Tires: tire pressure/side wall blowouts, michelin tires, toyota highlander

Question
I have a 2001 Toyota Highlander and I bought Michelin P225/70 R16 tires for it 3000 miles
ago. The tire pressure indicated inside the driver's side door is 30psi. To start with the guys
at Costco where I bought the tires put them at 35psi - I was fine with that because I had
been told that my last batch of tires wore out too soon because the pressure on them was
too low. I just read a bunch of email consumer complaints about Michelin tires' sidewalls
bursting for no apparent reason. And Michelin has blamed some blowouts on low tire pressure. I am now freaked out about my tires. What should I do?

Answer
Heather,

First, you should relax.

1)  It is likely your tire pressure on the last set of tires was too low because you didn't keep them up where they should be.  Tires can loose up to 1 psi per month, so it is recommended that you check inflation pressure once a month.

But it's also possible the tire wear was caused by the tires themselves.  Not all tires wear evenly.

2)  It is common for companies to receive complaints - and the larger the company, the more complaints they get.  Michelin is HUGE!  So it isn't a surprise to find they have lot of complaints.

One of the most common tire complaints is sidewall blowouts - and that is usually caused by running the tire flat.  There is usually a puncture in the tire - and since most people don;'t look for it.......)

So you don't have anything to worry about - except checking the pressure once a month, and rotating the tires every 5K to 8K.