I was servicing my truck Sunday when, fortunately, I had a low steering tire (38k miles). I must have run over something which punctured the tire near dead center, but it never went totally flat. I put the spare on and would look at getting it fixed during the week.

While on a run Monday, I stopped in a Pomp's Tire service in Milwaukee - Pomp's is a truck repair service with over 50 locations in the midwest. They said the tire was junk, not due to the puncture, but the liner had a crack in a totally different area then the puncture. The liner kind of replaces the tube and is the main part which holds the air inside the tire. A crack can let the air get escape through the plies and resulting in a failure.

I believe this is a Continental tire issue and need to find a dealer. A trip to Conti-online.com shows the closest dealer to my home is in Romeoville, IL I took the tire there looking for some adjustment towards a new tire. While they also concluded the tire was junk, they only handled big truck tires, not light truck. They suggested Cassidy tire in Downers Grove.

I left the tire at Cassidy Tuesday as the Continental rep was going to stop by... that day, I thought. Friday, I called and Cassidy said the rep was there and there was no problem with the tire - just fix the puncture and travel on - no problem...

I'm not going to run the risk of a tire failure for my own safety, so I purchased a new tire and am going to keep the old one to run on the back of my dually. I probably would have done this any way just for the puncture, but this is a questionable tire at best.

I still think it should be adjusted as a defective tire. Cassidy & Conti feel I hit something on the road to cause the crack. I asked what kinds of things could I drive on and if they have ever travelled in Illinois & Wisconsin... some of the roads are pretty rough, to say the least. If they can't take the punishment, they shouldn't be making tires...

As a side note, I'm extremely disappointed with Ford's choice to switch from 16" to 17" tires in 2005. There are only 2 manufactures of 245-75-17 tires (I believe that is the size) - BFG & Conti. Conti is the only one making a highway tread. Getting a tire on the road is impossible - no one stocks the tire. I may look at switching to 16"s but it is a pretty heavy hit buying aluminum rims. I'm going to complain to Ford and see what happens.

Thanks for listening...

Jim

 

jim
check your email

 

I have also had a bad experience with the Conti tires..I hit a piece of wood on the road and after stopping I noticed it had taken a 2 hunk of tread off the tire leaving a hole to the cord I feel this is a defective tire..does anyone think it would be worth persuing?

 

16 inchers will not fit, the brake rotors and calipers on the '05 are bigger than the previous years, thats why they went to 17" wheels...sorry

ps. i found 5 tires in that size at tirerack . com, here is a link: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar...=All&x=66&y=11

 

Really. I didn't think the rotors & calipers were physically larger than earlier. I thought only the cylinders (pucks) were a bit larger.

I have checked tirerack.com many times. 2 of the 5 you found are for SUV's and not rated load range E. I've driven buy tirerack many times on I80. I'm going to stop next time...

Thanks!

Jim

 

They are larger then the 04's

 

05 has bigger rotors and needs the 17inch wheels

 

Will the 17" wheels fit on a 350 that has the stock 18" wheels?

 

Mark, Yes.

 

Thank you, I thought probably so, just wanted to make sure.

I am going to need some decent snow tires for plowing this year and the Conti's aren't the ones.