Bridgestone Tires

msk1986911 · 01-15-2012, 04:31 AM

Yesterday I replaced the front brakes on our Mazda5 and was shocked to see the condition f the left front tire, which looks as though the tread is pulling away from the body of the tire, although there are what appear to be gashes in the tire as well . We bought these through Tire Rack November 2010. I spoke with Tire Rack yesterday and was told their adjuster will look at the pictures tomorrow. Any experience with Bridgestone tires failing and/or warranty claims through Tire Rack? The tires have about 15K miles on them since they were purchased. The model in particular is Potenza G 019.

Thanks.

Mike

Reg · 01-15-2012, 05:00 AM

The OEM Bridgestones that came onour CRV were junk. Down right dangerous on the smallest sign of slippery roads and the wear was terrible. Very dissapointed and will not buy again.

mossguy · 01-15-2012, 05:21 AM

I too, have not been happy with Bridgestones. Prefer and am happy with Kumho.

msk1986911 · 01-15-2012, 05:53 AM

I expect a response from Tire Rack tomorrow. If the answer is that it is not a covered defect, I will buy another brand.

Thanks for your input.

Mike

onewhippedpuppy · 01-15-2012, 05:59 AM

Remember, OEM tires are often different than their aftermarket counterparts, even when labelled identically. Per a Bridgestone tire engineer that I spoke with the OEM tires are significantly cheapened to meet manufacturer price requirements. OEM tires nearly always suck.

Regarding the tires above, that is NOT normal wear. I've always been happy with Tire Rack service but haven't ever made a claim. Bridgestone/Firestone tires have always been good in my experience, my wife currently has Firestone Destination AT on her Armada and we couldn't be happier. They're a big improvement over the expensive Michelins that were on there previously.

William930t · 01-15-2012, 06:20 AM

I see some negative camber wear, what are your settings? Did you maintain proper tire pressures throughout the 15k? How does the RF tire look? The cuts and chunking are definitely abnormal. It will be interesting to see what TR has to say

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

I have been told by many that the Michelin LTX is the best light truck tire made, were the Michelins you denigrate OE tires? The OE Michelins on my Integra were the worst tires I have ever had.

onewhippedpuppy · 01-15-2012, 06:59 AM

Quote:

I have been told by many that the Michelin LTX is the best light truck tire made, were the Michelins you denigrate OE tires? The OE Michelins on my Integra were the worst tires I have ever had.

Mine were LTX and I was never happy with them. They were installed by the PO so not original. The new Firestones are quieter and ride better. Haven't had snow yet so I can't compare but the Michelins were terrible on her 2wd Armada. The only upside is that they lasted about 50k.

The Firestone Destination AT is one of the top rated truck tires on Tire Rack, so I'm not the only one happy.

Reg · 01-15-2012, 07:25 AM

I do not fully buy the OEM tires are made cheap because of the demand by price point of the car manufacturers. Bridgestone does not have to ever make a crap tire. If they were smart they'd just say no and let Honda put crum off brand tires on their cars and let "crummyoem" take the bad rap.

I own a business and would not make crap just to get a sale and justify it because the customer asked for it. I'd just say no.

patssle · 01-15-2012, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

The Firestone Destination AT is one of the top rated truck tires on Tire Rack, so I'm not the only one happy.

Just don't put it on a Ford Explorer!

onewhippedpuppy · 01-15-2012, 07:45 AM

Quote:

I do not fully buy the OEM tires are made cheap because of the demand by price point of the car manufacturers. Bridgestone does not have to ever make a crap tire. If they were smart they'd just say no and let Honda put crum off brand tires on their cars and let "crummyoem" take the bad rap.

I own a business and would not make crap just to get a sale and justify it because the customer asked for it. I'd just say no.

I suspect that you might reconsider if you had the opportunity to double your sales and profit with a single order. They build tires to OEM specs and sell thousands of them. Give the customer what they want.

Reg · 01-15-2012, 07:53 AM

So you mean sell yourself out Puppy?

