Firestone Transforce Blowout on Tow Vehicle

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by gymracer

Many things could of caused your flat. I've dealt with them for 25 years. OEM tires are sometimes not the best for heavy loads. You have a 3500, why did you not get dual rear wheels for that size trailer?

Already had purchased the 3500. And was well within the load limits, still are. Of course we all know duallys are more stable on heavy loads. Duallys don't fit everyone. I would not have gotten the 355mbqs if it would have exceeded our limits and put us in danger. For two years now, not once have I questioned the capability of this truck handling this trailer, even during the blowout which the truck handled without one bit of worry.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by rkymntsno

Correct. I was aware of this as a result of previous postings. Was not aware of it prior to the blowout. Will never know the cause of the blowout, low air pressure or bad tire.

I was surprised also the old car I drive is a 2005 Pacifica and a 2004 we had before had TPMS. It's like my motorhome it doesn't need safety equipment like air bags, I guess because they never get into accidents, lol. They also don't need to be crash tested. I put TPMS on the motorhome for 150 dollars and it works great. Might need to get one that will cover the truck and trailer together in one unit, good luck

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by Bill Johnson

I was surprised also the old car I drive is a 2005 Pacifica and this and the 2004 we had have TPMS. It's like my motorhome it doesn't need safety equipment like air bags, I guess because they never get into accidents, lol. They also don't need to be crash tested. I put TPMS on the motorhome for 150 dollars and it works great. Might need to get one that will cover the truck and trailer together in one unit, good luck

Yea, already have the EEZ RV TPMS for the 5'er. Will add sensors to it for the truck.

[Tireman9]

Suggest you take the tire to a MasterCare Firestone store and ask for an inspection and reason for failure.
The condition is suspect and looks more like a run low flex failure than a standard belt separation.

You can learn more by reading this post >

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by Tireman9

Suggest you take the tire to a MasterCare Firestone store and ask for an inspection and reason for failure.
The condition is suspect and looks more like a run low flex failure than a standard belt separation.

You can learn more by reading this post >

I did. Firestone local stores would not deal with me stating I had to go through my Ram dealership since they were OEM when I bought the truck. I did that. Ram told me they're only covered for 12 months, 12,000 miles. I called Firestone Corporate. They gave me a case number and told me to take it to the nearest Firestone Mastercare store. I did that. They inspected it. Offered me $160 off the cost of a new Transforce which was about $330 plus tax/balancing, etc. I walked off to keep from going to jail.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by rkymntsno

I did. Firestone local stores would not deal with me stating I had to go through my Ram dealership since they were OEM when I bought the truck. I did that. Ram told me they're only covered for 12 months, 12,000 miles. I called Firestone Corporate. They gave me a case number and told me to take it to the nearest Firestone Mastercare store. I did that. They inspected it. Offered me $160 off the cost of a new Transforce which was about $330 plus tax/balancing, etc. I walked off to keep from going to jail.

Sorry to hear you didn't get better service. I happen to be buying two LT225/75R16 LR-E Transforce HT/2 this weekend. $168 + Balance etc each

[thenne1713]

Did you have a dragging brake causing high temp that caused the blowout?

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by Tireman9

Sorry to hear you didn't get better service. I happen to be buying two LT225/75R16 LR-E Transforce HT/2 this weekend. $168 + Balance etc each

Thanks. Wow, that's a great price for those tires. I'm still not convinced the tires were bad but we'll never know. With everything at risk, I chose to get new Michelins and bite the price bullet.

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by thenne1713

Did you have a dragging brake causing high temp that caused the blowout?

The blowout was on the right rear of my truck which is three years old. I don't think so. But I'm getting sensors for my truck and I'll have them on whenever I'm towing.

[Bayoutalker]

Originally Posted by Tireman9

Sorry to hear you didn't get better service. I happen to be buying two LT225/75R16 LR-E Transforce HT/2 this weekend. $168 + Balance etc each

I've heard that the ones you buy on the vehicle or from the car dealers are a softer rubber and don't get good mileage. My experiences seem to bear that out on a set of Transforce and 2 sets of Michelins. The ones bought from tire dealers are supposed to hold up much better but I haven't tested that part of the theory. I'm just going by what others have told me.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by Bayoutalker

I've heard that the ones you buy on the vehicle or from the car dealers are a softer rubber and don't get good mileage. My experiences seem to bear that out on a set of Transforce and 2 sets of Michelins. The ones bought from tire dealers are supposed to hold up much better but I haven't tested that part of the theory. I'm just going by what others have told me.

