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I rented a folding camping trailer that had two of its three DICO ST Sport Trax 5.30/12 blowout on our trip. All three tires sidewalls were coded "DOT H7 CB 195". The "195" looked like it was branded within an oval.
My internet research informs me that the "195" coding refers to the tire's manufacture date. In this case, "1" being the first week of the year, and "95" being the year of manufacture or 1995.
Am I correct to assume that these tires were over 11 years old?
The remaining tire has cracks on the sidewall running the diameter of the tire.
(I can email you pictures of the three tires if you would like to view them)
The trailer rental company and their tire expert (a local Goodyear store) claim that the tires are perfectly safe and that excessive speeds caused their failure not oxidation/deteriation.
For the record, we did not speed!
TIA,
F. De Moraes
Answer -
Flavio,
The old date coding system was three digits and it was impossbible to tell if the tire was produced in 1995, 1985, or 1975. (I can rule out 1965, because that was before they started using this date code system.)
In order to address the issue, an arrow (triangle on its side) was added starting in 1990, but it wasn't universally adopted.
But you haven't got the coding right. The tire was produced the 19th week of 5 (95, 85, etc.) If the arrow is there then the tire was produced in 1995, but if the arrow is not there, you can't be sure without additional information. But certainly, the tires are at least 11 years old.
Cracks on the sidewall are to be expected as this the way rubber reacts to the environment. So it's the size of the cracks that is important. But cracks can also be an indication of underinflation.
But there is one other thing: Most tire manufacturers and vehicle manufacturers have come out with recommendations to remove tires when they reach 10 years (some say 6), and I think the difference is the ambient temperature. So if you live in Arizona, 6 years would be a good number and Minnesota, 10 years.
Clearly these tires are over that limit.
I assume the rental company wants you to pay for the damage caused by the tires. Being a tire forensics expert, let me ask you a few questions:
1) Did both tires fail at the exact same time? If not, how far apart did they fail (time and distance!)
2) How fast were you going when the tires failed? Is there a speed limitation written on the tire (or on the vehicle) and did they warn you not to exceed that speed?
3) To your knowledge, did they check the inflation pressure before they rented the trailer to you?
4) Did someone besides the Goodyear dealer inspect the tires? BTW, if you have already paid for the tires, you own them and they should not refuse to give them to you. Having the tires is the first step in trying to get this resolved.
5) If you have to pay for the damage, you should file a claim with Goodyear. BTW, how much was the damage?
Hope this helps.
The first tire had the thread seperate 45 minutes in to our trip to Sequoia NP. The second tire blewout about 300 miles later as we were leaving Sequoia NP.
You can view the photos at http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l310/Rubicrawler_LJ/
We never went over 60 mph for more than a minute, just when passing slower traffic.
Our '96 Grand Caravan is gutless!
As for the blown tires, the rental place demanded them back. All I have left is the digital photos.
Answer -
Flavio,
You didn't tell me if they made you pay for either the tires or the damage. If you paid for the tire, then immediately file a small claims court suit. You own the tires and they should return them to you. If you paid for the damege to the vehicle only, then its a little more difficult.
But if you haven't had to pay for anything, then this is more or less a curiousity question.
Looking at the tires. One tire shows clear signs of being old. The other tire (I think you only took 2 photos of it.) looks like a runflat to me - a tire that was operated with little or no inflation pressure and that is usually caused by a puncture of some sort.
So what is the situation - did you pay or not?
Oh yeah we paid!
They kept our $500 cash deposit and refused to reimburse us for the two tires (another $100). Both tires suffered the depicted thread separation, I just had to travel on the mangled one for another 1.5 miles after the thread seperated until we could find a safe area to pull over since there was no spare left.
We were on the way down from Sequoia NP, lots of sharp turns and no shoulder!
Basically I am out $600 for the tires and the loss of our deposit and two days of agravation, searching for 5.30/12 Load Range C tires and getting to our destination 4 to 6 hours later than expected.
BTW, we also lost our reserved campsite because we did not arrive by 3:00 PM, I did not there till 8:30 PM.
Not quite a John Candy or Chevy Chase vacation but pretty darn close!
AnswerFlavio,
First I would go to the rental company and demand the tires back. You paid for them - they are yours!
If they don't return the tires, file a small claims court action to have them pay for the tires.
If they do return the tires, file a claim with Li Hsin - the manufacturer of the tires. The tire manufacturer should come back with either they will pay the claim or give you a reason why they won't. Use that reason to file a small claims court action with the rental company.
Needless to say, finding Li Hsin to serve papers could be a bit of a problem. Find a distributor or better yet, sue the manufacturer of the trailer. They will know where to find the distributor.
Hope this helps.
