The factory tires that come with your car or truck were usually built specifically to hold the weight of that particular vehicle and the loads it’s intended to carry. Our Houston tire defect lawyers point out that the overall design of the wheel assembly might be carefully calculated to properly distribute weight loads and extend the life of the components. For instance, the factory rims might ride on the inside of the tires and fit up against the hub, holding the rim and tire close with minimal friction.
But if you need to replace the factory components, you might be offered generic rims designed to fit a variety of vehicles. Those rims probably won’t ride on the inside of the tire; their only support holding them onto the wheel assembly will be the stud bolts. These new replacements must be carefully matched with the rated capacity of the tires and the vehicle.
Reputable dealers, mechanics, and parts salesmen can help you choose the right tire, rim, or whole wheel assembly for your vehicle by checking rated load capacities and other relevant numbers. But beware: some just want to make a quick sale and won’t consider your safety paramount. So do your own research and know what you need for your specific car or truck.
Even if you choose properly rated replacement parts, they might be carelessly installed by mechanics in a hurry. Note that an improper installation would not be the “normal or intended” use generally specified by a warranty, but rather inappropriate use outside the scope of the warranty. So careless installation by poor mechanics might invalidate your warranty as well as endanger your life through the additional stress and metal fatigue that results to your wheel assembly.
Inappropriate choices or installations of a vehicle’s wheels can lead to devastating accidents. The Houston tire defect lawyers at Denena Points, PC mention the high profile Ford Explorer – Firestone Tire controversy from the past decade as a clear example. The Ford Explorer, with its high center of gravity and high engine mount on a narrow wheel base would, like other SUVs, be more prone to rollovers than passenger cars. But early tests showed an even stronger propensity for rollover than in other SUVs. So Ford recommended that the chosen 15-inch Firestone tires (ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT), which normally were inflated to 30 to 35 psi, be inflated to only 26 psi to help the tires grip the road. But the underinflation also led to increased friction and heat in the tire. This led to hundreds of tread separations while the vehicles were rolling down the highway at high speed. This led to at least 250 deaths and 3000 serious injuries.
The Ford-Firestone controversy reveals that even major automakers don’t always make the right choices when choosing tires for their specific vehicles. And when they discover a mistake, they often go to great lengths to hide it, even though failure to inform the public of the danger might result inserious or fatal accidents. Profits often come before people in a major corporate ledger book.
Watch our video to learn about how Goodyear failed to disclose a tire defect that led to multiple injuries.