I've never had a tire blowout on me before untill today. Couldn't belive it on the stock tires with only 11k miles on them. I was on my way home from work going 65 down the highway and it just blew, loud bang and everything, luckly it was the rear and I didn't lose control. Air pressure was good as of last week and still is on the remaining tires. Guess I'll be makin a trip to the dealer tomorrow to see what is covered under the tire warranty. Any advice before I go in tomorrow? I'm no expert when it comes to what makes tires this day in age blowout besides the usual wrong air pressure. I'll try and attach a picture of the tire here. Basically the entire tread section disconnected from the sidewall, pretty dramatic.

 

hokie350lt1...Give us the Name, Size and series so we can all watch for this. There was a salesman in the service dept. when I was getting my second oil change that had a very similar blowout.

Have you been towing anything really heavy like trailers or 5th wheels in winding roads that would have put heavy side-loads on your truck? Have you rotated your tires within that 11K miles? What kind of Pressure have you been running?

I have PSI gauges on each of my stems that show Green when good and Red when low/high. I couldn't imagine having that while towing a 5th wheel.

Keep us posted...

 

That is definably separation. A gum strip has been implemented in tire construction to keep the belt from rubbing the sidewall. 2 problems exist, rubbing of the belt occurs to the sidewall or foreign material caused the tire not to bond in the curing process. Contact the manufacturer as well on your own with all the serial numbers from your tires especially this one that separated. Inspect the remaining 3 tires you have for cracks.

Glad your ok.....

 

Yes I too would like to know what kind it is.

 

Looks like a Pirelli Scorpion.

That seperation looks like a defective tire. With only 11,000 you should be good pn the warranty. What pressure were you running. I have the Pirellis on my 250 and run them at 70 PSI.

 

Thanks guys. Yeah, they're Pirelli Scorpions 265/70R17. I'm surprised about the 70 psi that you run toypuller. Is that because you do more towing? They came on the truck at 50psi when I bought it and I just assumed that was correct. I did increase the front tires to 60psi because they were wearing more on the outer edges but I have left the rear tires at 50 and they seem to be wearing evenly. Should I move it up to 70psi anyways?

I wasn't towing anything and usually don't tow much. I use it as a work truck and the tires do see some time on gravel roads, but the other 80% of my driving is highway. I've checked the other tires and everything looks normal, I just hope I don't have to go through that again, and I know I'm going to be checking everytime I get in the truck now. Calling the dealer today, I'll keep you all posted.

 

I use this truck almost strictly for towing my bass boat. Not a heavy load, but 75% of the driving in this truck is with the boat. I have a 95 F150 that I use as an everyday beater.

The max pressure for the Pirellis should be 80 PSI. I have run them as low as 55 and as high as 80 and found that 70PSI seems to give me the best ride. I have RX9000 shocks set at 5 on the front and 6 on the rear.

50 PSI may be a little low for those tires. A low pressure caused blow out looks similar to what you have. Lots of people run them low without problem so its more a matter of what you decide. Check your gas door or door jamb for the recomendations.

I wouldn't volunteer that info if you are looking to get the tire replaced under warranty. You know how dealers can get about things like that.

 

Could be a defective tire sidewall or this also looks like underinflation damage.

Proper inflation can be found on the door sticker and usually the manual. There is a unloaded inflation level, something like 50/60 Front/Rear and something like 80/90 when you tow. Read the manual for sure since I think a lot depends on the truck model. You need to adjust the inflation for what load you have.

What an old tire tech told me a few years back...

When the tire is underinflated, the tire flexs a lot on the sidewall as the tread rolls onto the ground and flattens. While the tread flattens, the sidewall is flexing a lot right at the edge where the sidewall meets the tread. This creates heat in a ring around the sidewall. Over time this heat causes the rubber in that ring to oxidize or carbonize and crumble. Eventuall the siedwall wears thin at the ring and blows out like you saw. One clue to this kind of failure is that there will be a lot of black powder and maybe crumbs inside the carcass.

Looks like custom wheels, are those non stock tires and if so what load range are they rated for? Could be you are over the tire rating since I read that the diesels are pretty heavy to start.

One other strangeness. Your signature says you have only 600 miles on the truck? must be an old signature or did you take these tires off of something else? If so, do you know the history of the tire?