The OEM Pirelli's on my Mustang are actually pretty good. Granted we only have 3500 miles on them. I have had other Pirelli tires in the past that were crap. I had Bridgestone tires that were OK but I will not buy them again unless they do something to change my mind like make a better product that has great reviews on a similar car that I might have at the time.

jcommin · jcommin's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Remember, OEM tires are often different than their aftermarket counterparts, even when labelled identically. Per a Bridgestone tire engineer that I spoke with the OEM tires are significantly cheapened to meet manufacturer price requirements. OEM tires nearly always suck.

Regarding the tires above, that is NOT normal wear. I've always been happy with Tire Rack service but haven't ever made a claim. Bridgestone/Firestone tires have always been good in my experience, my wife currently has Firestone Destination AT on her Armada and we couldn't be happier. They're a big improvement over the expensive Michelins that were on there previously.

There might be some truth to this. Every OE part has a price point. OE parts must also meet The requirments set by the OEs. I have bridgstones on my 944 and love them. My problem is I replace them because of age not wear.

But the tire damage shown is not normal

msk1986911 · 01-15-2012, 08:40 AM

Many thanks for the input. I will report back on how Tire Rack.Bridgestone respond.

Go Ravens!!!

Mike

onewhippedpuppy · 01-15-2012, 09:24 AM

Quote:

So you mean sell yourself out Puppy?

The OEM Pirelli's on my Mustang are actually pretty good. Granted we only have 3500 miles on them. I have had other Pirelli tires in the past that were crap. I had Bridgestone tires that were OK but I will not buy them again unless they do something to change my mind like make a better product that has great reviews on a similar car that I might have at the time.

Most businesses exist to make a profit. Many a self righteous businessman has gone under because he claimed to know the product better than his customers. We aren't talking about an issue of safety like the Firestone/Explorer scandal of a few years ago, which I definitely don't agree with.

Don't let perfect be the enemy of good enough.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Mine were LTX and I was never happy with them. They were installed by the PO so not original. The new Firestones are quieter and ride better. Haven't had snow yet so I can't compare but the Michelins were terrible on her 2wd Armada. The only upside is that they lasted about 50k.

The Firestone Destination AT is one of the top rated truck tires on Tire Rack, so I'm not the only one happy.

We will ONLY use michelins on our 3/4 ton trucks... We've had one or two blow from road hazards, but otherwise have been very happy with them, and we are hell on things. Lots of our work is in the ditch beside the highway, pick up all kinds of trash.

TGTIW · 01-15-2012, 11:16 AM

O.E. Tires are built to a different standard that aftermarket versions of the same tire. Yours does look like it has a good deal of camber or toe wear though.

gtc · gtc's Garage

I've been very happy with my bridgestones.

It looks to me like that tire was rubbing, or perhaps the wheel was way out of alignment.

masraum · 11:45 AM

I ran Bridgestone RE750s on my 911 and liked them.

I've been running Bridgestone RE11s on my miatas. I ran through a few sets on my previous miata, and I'm still running on my first set on this new miata.

They are fantastic tires.

Is that odd edge-wear in the picture (what it looks like) or is the shoulder just really clean. It looks like the edge is extremely worn, probably due to a bad alignment (camber and or toe problem) or possibly worn suspension components. That sort of wear could definitely cause tires to degrade prematurely.

Send more pics of the tire. Maybe one of the other edge and one of the tire head on. Based on what I see it looks like other factors killed the tire.

MysticLlama · 01-15-2012, 12:30 PM

I have really liked my Bridgestones as well, multiple sets.

Those look really strange, there is a lot of tread left for that sort of damage. I'd lean towards bad alignment overheating the inside and making them more suseptible to damage or something.

I drove my S03s to almost no tread nearly to the cords with no cracking like that, and I've seen many other models of Bridgestones the same way on other people's cars.

They could also be a defective batch, it happens, and if so, TireRack has probably heard about it.