Horrible experience with Sumitomo tires
11-05-2009, 10:26 AM
#22
TECH Resident
Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Mass
Posts: 958
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
This picture was taken less than a month and a half ago see the deep tread?
I have sumitomo HTRZ II on all four wheels, the front to are fine as for the back... eh not so much.
11-05-2009, 10:31 AM
#23
TECH Resident
Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Mass
Posts: 958
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
^^Agreed. I have a buddy who has run these on his car as long as I can remember without a single issue.
Whats weird about these sidewall failures is I have only seen sidewalls fail like this after a bubble forms & finally lets go. Like after accidnetly curbin a tire right on the sidewall or hitting a big pothole. My wifes car lost a BFG this way. Had a little bump in the sidewall when we bought the car, I thought nothing of it cause it didnt appear to be a goose egg sized one. And after a hour & half of driving in the summer heat the little bubble popped while turning a corner & her tire looked exactly like the one pictured above.
Its abnormal for a sidewall to just pop like this without prior contact with something. Not sure what could cause this honestly if the sidewall was in perfect condition prior.
I was kinda curious though cause the pic of the popped tire was bald but then you last pic you could see full tread width like it was 2 different tires? So obviously in those 5k miles you werent too easy on the tires for them to be partially burned off.
Is it currently cold where your at? Reason I ask is 9 times outta 10 if its cold a sidewall bubble will hide itself from a quick glance but after being driven on & the tires heating up it'll start to stick out. If you never noticed it while the tires were hot it could have been overlooked? Just a thought.
Whats weird about these sidewall failures is I have only seen sidewalls fail like this after a bubble forms & finally lets go. Like after accidnetly curbin a tire right on the sidewall or hitting a big pothole. My wifes car lost a BFG this way. Had a little bump in the sidewall when we bought the car, I thought nothing of it cause it didnt appear to be a goose egg sized one. And after a hour & half of driving in the summer heat the little bubble popped while turning a corner & her tire looked exactly like the one pictured above.
Its abnormal for a sidewall to just pop like this without prior contact with something. Not sure what could cause this honestly if the sidewall was in perfect condition prior.
I was kinda curious though cause the pic of the popped tire was bald but then you last pic you could see full tread width like it was 2 different tires? So obviously in those 5k miles you werent too easy on the tires for them to be partially burned off.
Is it currently cold where your at? Reason I ask is 9 times outta 10 if its cold a sidewall bubble will hide itself from a quick glance but after being driven on & the tires heating up it'll start to stick out. If you never noticed it while the tires were hot it could have been overlooked? Just a thought.
11-05-2009, 10:36 AM
#24
Man thats weird cause in the second pic of your first post it clearly looks like the tire is wore smooth. Even the tread depth disappears until it gets close to the bottom edge.
Wasnt doubting you, just noticed the pics didnt look right.
You mention to look at the sidewall wear in one of the newer pics, did you ever drive on these for any period of time with too low of air pressure? Even just to a store to fill it up after noticing it was low? I have seen sidewalls go after something like that without any signs of bubbling prior.
Wasnt doubting you, just noticed the pics didnt look right.
You mention to look at the sidewall wear in one of the newer pics, did you ever drive on these for any period of time with too low of air pressure? Even just to a store to fill it up after noticing it was low? I have seen sidewalls go after something like that without any signs of bubbling prior.
11-05-2009, 11:07 AM
#25
TECH Resident
Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Mass
Posts: 958
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
^ I check air pressure every other day unless a tire looks low. I have never run the tires on lower than 34psi (i have a digital psi tester) I agree that pic up top looks bald but it is just the low pixel range of my blackberry. I have no explanation for the blow out other than a manufacturing defect
11-05-2009, 12:30 PM
#27
This pic shows curb damage to the rim...or is that something else?
The majority of the people that complain about these tires on this forum do so because they don't grip well under "drag racing like conditions" and some complain about poor performance in the rain too. I don't care if they don't grip well in burnouts cause heck, its a burn out and I don't race my car ,and I have never had any issues in the rain yet either in my daily driver F-150 but my fbody never sees rain.
FWIW, the 10 or 20 or even 50 posts on this forum about blowouts if their are that many is a minuscule drop in the bucket to the thousands of people who use these tires and never have any issues, anyone ever sit down and post: "WOW, I love my tires, their perfect!" No, I don't often see that, just the negative stuff, like another poster said, a lot of tires blow out, not just this brand, its sucks that yours did and I understand your complaint but that doesn't mean all of ours will. If you check this forum awhile back someone started an entire thread on this brand because they did'nt like the way the tires SMELLED, really, they stink, would you like vanilla smelling tires, WTF!?!?! I purchased mine based on the following: research on line, price because I am not wealthy @ the time "TomzWheel" who/is was a sponsor here was great to deal with on these and a stand up guy, and the fact that this is a Japanese company and we all know how they do things and I am not too keen on Korean or Chinese or other 3rd world countries products although in todays economy who knows. YMMV
The majority of the people that complain about these tires on this forum do so because they don't grip well under "drag racing like conditions" and some complain about poor performance in the rain too. I don't care if they don't grip well in burnouts cause heck, its a burn out and I don't race my car ,and I have never had any issues in the rain yet either in my daily driver F-150 but my fbody never sees rain.
