meltn02

I purchased my 05 a couple months ago and have noticed a problem with the tires. When I bought it I checked the tread, which is in excellent condition, and even the tire age which is the 48th week of 2009 but I didn't even think to check between the tread for cracks on such a fairly new tire with minimal wear. They are stock Goodyear runflats.

You can only see them with a flash light or in direct sunlight but they are all over the front tires, which are newer than the rears.

For obvious reasons I am going to replace them right away but what would cause such a "new" tire to be in such bad shape? The tire was made just barely over 3 years ago and I have heard several stories of people buying brand new tires which are a year or two old at the time of purchase.

What do you guys think, dry rot somehow...or something else?

michaelinmech

Frankly, my fist thought is extreme tire abuse . . . . .

b4i4getit

It could also be a manufacturing defect. Before you spend the money take it to a Goodyear dealer and get their opinion. It could very well be a certain batch of tires had problems and you could get replacements for very little additional cost.

R&L's C6

If they are only a little more than 3 years old I would contact GY and see if they will replace them. Could be they have some sort of manufacturing defect.

MKenM

The picture in and of itself looks deceiving in that the tread appears to be inside out if you understand. If in fact the tire is only 3 1/2 years old it might be interesting to see what Goodyear has to say. It would be worth a shot. Good luck.

speedraider

100%

meltn02

Yea they were MADE at the factory a little over 3 years ago, and I am sure it took a decent amount of time for it to actually make it onto my car. They appear to have almost no tread wear at all but look really bad between the treads. I will get it checked out at a goodyear dealer tomorrow.

meltn02

Just checked, both tires that are doing it were manufactured at the same time, 48th week of 09. A couple more shots, never had a tire do this before so was pretty shocked how bad they looked. This is the other tire, for some reason the picture was smaller and its harder to see but it is the same. The outer crack looks even worse than it actually is just because it is right along a zigzag in the tread.

MKenM

Ah, now the picture makes more sense, again good luck. Let us know what happens.

meltn02

Yea one photo was taken from the front side of the driver wheel and the other was the back side of the passenger front (if that makes any sense) so the direction might look strange. I will update tomorrow when I find out what is going on. Wasn't sure if anyone else here had seen this before, thanks for the feedback!

42Chevy

In that first pic I believe I see steel belts showing inside the cracks. That should be covered under a prorated warranty adjustment.

child_of_fire

i had this happen to my 09. factory good year's began cracking with less than 7k miles on them. this is not from abuse. goodyear and the dealer both offered pro-rated credit toward new ones.

truckplay

a few reason for this to happen. depending on how many miles are on those tires, the rubber will get hard with age and if the car is not driven tires can flat spot and dry out causing these problems. on GS's GY has a warning that states that cars should not be driven if the tire temp. is below 40 degrees.

meltn02

Just got back from the tire place, it was some type of defect and they are selling me 2 new replacements at about $100 each (prorated price)

Very pleased with the result especially since I had no paperwork for them or even any idea when they were put on other than the manufacture date. Now I just need to order some new rims to have installed along with them!!

Red08

Seems like a reasonable pro-rated price. Glad to hear that they took care of you. I assume that includes mounting, balancing etc?

speedraider

gotta say it. but thats BS. Should be 2 free replacement. A bad tire is a bad tire.Those tires could have killed someone. Sounds like $200 is going in someone pocket.

42Chevy

They are only asking him to pay for the rubber he has used. That seems fair. Glad they helped out and stood behind thier product OP.

michaelinmech

Very nice - I'm happy for you. And I'm glad I was wrong in my first thought that it could have bee from previous owner's tire abuse.

Mad*Max

they shouldn't be charging for those items as it is not the OP's fault that the tires had to be replaced

richietables

At least they made good in some way and the OP is happy. Congrats!

My '09 has Goodyears which are starting to crack, too. I took it to be from the real heat cycles from the desert where the car was from. After 17K it was time to replace anyway...