Flat Tire on the TM

**Northwoods** · 06-28-2008, 03:41 PM

Hi All, After 8 days on the Current River at Pulltite CG on the Ozark National Riverways, we started our jouney back to St.Louis last Thursday. On Hwy. 44, 3 miles from Rolla and 2 miles from St. James, we had a carload of young people pass us honking and gesturing us to leave the road. That we did, thinking one of our canoes had comes loose. Much to our chagrin, the driver side tire on the TM was completely gone and we were riding on the rim! We felt no sway, pull, jerk or anything. The cap on the Thetfor drain was off and one ear of the the black cap was chipped - no other damage. We were able, with the help of a nearby business, to get the "Diesel Doctor" out of Rolla to come change and put on the spare. Whew! Could do without adventures such as these. We also learned, that to remove the tire, the shells only had to be released, not raised as indicated in "The Book". The change went smoothly, with 18 wheelers and other traffic whizzing by. We feel very fortunate to have had the assistance. When Ken got back into the car, his comment was "Sure pulls like a pop-up". The rest of trip home was uneventful. If you are ever on Hwy. 44 near St. James,MO, you must stop at Aunt Ruby's for the most luscious ice cream. It was our stress-reliever. Even Sanford the 93 pound Choc. Lab got a scoop. Be safe in your journeys. Olga

**B_and_D** · 06-29-2008, 08:09 PM

I hate that when that happens! It's a good thing that someone alerted you to your flat tire before you had any more damage. When we had our blowout I felt the vibrations right away, but we were on a long, straight, well-maintained highway. We just got back from a camping trip just south of Yosemite, and if we had been on one of those mountain roads and had a blowout, I don't think I would have noticed it right away.

Hope you had fun camping anyway! Some trips are less eventful than others.

**Northwoods** · 07-15-2008, 09:27 PM

Yes, some are, this one was a blast. We had 3 of our 4 kids and families, niece from Ohio and an old school pal of our N.C. dtr and her family, plus 4 dogs. We had 3 campsites and people coming and going. We also had 2 rainstorms, one while on the river. No one complained. That is until the Ranger gave us a ticket for unleashed dogs at our sites. Only one of the 4 dogs was our's and he was leashed. It was ok, though. Dogs did not damages and everyone had a good time. Flats on the highway, though, are real bummers.
Thanks for the thoughts.

Olga

07-16-2008, 06:26 AM

We had one on the way back from Bar Harbor. I felt it right away and it was on the passenger side. This was on a newish Goodyear marathon, do the tire companies do warranty replacements on trailer tires? This one was shredded.

BK

**Bill** · 07-16-2008, 07:11 AM

I have discovered that Goodyear is odd about their tire warranty. Some Goodyear stores are company-owned, and some are franchisee-owned. They look alike, with the big Goodyear logo on the outside, and you can't tell which is which without going inside and asking. If you find a company-owned store, they are pretty good about honoring the warranty. However, a franchisee-owned store will fight you tooth and nail about the warranty, and you will lose. At one franchisee-owned store, I finally acknowledged defeat, and then asked the owner what the deal was. He said that if he honors the warranty, he has to ship the tire carcass to Goodyear headquarters at his own expense, where it will be "evaluated". If it is decided that the tire should not have been covered, they ship it back to him, again at his expense, and he is out the cost of the new tire that he gave you, plus shipping two ways. Therefore they NEVER perform warranty exchanges.

Perhaps Bobby / wmtire can comment more on this situation.

Since most cities of any size have several Goodyear stores, you might drop by and casually ask the guy at the counter, until you find one that is company-owned. Remember, I'm talking about Goodyear stores, not tire dealers who happen to carry Goodyears as well as other brands.

Bill

07-17-2008, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill

I have discovered that Goodyear is odd about their tire warranty. Some Goodyear stores are company-owned, and some are franchisee-owned. They look alike, with the big Goodyear logo on the outside, and you can't tell which is which without going inside and asking. If you find a company-owned store, they are pretty good about honoring the warranty. However, a franchisee-owned store will fight you tooth and nail about the warranty, and you will lose. At one franchisee-owned store, I finally acknowledged defeat, and then asked the owner what the deal was. He said that if he honors the warranty, he has to ship the tire carcass to Goodyear headquarters at his own expense, where it will be "evaluated". If it is decided that the tire should not have been covered, they ship it back to him, again at his expense, and he is out the cost of the new tire that he gave you, plus shipping two ways. Therefore they NEVER perform warranty exchanges.

