NHTSA Complaint #10289847 — 2004 FORD EXCURSION

ON MAY 9 2008 I PURCHASED A SET OF 4 SPECTOR ADVANTA AT ALL SEASON TIRES FOR MY 2004 FORD EXCURSION. ON 23 NOVEMBER WHILE TRAVELING FROM BOISE IDAHO TO LAS VEGAS NEVADA I EXPERIENCE A LEFT REAR TIRE FAILURE AT 70 MPH. THE TIRE SHREDDED COMPLETELY DOWN TO THE STEEL BELTS. THE VEHICLE WAS BEING OPERATED AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS AND WAS NOT TOWING OR HEAVILY LOADED. THE INCIDENT CAUSED $1800 IN DAMAGE TO MY VEHICLE. I FILED A CLAIM WITH THE TIRE MANUFACTURER AND DURING THE COURSE OF THE CLAIM THEY TIRE MANUFACTURER TOOK THE REMNANTS OF THE TIRE FOR A FORENSIC ANALYSIS. THE TIRE DEALER WHERE I PURCHASED THE TIRES REPLACED THE TIRE WITH THE SAME TIRE TYPE. I NEVER HEARD BACK ON THE RESULTS OF THE "FORENSIC" ANALYSIS. ON AUGUST 16TH, WHILE TOWING MY TRAVEL TRAILER AT APPROXIMATELY 55 MPR I EXPERIENCED A TIRE FAILURE IN THE LEFT REAR TIRE. ONCE AGAIN THE TIRE COMPLETELY SHREDDED DOWN TO THE STEEL BELTS. I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALER I BOUGHT THE TIRES FROM AND DEMANDED A DIFFERENT SET OF REPLACEMENT TIRES BUT WAS DENIED. THE DEALER DID CONTACT THE MANUFACTURER TO SEE WHAT THE STORY WAS ON THE PREVIOUS TIRE FAILURE AND TO SEE IF THERE WAS A RECALL ON THAT PARTICULAR TIRE. HE STATED THE MANUFACTURER TOLD HIM THEY COULDN'T DETERMINE WHY THE TIRE FAILED AND THAT THEY WEREN'T RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO MY VEHICLE OR TO REIMBURSE THE DEALER FOR A NEW SET OF TIRES FOR ME. THE DEALER STATED THAT BECAUSE OF THE DESTROYED NATURE OF THE TIRE HE COULDN'T DETERMINE A CAUSE OF FAILURE BUT WOULD REPLACE ONLY THE SHREDDED TIRE. YESTERDAY, 25 OCTOBER I ONCE AGAIN EXPERIENCED A TIRE FAILURE WITH A SPECTOR TIRE. I WAS TRAVELING AT HIGHWAY SPEED, 75MPR, EMPTY AND THE RIGHT FRONT TIRE SHED ALL OF THE TIRE TREAD. I PULLED OVER AND WATCHED THE TIRE, CONSISTING OF STEEL BELTS, SLOWLY DEFLATE. ONCE AGAIN, THE SHREDDING TIRE DID EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO MY VEHICLE. MY COMPLAINT IS 3 TIRES SHREDDING UNDER "NORMAL" USE IS NOT "NORMAL". *TR