Are Cooper Tires Safe?

[Blinker]

Lots of advice from both sides of the spectrum regarding Cooper tires. Cooper tires (and Goodyear for that matter) have a lot of complaints regarding tread separation after the tires hit a certain age, generally the 7 year mark. I have personally seen this myself.

 

[Driz]

My first question is ......where were they made, China?. Its molded in the side of the casing somewhere unless it’s made in the US. In my opinion all tires today are all worse than their ancestors were 30-40 years ago though tires out of China ( even the big names ) are seemingly scraping the bottom of the barrel.

 

[k1xv]

I have been driving since 1964. Based on my experience, I never seem to have had a Cooper that lasted until the treads were worn out. Always some problem before that. Other disfavored brands were Delta (do they still exist?) and Firestone before becoming a Bridgestone subsidiary.

Brands I presently favor are Michelin (of course), Nokian, Continental, and Nitto.

 

[wag123]

I have been driving since 1964. Based on my experience, I never seem to have had a Cooper that lasted until the treads were worn out. Always some problem before that. Other disfavored brands were Delta (do they still exist?) and Firestone before becoming a Bridgestone subsidiary.

Brands I presently favor are Michelin (of course), Nokian, Continental, and Nitto.

Why did you pull this thread out of the basement?

 

[zzyzzx]

In October 2019, I purchased my second set of Cooper CS5 Grand Touring tires at Discount Tire. They're size 255/55 R17. I really like these tires. They're grippy and quiet. This particular tire is not included in any Cooper recalls. They have 22K miles on them with lots of tread left. I check the air pressure monthly and get them rotated on schedule.

On my last set of Coopers, (same model) one of the tires started to develop tread separation near the end of its life. The manager at DT didn't know if it was a defect or just to be expected due to its age, but he gave me a new tire and sent the old one back to Cooper.

This week, my rear tire exploded when I was on the freeway doing 70mph. The road was clear at the time- I didn't drive over anything. The tire just went POP like a gun shot and blew apart. I lost control of my car; did fishtails and donuts all over the freeway in heavy traffic before coming to a stop on the shoulder. Other drivers had to swerve to avoid me, and then swerve to avoid each other. It should have been a 10-car pileup but miraculously there were no collisions. No one was hurt or killed, for which I'm intensely grateful.

I'm taking the car in to DT today for a replacement tire, but I'm wondering if these tires are safe? It's possible that I ran over something, but if not, then the issue was the tire itself. Even though these tires aren't in any recall, what if they're defective and just haven't been acknowledged as such yet? If it was you, would you keep driving on them or switch to another brand?

I'm curious as to if any of this could be heat related.

 

[userfriendly]

My good friend in Colorado runs Cooper exclusively because the local dealer is good. Three kids, four cars, all weather, mountain driving. His F-250 Super Duty is used for heavy towing (a camper) in the mountains. His Coopers have been great. I think the experience at his servicing dealer has a lot to do with why he keeps going back.

I’ll go along with that. Cooper’s 10 ply truck tires are popular in Canada. My SIL on my suggestion put 295/70/18 ST Maxx on his 07 3500 Ram Cummins.
Sharp rocks will go through lesser tires, so far so good.

 

[Malo83]

Yea or Nay?

Are Cooper Tires Good? Ultimate Review For Beginners in 2023 - DrivingPress

Cooper is one of the most famous names in the tire industry. In recent years, Cooper has held the OE class mark for major brands such as Volkswagen, Ford, and Mercedes-Benz. The names above are partly a testament to the quality and reliability of this leading US tire-related tool company. Are...

drivingpress.com

 

[Bud_One]

Our entire fleet of vans and trucks run Coopers.. Haven't had any issues other than normal wear and tear with them.