRE ON THE FRONT OF MY RV THAT IS WEARING ODD ALSO. NORMALLY WHEN A TIRE IS UNDER INFLATED IT WEARS THE OUTSIDE TREADS DOWN AND IF OVER INFLATED IT WEARS THE CENTER TREAD OR TREADS DOWN. THIS TIRE IS WEARING DOWN ON THE SECOND AND FOURTH TREAD. ISN'T THIS ODD? THE FIRST, THIRD AND FIFTH TREAD LOOK OKAY. I'D HATE TO THINK MORE OF THESE TIRES DOING THE SAME THING AND POSSIBLY CAUSING INJURY OR DAMMING THE NEXT TIME. WE WERE FORTUNATE THIS TIME. THANK YOU. *NLM