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Goodyear Recalls 173k Tires Over Tread Separation

Goodyear is no stranger to controversy. Forced labor at a plantation in Indonesia following the military coup of 1965 comes to mind. The unfair discrepancy in pay between a female supervisor and her male counterparts is also worthy of mention, along with a very poor environmental record, the zero-tolerance policy towards certain political movements, and the $16 million the company had to pay to settle Foreign Corrupt Practices Act charges that stemmed from Goodyear’s subsidiaries in Kenya and Angola.
Goodyear G159 6 photos
Photo: eBay
Goodyear G159Goodyear G159Goodyear G159Goodyear G159Goodyear G159
Founded in 1898, the American multinational that bears the name of the gentleman who invented vulcanized rubber is also trying to make amends for the G159 saga. It all started in December 2018, as the result of a court order authorizing the release of some tell-tale records to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The federal watchdog obtained many complaints and claims alleging G159 tires used on Class A motorhomes have failed unexpectedly, causing serious injuries and even death.

The increasing number of reports obviously suggested a safety-related issue, a tread separation issue that has been covered up by Goodyear for more than two decades. The company knew as early as 1996 that G159s are not capable of handling the weight and punishment of large recreational vehicles, and Goodyear has also under-reported failures to the NHTSA.

On April 4th of 2018, Superior Court of Arizona Maricopa County Judge John Hannah unveiled 458 failures compared to 58 failures reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Judge John Hannah further uncovered seven injuries rather than 74 deaths and injury claims.

The latest development of the G159 saga concerns 173,237 tires with date codes 046 through 0403. The rubber boots in question measure 275/70 by 22.5 inches, and as ever, the tread may separate from the tire without prior warning. The remedy tires are listed as Goodyear’s G670. Any person that presents a motorhome with the subject G159s will receive a similarly-sized G670 at no extra cost, not even for dismounting, disposing, mounting, and balancing. Additionally, the peeps at Goodyear will provide a voucher to cover the cost of having the Class A motorhome professionally weighed.

Suspect G159s were produced between 1996 and 2003, as per the attached report published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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 Download: Goodyear G159 recall (PDF)

About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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