That's SUPER interesting, and something that's been bopping around my head too.

Why 2 different "standards"?

From a strictly business standpoint, I wouldn't want to degrade my brand by creating a cheaper, lower standard tire to provide to the OEM. I'd rather provide a higher quality item if anything to ensure that when the purchaser of that vehicle replaces the tires (which we all know they will), they'll purchase MY tire.

Case in point is those Transforce tires that came on my Ram. They put SUCH a bad taste in my mouth that I won't even consider the brand when replacing tires. On ANY vehicle.

I can't imagine anyone having an OEM tire all but disintegrate after relatively low mileage, and then say "yeah, sure, put those same tires back on".

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

That's SUPER interesting, and something that's been bopping around my head too.

Why 2 different "standards"?

From a strictly business standpoint, I wouldn't want to degrade my brand by creating a cheaper, lower standard tire to provide to the OEM. I'd rather provide a higher quality item if anything to ensure that when the purchaser of that vehicle replaces the tires (which we all know they will), they'll purchase MY tire.

Case in point is those Transforce tires that came on my Ram. They put SUCH a bad taste in my mouth that I won't even consider the brand when replacing tires. On ANY vehicle.

I can't imagine anyone having an OEM tire all but disintegrate after relatively low mileage, and then say "yeah, sure, put those same tires back on".

I'm the same way about Michelin. Would never buy another set due to a really bad experience with a tire off of my wife's truck and the lack of customer support after.

The only thing that I can figure is that the OEM contract these companies get, for hundreds of thousands of sets of tires in some cases, far outweighs the potential profit from a repeat customer.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

I'm the same way about Michelin. Would never buy another set due to a really bad experience with a tire off of my wife's truck and the lack of customer support after.

The only thing that I can figure is that the OEM contract these companies get, for hundreds of thousands of sets of tires in some cases, far outweighs the potential profit from a repeat customer.

See, that too adds to the confusion. I prefer Michelin over just about any other tire for most applications. I've put them on everything I've owned for probably 15 years now. LOVE those tires. My dad's the same way. If I'd had Michelins on my Ram (or anything) and they failed as fast as the Firestones did, my brand loyalty would immediately be questioned. And I'm typically only brand loyal to items I KNOW out-perform the others. The moment that gets questioned, I'll hop brands faster than a jackrabbit, and then I'll tell all my friends about how I trusted that brand, but it ended up being crap.

I agree, it's all a money/numbers game, but it seems even selling hundreds of thousands of tires to OEM that are lower than your standard quality will cost you money in the long run by degrading the brand to a somewhat extreme extent. Who knows, maybe it evens out at the end of the day; 100,000 Ford owners who had sub-standard OEM Michelins on their truck switch to Firestone, 100,000 Ram owners who had sub-standard OEM Firestones on their new truck switch over to Michelin....

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

See, that too adds to the confusion. I prefer Michelin over just about any other tire for most applications. I've put them on everything I've owned for probably 15 years now. LOVE those tires. My dad's the same way. If I'd had Michelins on my Ram (or anything) and they failed as fast as the Firestones did, my brand loyalty would immediately be questioned. And I'm typically only brand loyal to items I KNOW out-perform the others. The moment that gets questioned, I'll hop brands faster than a jackrabbit, and then I'll tell all my friends about how I trusted that brand, but it ended up being crap.

I agree, it's all a money/numbers game, but it seems even selling hundreds of thousands of tires to OEM that are lower than your standard quality will cost you money in the long run by degrading the brand to a somewhat extreme extent. Who knows, maybe it evens out at the end of the day; 100,000 Ford owners who had sub-standard OEM Michelins on their truck switch to Firestone, 100,000 Ram owners who had sub-standard OEM Firestones on their new truck switch over to Michelin....

Yes, I am exactly what you are describing. I was a loyal Michelin buyer until that issue and haven't been back since. What am I buying now.........Bridgestone/Firestone products and I couldn't be happier.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

Yes, I am exactly what you are describing. I was a loyal Michelin buyer until that issue and haven't been back since. What am I buying now.........Bridgestone/Firestone products and I couldn't be happier.

See? So between you and me, they're all even!! LOL!!

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

See? So between you and me, they're all even!! LOL!!

Yep....you were right all along.

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by Bayoutalker

I've heard that the ones you buy on the vehicle or from the car dealers are a softer rubber and don't get good mileage. My experiences seem to bear that out on a set of Transforce and 2 sets of Michelins. The ones bought from tire dealers are supposed to hold up much better but I haven't tested that part of the theory. I'm just going by what others have told me.

