JHZR2
Staff member
So these tires were made for one thing, then applied to another… and now they’re being recalled 20 years after the last one was made? If any are in use the owner should be labeled a menace to society.
Feds: Goodyear knew of defective RV tires as early as 2002
- Thread starter Joe1
- Start date
There is some standardization with tire ratings and performance per UTQG and FMVSS but the performance categories aren’t defined by the government or other regulatory body.
An “all-season” tire with M+S and the 3PMSF logo means the tire met the criteria for that definition by DOT but real-world performance may vary. The UTQG ratings focus on treadlife, temperature and traction and are tested against a “control” tire on a test track in Texas.
The only place that tightly regulates tires is motorsport.
The way I understand it is Goodyear said in court that they’re fine for use on RV’s but blamed “user error” for the blowouts/tread separation. They then got the cases sealed where they were forced to show their test data. The RV manufacturers aren’t entirely innocent, but the shady way Goodyear went about settling cases and getting cases sealed while denying there was ever a problem makes me think most of the blame should be on them.
Goodyear was actively marketing the G159 as an RV tire. They also systemically hid evidence in lawsuits against them so that the NHTSA couldn't investigate or get the information needed to investigate. Goodyear actively hid internal test data showing that the tires reached over 220*F at highway speeds with the loads they were being used for, despite failure being likely over 200*F. They didn't just ignore it, they deliberately and willfully hid data showing their product was faulty. This isn't even in the same realm as the Firestone debacle. Estimates are that 1/10 of these G159 tires failed, resulting in many crashes and deaths.
I had these tires installed on my dually GMC box truck many many years ago no issues minus horrible in the snow but also used in NYC for delivery service.
That's explicitly the duty cycle those tires were designed for. Under 65mph and on delivery vehicles. Goodyear's mistake was marketing them to RV makers when they couldn't handle the heat of sustained high speeds.
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UPS also used those G-159s, they were very popular on school buses.
The transit/city buses I see around here use Goodyear Intercity Cruisers for their “high-profile” fitments, Metro Milers for “low-profile” fitment with the rest being Michelin X InCity/XZU or Firestone City Transport. Only the Metro Milers have a 55MPH limit on them.
I can find no evidence to that effect. Do you have a link that shows otherwise?
This article covers a lot more detail than most of the news articles about it.
https://www.fairwarning.org/2018/11/goodyear-tire-lawyer-kurtz-g159-haeger-sanction/
OK, but even that article only says the tires came OE on a motor home - and there isn't any dispute over that. The dispute is over whether or not Goodyear marketed the tires to RV makers. As I pointed out, the chassis's were bus chassis's and they are mostly used to build city buses - which is the right application. The RV converters didn't change out the tires when they bought the chassis's - and they should have.
Do not get me wrong. Goodyear did a lot of wrong things here, but the ultimate responsible party was the RV converter - or alternatively, the chassis manufacturer for failing to warn the RV converter that the tires were not suited for high speed service.
In my view, this recall is mostly because Goodyear is the only one still around.
As an RV-er, I remember these being on the market quite well. They were sold through Camping World, advertised as an purposely made RV tire, IIRC. I remember ads for them in RV magazines as well. I looked at them as a replacement tire for our coach too. Stuck with the XPS Rib Michelins, which are excellent. I always have to change them out from old age when they still look great.
