September 20, 2012 — Michelin North America has announced a voluntary recall of approximately 841,000 tires because of a tread separation issue in BF Goodrich and Uniroyal tires. Tread separation could cause a rapid loss of air and tire pressure, which could potentially cause the drive to lose control of the vehicle and cause an accident. No accidents, injuries, or deaths have been reported in relation to the defect. The recall is a precautionary measure to protect the public.
Michelin announced recalls of the following tires:
- BF Goodrich commercial tires LT 235/85 and LT 245/75
- Uniroyal Laredo tires LT 235/85 and LT 245/75
The tires are replacement tires that are used on full-sized heavy duty vans and light trucks. They have been on the market for about two years, from April 2010 until the beginning of 2012.
During this time, Michelin received approximately 150 reports of treads separating on the tires. Quality-control employees noted this unusually high number of defects. The company decided to initiate the recall voluntarily to prevent injuries that might occur.
Mike Wischhusen, Michelin’s technical director, said:
“We constantly monitor our products performance in the field and it was our own internal quality systems that caught this issue. We caught it very early, based on a very small number of returns.”
Company officials have not determined exactly why the treads separate on the tires. However, they have tested newer tires for the same defect. It appears that the problem has already been corrected in the manufacturing process, because newer tires do not have the same tread separation issue.
Michelin has set up a website and toll-free number for customers to call, and they are offering to replace the tires for free.
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