I returned from Carlisle, PA in October using my F-350 with a slide-in camper pulling a 20 foot Interstate cargo trailer. On the way back to NY my brother and I noticed that the rig was riding a little choppy. We stopped a few times and looked things over and all seemed OK. On our last stop into a rest area he looked in the right side mirror and thought the back tire looked a little wobbly. This time we noticed a huge lump rising from the tread on the Wrangler AT/S. These tires had less than 20k on them and had great tread, having been rotated probably 3 times. We changed out the spare and rode home, very smoothly. When we got back we took this tire and another Goodyear, a Wrangler HT that was on our cube van with an identical problem to a Goodyear dealer and they told us "Have a nice day". They said they were tires made in 2001 and could do nothing for us. We bought the tires in '03 so I guess it was our fault that they were on the shelf for 2 years somewhere.But, I've never heard of a 'time' warranty on tires, only mileage. On the HT's we blew out an inside dual on another road trip so by the time we saw the tire it was in shreds. The second time we caught it before it blew and it had the same large lump in the tread area. Luckily, it's a dually but my p/u is SRW. I can only imagine what we dodged by getting this tire off in time, carrying a camper on the truck! I've been shopping lately for tires for another F-350 we have and I can assure you, I'm not even looking at ANY Goodyears. I put them on par with the China crap that's out there now, except that they're twice the price. I'm trying to enclose some pics with this but if they don't show up, mail me and I'll send them directly to your inbox. They're scary. If you run AT/S's and use your truck for hauling, be careful. Before anybody comes up with a million reasons why I caused this let me say that the tires are checked at 80 psi before any trip, rotated regularly and the trucks are garaged and babied.
Tread seperation happens a lot unfortunately. I had two swampers do that in the past, and lately I had a Cooper that I had on my Dodge do it. Luckily my Cooper was worn out anyway so I didn't care. Don't take it so much that it's the tire's fault or Goodyear. What i would do is call Goodyear or find a different dealer. They should take care of that tire for you, with a pro rated charge.
Thanks, Cummins. I know, I've seen some tread seps on older tires before but the stuff that's happening today on low mile tires is inexcusable. If you listen to the major makers that's why you buy their stuff and not the 'no names'. Personally, from what I've seen and heard the answer seems to be Michelins. Tread seps on their stuff seems few and far between.
I had 4 245/16's that originally came new on a friends F250, I ran them for a while on my GMC, and now have been on my trailer for a couple years. 3 out of 4 have done the same thing yours did. I chalked it up to old tires, but who knows, maybe defective.
I have the Goodyear AT/S' on my wifes Tahoe and they SUCK!! They are horrible in the snow, mud, dirt, and don't support weight well when towing. Good thing that they are almost bald. BFG ATs are the ONLY way to go in my opinion. I have had them on 3 trucks personally and have a handful of buddies who run them on their trucks. They wear like Iron, have excellent road manners, great snow and dirt traction, are decent in mud (for an AT), and are very stable while towing. I will be putting the 285-70-17 flavor in the Tahoe here shortly.
i am running the michelin m/s 235-80-17 on my dually, and they are great...a better ride then the factory tire. i have 42000 miles on the michelins and just a little more then half worn, probally have 15000-20000 miles more before their done for. i think thats good for tons of heavy towing and will probally by michelins again...btw the firestone transforce has some good reviews......
I've heard from a number of guys lately that have had the same problem with Goodyears. I don't know if it's exactly a tread seperation but I dismounted the bad tire just recently and there's a huge bubble inside the tire right under the bulge. Looks to me like air is getting between the plies and pushing the tread out of shape. Every tread sep I've had before really distorts the tread pattern but doesn't bulge the tire. Oh well, I just stopped my wifes' cousin from putting $1000 worth of Wranglers on his King Ranch so that makes me sleep a little better and I'll keep spreading the Goodyear news to anyone with a truck needing tires.
Thats a tread seperation, and a fairly good one at that. You don't think it might be a little unessesary to go out of your way to stray people away from a certain brand/model? Don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you that you shouldn't, I just don't think I would. I had a Cooper do the same thing as I mentioned, and had it replaced with the same brand and model Cooper and it's been great. Sometimes, components just fail for no good reason.
they where general amera trac, something like that. the sizes are same just different make of tire....
I just replaced my goodyear rt/s because of tread separation. They were fairly new and had more than half tread still. It'll be a long time before I consider goodyear tires again.
Well, Cummins, if it was a one time thing I would probably blow it off but this is the third Goodyear that has had the same problem just this year. We had a big blowout on the cube van and when we got back home found another Wrangler HT with a huge bubble about to go. I've been to another Goodyear dealer to show them the dismounted tire, they hustled me out of the showroom of waiting customers to look at it and said 'So sorry'. So, yeah, I'm done with Goodyear. Not saying it couldn't happen to a Firestone, Cooper, Michelin, etc. but when I have 3 of them go bad in a year they'll be on my list, too.
That same thing happened to me in 2002. Goodyear Wranglers, on my 01 Ram 1500. Goodyear never gave the dealer a reason. They just replaced them. Of course I paid labor on the repair.....
My dad pulls a 36ft fithwheel camper.He has blown ( tire coming apart ) 4 goodyears in less than 2 years on the camper. Goodyear is having to pay for the damages.
sounds like it was time to go back into the waiting area and show off those great goodyear tires:doah: They tend to get their heart right when it gets into their pocket book. If you didn't come out with new tires, you didn't show off enough. I know that firestone will replace all four when you get ugly in the middle of the waiting area on Sat morning with a large enough crowd.
Goodyear has replaced the tires and is paying to repair the camper, so I guess they know they have a problem. Its just the inconvience and frustration of having to deal with a flat every other time they go out.
Coopers are junk they love to sling the cap off and take out fenders I think if you do all highway it's hard to Beat a Michelin. But I need A more aggressive tread so My tire of Choice is The BFG AT's . I've never had a failure running these tires and they seem to wear decent
I spent a couple years in a tire shop while in College that sold Goodyear, Cooper, and Michelin as their primary brands. The least problems and by far the biggest price tag goes to the Michelins. Not far behind on price and the most problems was the Goodyears and the best price and very few problems was the Coppoers. Keep in mind 75-80% of the tires sold were Coopers and had very few problems and the price was right.
I've had super bad luck with peeling the caps off of Cooper Discoverer's I've got a Couple of busted up Bedsides to prove it they don't seem to hold up to the High Desert Highway heat and heavy loads
Heat is the biggest enemy of tires. Over loading or running to low of air pressure will cause excessive heat build up and the tread coming off is the result. If the roads are super hot, hauling a load at high speeds its a tires worsdt nightmare. I personally like cooper tires, I think there are better tires but not fo the money IMO. I have blown the tread off a couple tires, one was a re-cap om a trailer and I think the other was a goodyear so I know it can happen with any manufacture, proper tire maint is the best cure I have found but it's still not a 100% cure.
