NHTSA Complaint #10287458 — 2007 KEYSTONE COUGAR

WHILE PULLING MY 5THWHEEL TRAILER EXPERIENCED A VERY RAPID BLOW-OUT OF R/H REAR TIRE. AND EXTREME DAMAGE TO THE TRAILER, THE TIRES WERE POWERKING TOWMAX ST225/75R15 TIRES THE MANUFACTURE IS GPX INTERNATIONAL TIRE CORP, TWO INDEPENDENT TIRE DEALERS CONFIRMED IT WAS A DEFECT, AND NOT CAUSED BY LOW TIRE PRESSURE CONDITION AND THERE WAS A QUARTER SIZE HOLE IN THE UPPER TREAD AREA.WITH NO SIGN OF SIDE WALL FAILURE. I'M ALSO A AIRCRAFT MECHANIC AND KNOW IT WAS NOT A LACK OF MAINTENANCE ON MY PART,I CAN ACTUALLY BE ACCUSED OF OVER MAINTENANCE OF MY VEHICLES, ALSO I'M POSITIVE NOTHING WAS HIT ON THE FREEWAY HAVE BEEN PULLING TRAILERS FOR 20 + YRS AND FIRST BLOW OUT LIKE THIS. ALSO HAD THE L/H REAR TIRE GO FLAT 20 MILES LATER WITH NO DAMAGE TO THE TRAILER BUT ATTRIBUTED THIS TO THE STRESS FROM R/H TIRE RAPID BLOW-OUT, AGAIN IT WAS NOT CAUSED BY TO HIGH OF A SPEED,I'M AWARE OF THE 65MPH MAX SPEED RATING OF THESE ST TIRES, I'M PULLING AT 55-60 MPH MAX. ALSO TO KEEP TIRE TEMPS DOWN,, TIRE PRESSURES ARE ALWAYS MAINTAINED BEFORE EVERY TRIP,ALSO THERE WAS PLENTY OF TREAD DEPTH LEFT AT LEAST 6/32S THE SAFETY MARKER IS AT 2/32S THE TIRES HAD ABOUT 9,000 MILES ON THEM. THE TIRE DEALER REPLACED THEM ALL FOR NOTHING BECAUSE THERE WAS PLENTY OF TREAD THERE. IT WAS VERY UNNERVING WHEN THE SECOND TIRE FAILED BECAUSE THERE WAS NO PLACE TO GET COMPLETELY OFF THE ROAD. MY HOPE IS THAT SOMEONE ELSE DOESN'T HAVE A MORE SERIOUS ACCIDENT. THANKS FOR CHECKING TO SEE IF OTHER PEOPLE ARE EXPERIENCING THE SAME FAILURES. ALSO, THE TIRES WERE MADE IN CANADA WITH A 2007 DATE WAS ON THE DOT CODE SIDEWALL OF THE TIRE. *TR