GREENVILLE, SC — BFGoodrich Tires is recalling 46,000 passenger and light truck tires today, after its quality system alerted the company to a condition initially affecting ride quality, but which could possibly result in steel belt separation.
No accidents, injuries or property damage claims have been reported.
“This decision was made based on six tires returned from service prematurely after consumers experienced tire vibration, noise and ride comfort issues,” said Michel Default, quality director for BFGoodrich Tire Manufacturing. “Based on our analysis of these returned tires, we’ve discovered an issue with one of the semi-finished products sent to our Ft. Wayne, Ind., facility and used in the production of up to 3,500 tires at the end of the 15th week and beginning of the 16th week (April) this year. That issue has been addressed and corrected. Fortunately, the issue was identified very early and we are acting in a comprehensive manner to assure consumer satisfaction and safety.”
The company’s investigation indicates there may be similar performance issues with up to 3,500 tires, representing six tire brands. In order to reclaim the tires, the company is recalling all potentially affected tires produced during the same period.
BFGoodrich Tires said it has informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the recall campaign and is beginning an intensive communication with dealers, wholesalers and consumers potentially impacted. All recalled tires will be replaced free of charge and returned to BFGoodrich Tires.
The recalled tires have Department of Transportation tire identification numbers which begin with DOT BF and end with the last four digits 1504 or 1604. The DOT codes are found on the inner or outer sidewall of the tire just above the wheel rim and are printed in small type (less than half an inch tall). There are no issues with tires manufactured outside of these DOT weeks.
All of the recalled tires were produced from April 11 through April 24, 2004 at the Ft. Wayne facility and include BFGoodrich, Uniroyal, Liberator, Medalist, Phantom and Prospector brands.
BFGoodrich Tires has begun contacting dealers and wholesalers in the U.S. to recall as many tires as possible from dealer inventories and to gather information on consumers who have purchased the tires involved. Affected consumers will be contacted by first class mail.
Additional information, including details on how to determine which tires are affected, can be found online at http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/recall and http://www.uniroyal.com/recall.
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