Perhaps Bobby / wmtire can comment more on this situation.

Since most cities of any size have several Goodyear stores, you might drop by and casually ask the guy at the counter, until you find one that is company-owned. Remember, I'm talking about Goodyear stores, not tire dealers who happen to carry Goodyears as well as other brands.

Bill

Yep, adjusting tires for an independant dealer is a case of guilty until proven innocent. I copied and pasted the following from where we discussed it in another forum awhile back. Maybe it will give others insight in how the adjustment procedures work for tires.

Bill, the owner of the franchise store was honest with you. The following is an example of the adjustment procedure from the manufacturer.

1. You bring a tire that may be eligible for an adjustment to me.

2. After giving it an initial inspection and deciding it is adjustable, I go to a pro-rate chart and use the manufacturers calculations on how much adjustment to give, based on the amount of usable tread depth left. I got to have the tread to calculate this. Also, the manufacturer's adjustment figure will not include mounting, balancing, taxes, or disposal fees. We are supposed to collect all of this from the customer.....or just eat it, which is a big loss if we do.

3. Some manufacturers will require the adjusted tire to be shipped back to them for factory analysis, or may send a rep by our shop to do it on the spot. Either way, if for some reason they decide that we erred in adjusting the tire, then we're out everything we gave for credit.....and any mounting, balancing, etc. we gave. They may also come up with a different pro-rata percentage if they do accept our adjustment.

4. If they do decide that we were correct in adjusting the tire, then they give us a credit towards our next purchase of tires from them. They don't give us any money back, even though we are out the money we spent in buying the tire we used for adjustment. They also don't give us the pro-rated adjustment price of the retail price, which we did for the customer..but instead give us a credit based off of wholesale price. (Ex:we adjust a tire at 70% of a $100 dollar retail tire....so the customer pays only $30. If we had to pay $80 for the tire originally, the manufacturer credits us 70% of this wholesale price, which is $56).

So, I got $56 credit and $30 from the customer for a total of $86 on a tire I normally get $100. I made a whole $6 on this and had to do more paperwork, invest more time, and take a risk that the manufacturer would even accept my adjustment.....not counting the money I payed out for mounting, balancing, etc. (if I didn't charge the customer for it).

5. If I had to ship the tire to the manufacturer, and they deny my claim, I'm also backcharged the cost of shipping.....along with all the other losses I have.

I hope this helps everyone understand why a regular store owner doesn't profit, but actually loses from adjusting tires. If you bought the tire from him originally, then he has a little cushion from the profit he made originally to help, and he can make more money from you in the future by keeping you happy. However, when you just drive up from out of town, and will never buy anything from him again......he is going to be resistant to lose money just to help you out.

So, what am I saying? The same thing you did. You will be much better off to find a company owned store for adjustment purposes. This way, the manufacturer of the defective tire, can absorb the loss on their product. However, not all tire manufacturers have company owned retail outlets.

07-17-2008, 04:12 PM

Between my wife and I and the two kids, we have eight cars/trucks.

The reason a shop would eat the cost of a tire warranty is so that I would come back.

We have been using the same mechanic at the same shop since 1986. He likes to keep me coming back.

Now, out on the road trying to get an adjustment is a little different. You will likely never be back at that shop.

I decided not to press the warranty issue when my Marathon shredded two weeks ago because I decided there was no way I would run Goodyear tiers again, on my TM or on my cars. Goodyear, as a company, clearly does not want my repeat business.

Besides my 8 vehicles, I have the TM, an ATV trailer, two ATVs and two motorcycles. I have 58 tires on the ground at my house. You would think that someone would like some repeat business from me. I guess I'm just too small.

**wbmiller3** · 07-18-2008, 05:01 PM

58 tires! Your local dealer should be taking you out to lunch.

07-18-2008, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wbmiller3

58 tires! Your local dealer should be taking you out to lunch.

Between all four of us there is also around 30 bicycles, but that is a different tire dealer.

**B_and_D** · 07-18-2008, 09:50 PM

Where do you keep all of those bicycles!

http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/files/o.../bike_tree.gif