Firestone Transforce Blowout on Tow Vehicle

[Big1]

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.

Wow, man I feel your pain, it suck and what do you do I'm just glad that's all that happen with you and your family.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by thenne1713

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

Both of my motorhomes have had loose valve cores on them. My jayco had 3 that were hissing, they were leaking so bad. I tightened them and two were still leaking. I put the TPS back on and went to the store and got new ones. My Thor this year had one leaking but I was able to tighten it. Just something to think about, a little spit on the valve stem will let you know

[Bayoutalker]

Originally Posted by rkymntsno

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.

I find it crazy that the alarm isn't active on those models. I can't see any reason for that to be. Someone said it was because some like to run lower pressures but that invalidates the pressures listed on the door sticker. Why would that not be bad for the tires?

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by Bayoutalker

I find it crazy that the alarm isn't active on those models. I can't see any reason for that to be. Someone said it was because some like to run lower pressures but that invalidates the pressures listed on the door sticker. Why would that not be bad for the tires?

Yea, but it sure rides a lot better for my back when you go down to 60 psi on the rear when not towing, lol.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by Bayoutalker

I find it crazy that the alarm isn't active on those models. I can't see any reason for that to be. Someone said it was because some like to run lower pressures but that invalidates the pressures listed on the door sticker. Why would that not be bad for the tires?

I totally agree!! It seems counterintuitive to disable a safety feature to satisfy a few to the detriment of the many. We have this discussion often over in another forum about Jeeps. What do we do in Jeeps when we want to run lower pressures? We either ignore the warning light on the dash, or we have a programmer to change the "alarm threshold". It's not that difficult. Off-roading, you often want to run lower pressures, but also ON-ROAD. The factory recommended pressures in the Jeep JLU are pretty high. Lots of guys have done extensive chalk tests on their vehicles and found the ideal pressure in the OEM tires to be MUCH lower than the pillar recommended pressure. And that's not even considering after-market tires. Now, granted, that's going to be specific to every vehicle based on load and other factors, but still...

Originally Posted by rkymntsno

Yea, but it sure rides a lot better for my back when you go down to 60 psi on the rear when not towing, lol.

+1 to this one too! My Ram rode WAY better with 60-65 in the rear unloaded. And I just ignored the icon on the dash. When I was loaded or towing, the pressure was at 80, and I was glad to have the warning available.

[Kdernst3]

I am also glad to see you came out of it ok. Bit of advice for all my fellow travelers.
GET a set of safety triangles and or the battery powered LED safety lights and travel with them. There are DOT requirements for the placement of the triangles.
In your case you could place them over the crest and then on the down hill side to warn the other drivers. They will be recognized by most drivers for the warning they represent.

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by Kdernst3

I am also glad to see you came out of it ok. Bit of advice for all my fellow travelers.
GET a set of safety triangles and or the battery powered LED safety lights and travel with them. There are DOT requirements for the placement of the triangles.
In your case you could place them over the crest and then on the down hill side to warn the other drivers. They will be recognized by most drivers for the warning they represent.

Very good advice. I have one triangle and that's not enough. I had been eyeing the magnetic orbiting orange lights but haven't gotten them yet which would have helped. But nothing would have come close to having the Highway Patrol present with me at the crest of the hill. I was so thankful!!!.....and lucky!

[Cincinnati Kid]

Originally Posted by Kdernst3

I am also glad to see you came out of it ok. Bit of advice for all my fellow travelers.
GET a set of safety triangles and or the battery powered LED safety lights and travel with them. There are DOT requirements for the placement of the triangles.
In your case you could place them over the crest and then on the down hill side to warn the other drivers. They will be recognized by most drivers for the warning they represent.

Yes, we have a set of triangles. The triangles seem to be the best option. Very visible night and day, and you don't have to worry about dead batteries when you need them the most.