Well I can see that happening. Especially if Firestone knows the car companies are only gonna warranty the tires for 12 months/12,000 miles, why make them to the same standard as private citizen purchases locally? I don't know this is happening but it wouldn't surprise me. But as the starter of this thread, I can't say it was Firestone who should be blamed after all. Since my Ram 3500 did not have a TPMS alert activated, and "I failed to constantly look at the TPIS tire pressure display to make sure I didn't have any air leaks on my tires", we'll never know the cause of the blowout. I inspected the tire very thoroughly. Never had a minute's trouble with any of the Transforce tires the past three years. There were no nails, screws, holes, or anything that looked fishy so I do not think I had an air leak. The trip from Port Aransas to San Antonio is about 2 hours 45 minutes. The blowout happened all of a sudden with no warning about 1.5 hours into the trip. Didn't hit any potholes or bad expansion joints on the interstate whatsoever. It is mind-boggling as to the cause.

[Bayoutalker]

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

I'm the same way about Michelin. Would never buy another set due to a really bad experience with a tire off of my wife's truck and the lack of customer support after.

The only thing that I can figure is that the OEM contract these companies get, for hundreds of thousands of sets of tires in some cases, far outweighs the potential profit from a repeat customer.

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

See, that too adds to the confusion. I prefer Michelin over just about any other tire for most applications. I've put them on everything I've owned for probably 15 years now. LOVE those tires. My dad's the same way. If I'd had Michelins on my Ram (or anything) and they failed as fast as the Firestones did, my brand loyalty would immediately be questioned. And I'm typically only brand loyal to items I KNOW out-perform the others. The moment that gets questioned, I'll hop brands faster than a jackrabbit, and then I'll tell all my friends about how I trusted that brand, but it ended up being crap.

I agree, it's all a money/numbers game, but it seems even selling hundreds of thousands of tires to OEM that are lower than your standard quality will cost you money in the long run by degrading the brand to a somewhat extreme extent. Who knows, maybe it evens out at the end of the day; 100,000 Ford owners who had sub-standard OEM Michelins on their truck switch to Firestone, 100,000 Ram owners who had sub-standard OEM Firestones on their new truck switch over to Michelin....

The reason I've heard is that the OEM companies want a softer composite for a smoother ride on a truck so that is what they buy. I guess when you buy that many tires you get what you want. I tend to believe it as when I've bought tires from a tire dealer they do ride rougher than what came stock.

My experience with Michelin was I bought a new 1500 Ram party because it had Michelin installed. At about 25,000 miles they were worn down to the wear bars. I fussed at the dealer and they called Michelin. They agreed to pay the dealer 1/2 the price of a new set and I went along with it. After another 25,000 they were shot again. That's the last Michelin tires I've bought. I do know people that swear by them and get good mileage from ones bought from the tire shops though.

I agree that if that is the case they should give the OEM tires a different model name to save their reputation but apparently they don't. I sure don't buy the same brand after a bad experience.

[TCNashville]

My previous 2 trucks came with OEM Michelins and although they rode great, they seemed to have premature wear but I'm a big Michelin fan and not ready to give up on them yet. I've never been a fan of Goodyear tires but my current truck came with factory Goodyear Wranglers with Kevlar and they are performing great with 35K and many more miles to come. With any tire, frequent rotation is the key to longevity.

[thenne1713]

Originally Posted by rkymntsno

So this happened today on our way home from the Texas coast. Right rear tire on the truck blew pulling our 42' fifth wheel, on I-37 northbound in drizzle. We had just crested a hill and made it just a little way and couldn't go any further, tire was smoking bad and almost off the rim with the weight of the fifth wheel on it. We were off on the shoulder in a hurricane lane just over the crest of the hill so people weren't getting over fast enough to give us room. Called 911 and had Texas State Troopers come to the rescue. Positioned themselves at the crest of the hill, was safer to get under truck to get the spare. We called two roadside assistance companies and AAA came about the time I was finishing up putting on the spare. We left before Ram Roadside showed up, an hour and a half later. The original Firestone tires on our 2019 Ram 3500 with 29,000 miles on them. Harrowing day.

TIP: LOW air pressure is deadly to a tire, but I found my leak was NOT a puncture after destroying tire trying to drive off without a walk-around... MY PROBLEM WAS A LOOSE VALVE STEM NUT that had given me problems trying to air up earlier that day... BUT I had not recognized/ not realized at the time... the Tech changing tire on the rim showed it to me