Originally Posted by mercedes4ever (Post 5927550)

..You should report this[/B], they should be recalled.....

Originally Posted by mleskovar (Post 5927654)

:word: That is downright scary. I would be talking to your tire supplier and getting some money back.

Originally Posted by hyperion667 (Post 5927938)

the guys that sold you the tires, small or not, should help you at least get a pro rated replacement set.......
you mentioned the autowash.......do you dress your tires often? with that tire crap?
reason I ask is because the petrol products (I heard) can dry out tires and cause them to age faster....


hope it works out

Originally Posted by amdeutsch (Post 5928036)

What was the DOT code on those tires? Incorrect storage - temp, humidity, etc could leads to premature failure. You might want to read up the articles on The Tirerack site.

Originally Posted by Arrie (Post 5928072)

What would I know about the tire storage conditions before the tires are installed on my car? In my use the tires see only the environment. There is no way for me to control that. It can be from +100F to 25F and all car tires should be able to take that without any problem.

Originally Posted by amdeutsch (Post 5928082)

1) Nobody is accusing you of anything. No need to get defensive.
2) Knowing the DOT code numbers could lead one to some info.
3) Thats why the reference to read articles on The Tirerack site.

Afterall you did ask questions because of having concerns.

Originally Posted by Arrie (Post 5928123)

1. I'm not getting defensive.


2. DOT codes will not tell me anything. It could tell something to the tire manufacturer.


3. I don't see a point reading some Tire Rack article about DOT codes. Plain and simple, the tires on my car had a serious side wall failure that should not have happened.


My read on this whole issue is that Firestone rubber compound used to make these tires is flawed and it dry rots very quickly. Reason for this thinking is that all three tires failed on the inside tire wall.





Tire could fail like this if run with inadequate air pressure but this is ruled out by two facts: 1-The tires failed only on the inside wall. If under inflation causes excess side wall strain when running over pot holes etc. on the road this punishment is seen by both side walls so the damage should also show on both sides of the tire. 2-Wear on the rear tires was very even and on front tires slightly more in the middle, i.e. fronts could have had slightly higher pressure than needed so neither tires were run under inflated.


Thinking of manufacturing that the tire would be made differently on the vulcanization process between sides could be possible but not very likely as again they all failed on the inside wall. There is very small change that all tires would have installed the same side in the inside though there is a very small possibility for this.


My only wonder about the whole issue is if the car wash tire treatment actually helped the tires outside wall and kept them from dry rot. As I said the mechanics opinion was that the tires had dry rotted.


In any case, no tire should dry rot in well less than a year whether they are treated or not. This should be an issue only for people who drive very little mileage and can actually have years old tires on their cars.


And I did not know I was asking any questions, just stating the facts what happened.

Originally Posted by Arrie (Post 5928123)

1. I'm not getting defensive.


2. DOT codes will not tell me anything. It could tell something to the tire manufacturer.


3. I don't see a point reading some Tire Rack article about DOT codes. Plain and simple, the tires on my car had a serious side wall failure that should not have happened.


My read on this whole issue is that Firestone rubber compound used to make these tires is flawed and it dry rots very quickly. Reason for this thinking is that all three tires failed on the inside tire wall.


Tire could fail like this if run with inadequate air pressure but this is ruled out by two facts: 1-The tires failed only on the inside wall. If under inflation causes excess side wall strain when running over pot holes etc. on the road this punishment is seen by both side walls so the damage should also show on both sides of the tire. 2-Wear on the rear tires was very even and on front tires slightly more in the middle, i.e. fronts could have had slightly higher pressure than needed so neither tires were run under inflated.


Thinking of manufacturing that the tire would be made differently on the vulcanization process between sides could be possible but not very likely as again they all failed on the inside wall. There is very small change that all tires would have installed the same side in the inside though there is a very small possibility for this.


My only wonder about the whole issue is if the car wash tire treatment actually helped the tires outside wall and kept them from dry rot. As I said the mechanics opinion was that the tires had dry rotted.


In any case, no tire should dry rot in well less than a year whether they are treated or not. This should be an issue only for people who drive very little mileage and can actually have years old tires on their cars.


And I did not know I was asking any questions, just stating the facts what happened.

Originally Posted by hyperion667 (Post 5928304)

how the hell were you being 'defensive'? LOL

Originally Posted by amdeutsch (Post 5928082)

1) Nobody is accusing you of anything. No need to get defensive.
2) Knowing the DOT code numbers could lead one to some info.
3) Thats why the reference to read articles on The Tirerack site.

Afterall you did ask questions because of having concerns.

Originally Posted by Firestopper0383 (Post 5927980)

Hyperion667, you are absolutely correct. I've dealt with the same tire guys for 25 years and they tell me the same thing. Don't use any form of tire shine products because they are all petroleum based and will prematurely breakdown the sidewall rubber. To keep my tires clean and bright I use Westley's Bleche-White and a brush. Works great and looks good.

Originally Posted by Arrie (Post 5927533)

Replaced my tires today and found something that I have never seen before with any tire in my life.


Three of the four tires had 3 - 4 cracks on the inside side wall shown in the picture below. I had thought to keep the rear tires as they only had 14000 miles on them but the side wall cracking obviously makes the tires useless. Cracks were all the way thru to the inside fabric layer on the tire, i.e. all the way thru all rubber.


The front tires were about a year old and the rear tires 9 months. From the second picture the tread wear shows a little more in the middle but this is due to the cameras angle. Wear was actually very even across the tread.


What is weird is that the outside side wall of all tires was perfectly fine. All cracking was on the inside side wall. Could this be because the outside rubber gets some sort of conditioning when I drive the car thru the car wash, which the inside of the tire does not get?


Tires were Firestone Fire Hawk Wide Oval Indy 500.
245/40-R18 front, 275/35-R18 rear.


Any of you guys have these on your car please check the side walls especially the inside side walls of them.

Originally Posted by GoBlando (Post 5928354)

You bought directional tires in two different sizes. They can't be rotated, and the camber on our vehicles is aggressive. This doesn't happen over night, a tire depth guage would have given you a heads up that the tires were not wearing evenly. I'd encourage you to monitor them more closely in the future or have the camber changed.

Originally Posted by D&G (Post 5928356)

Could be a manufacture defect. That is definitely not normal. Lucky those tires did not blow up in a highway. That would cause a potential disaster in the highway. Good thing you caught this early.