Tires Recalled Over Tread Separation

Shannon Weidemann

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has demanded that recall of 450,000 tires that may be in danger of tread separation. The tires may be missing a safety feature that allows the tread to separate which could cause a car accident. The tires are made in China and were imported by Foreign Tire Sales. The company has insisted that it does not have the money to pay for a recall of the tires.

Foreign Tire Sales has been purchasing and importing tires from Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber since about 1990. In 2000, it asked the company to design and manufacture radial tires for pickup trucks, S.U.V.s and vans. The tires were sold under the Westlake, Compass, Telluride and YKS brands.

They were supposed to include a gum strip between the steel bands that prevented them from separating. Mr. Lavigne said the gum strip cost less than a dollar a tire to install.

The Chinese tire manufacturer makes tires for other American tire importers. It is unknown if the recall will expand to include them as well.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Defective & Dangerous Products.