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

Those aren't custom rims or tires. I have the same set up on my 05. The pirelli scorpian at/s are an "E" range tire. One of the few street tires in the 265/70/17 size that was available when the 05s first came out.

I have a 4x4 XLT Reg Cab with a 5.4 and my door jamb says to run 75 PSI front and rear. With your 6.0 and 50 PSI I'm thinking you may be running too low an air pressure.

Then again, sometimes things break for no reason. Good luck with the dealer, I doubt they will give you a hard time.

At least when the tread blew off it stayed on the rim and didn't shred the quater panel! It's Friday have a beer!

 

I had a real run around with a tire dealer on a truck tire blowout. They claimed it could have been caused by low tire pressure causing excessive heat, a bruised tire with a weak spot, a leak causing low pressure leading to excessive heat... They would not admit to any potential tire defect. The regional distributor and the US distributor said the same thing.

They best the dealer would do was cover it under a pro-rated road hazard replacement warranty, covering only the fraction of tread left. I had to pay mount and balance.

I had a series of written correspondence with the US importer to get some real help.

It will likely take much persistence to get more than a pro-rated road hazard warranty.

Good luck.

 

I have the same tires on my truck. Im not sure if they are stock or would put on there after. I am going to watch them real close now. That almost looks similar to the firestone issue back a few years ago.

 

The under-inflation appearance happens when the separation starts. While the tire was separating, long before you actually physically would see this, you loose air pressure. The lower air pressure, heat increases as your driving, then the final separation happens. Your Ford dealer will replace this tire or a Pirelli dealer. Write down and keep the tire ID number for your own record, as well as the remaining tires on your truck.

CONTACT PIRELLI CONSUMER AFFAIRS AT 800-327-2442

 

Looks like it might be a manufacture's defect on that tire. Thank goodness you didn't lose control and was able to pull over. I am sure that tire will be covered. Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

Well I'm glad at least you guys are on my side. Went to two dealerships today and boy did I get one hell of a runaround buy some grade A edit. The first dealership wouldn't even look at the tire saying "we don't handle tire warranties, you'll have to take it to an authorized Pirelli dealer." I was skeptical so I stop by another dealership on my way to Discount Tire and the service manager came out, I told him my story and he looked at me and said, "road hazzard, you're not gonna get that replaced here." I'm livid now b/c I didn't hit edit and it's good and well obvious what really happened to the tire. So I run across the street to Discount Tire (an autorized Pirelli Dealer) and they look at it and say "yeah, it's definatly a separation but we can't replace the tire for you at no charge. You'll have to buy a new one and then have the defective one sent in to Pirelli for a refund." As much as this deal sucked I felt like it was my only option. So now I have two pieces of tire in the bed of my truck and a new tire that has set me back $160.

So, I have a tire dealership that says it is defective and a service manager saying that we're all wrong. Reading my warranty it clearly states "Two separate warranties apply to tires on your new vehicle. The new Vehicle Limited Warranty provides no-cost coverage for tire repairs, replacements, or adjustments due to defects in factory-supplies materials or workmanship... During Bumper to Bumper Coverage period, your authorized Ford Motor Company dealer has the desire to ensure your complete satisfaction at no out-of-pocted cost to you. In addition, you have the option of having a tire warranty repair performed by the tire manufacturer's authorized service center. If you go to a tire service center during the Ford Bumper to Bumper Coverage period for covered repair (replacement or adjustment), you may be chaged a prorated amount for wear or other charges. If so, you should present your paid invoice detailing the nature of the charges to any Ford Motor Company dealership for refund consideration."

Neither dealership had the desire to ensure my complete satisfaction. I chose the second option and had the tire replaced and was told that I will have to send it directally to Pirelli for a warranty refund because it is defective. The blown tire measured out at 11/32" and a new one is at 13/32" meaning that I am within the range for full replacement of the tire through Pirelli. Shouldn't I be able to take my invoice into a dealer and have them refund me the cost of the tire, or shouldn't they at least send it to Pirelli for me, where's the service here? The Authorized Pirelli Dealer even said it was defective. I am not happy right now. Thanks guys.

 

Contact Pirelli Consumer Affairs and explain to them. Now you know why millions of dollars are awarded in product liability cases.