FWIW, the 10 or 20 or even 50 posts on this forum about blowouts if their are that many is a minuscule drop in the bucket to the thousands of people who use these tires and never have any issues, anyone ever sit down and post: "WOW, I love my tires, their perfect!" No, I don't often see that, just the negative stuff, like another poster said, a lot of tires blow out, not just this brand, its sucks that yours did and I understand your complaint but that doesn't mean all of ours will. If you check this forum awhile back someone started an entire thread on this brand because they did'nt like the way the tires SMELLED, really, they stink, would you like vanilla smelling tires, WTF!?!?! I purchased mine based on the following: research on line, price because I am not wealthy @ the time "TomzWheel" who/is was a sponsor here was great to deal with on these and a stand up guy, and the fact that this is a Japanese company and we all know how they do things and I am not too keen on Korean or Chinese or other 3rd world countries products although in todays economy who knows. YMMV
Last edited by 99'CajunFirehawk157; 11-05-2009 at 12:37 PM.
11-05-2009, 01:12 PM
#28
TECH Resident
Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Mass
Posts: 958
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
^ Ok well except for this issue from yesterday I was totally pleased. The tires gripped well, and I never had a problem in the rain. If it wasn't for the fact I had to have a tow truck pick me up yesterday and now I have to buy new tires I would be satisfied. But that isn't the case so I am kind of annoyed.
On the plus side, Carroll Tire Group a resaler for Sumitomos has been in close contact with me throughout the day, they are working hard to give me answers and deliver customer support I can commend them on that at least.
I give credit where it is due Cajun, I do not feel in the case I owe Sumitomo a thing, they owe me. I could have totaled my car maybe worse... ya know what I mean?
On the plus side, Carroll Tire Group a resaler for Sumitomos has been in close contact with me throughout the day, they are working hard to give me answers and deliver customer support I can commend them on that at least.
I give credit where it is due Cajun, I do not feel in the case I owe Sumitomo a thing, they owe me. I could have totaled my car maybe worse... ya know what I mean?
11-05-2009, 01:16 PM
#29
TECH Resident
Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Mass
Posts: 958
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
^ and I agree my issues with these tires may not be the norm. I only wrote this post to make others aware of the issue I had so they would not suffer a similar loss. I am happy that you like your HTRZII's I liked mine a lot until yesterday. It is very possible mine just were from a bad batch. I do not doubt that sumitomo does provide some decent tires. Thanks for your posts they have been helpful, Dan
11-05-2009, 04:30 PM
#30
TECH Apprentice
iTrader: (11)
Join Date: May 2007
Location: se michigan
Posts: 383
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
People have had blowouts on all kinds of tires. Sumitumos are cheap tires but there are plenty of people running them down to the wear bars without a single problem, and there are people who have had blowouts on Michelin Pilots too. You were just unlucky. Hopefully Sumitumo makes it right (which they should).
How funny is it that when a cheaper tire blows out everyone bashes it and says buy nittos. LOL. Look at what happened to my nitto 555 while cruising at 70mph. Tires were in perfect condition with only 8k on them.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/racers-lo...ing-track.html
So now are you reconsidering nitto's also?
11-05-2009, 05:17 PM
#31
10 Second Club
iTrader: (7)
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 107
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
^^ Agreed any tire can blow out at any given time. I am running the Same tire that you were running for a while now with no issues. They aren't lasting long but I will drop the hammer at any given time and cut doughnuts and the drop of a hat and hit them with the 150 shot off the line and have had no problems.
11-05-2009, 05:49 PM
#32
TECH Enthusiast
iTrader: (9)
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Central PA
Posts: 512
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
And for the record, the HTR Z3 was tested favorably against tires far more expensive by the tire rack.. even *gasp* the GS-D3's that this board gushes on (if you extrapolate by comparing the 2 identical tires in both tests)...
11-05-2009, 06:57 PM
#33
Teching In
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Toronto
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have the HTRZ II's on my other car. Quiet ride and the straight-line grip is actually very good.
However the sidewalls do feel kind of mushy. Sometimes I am afraid to push the car really hard in turns; feel the car floating around.
Good tire for the money, but honestly I don't think I would buy them again.
However the sidewalls do feel kind of mushy. Sometimes I am afraid to push the car really hard in turns; feel the car floating around.
Good tire for the money, but honestly I don't think I would buy them again.
11-06-2009, 12:37 AM
#34
TECH Enthusiast
iTrader: (7)
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Ft. Huachuca, AZ
Posts: 539
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I had a set on my Camaro for about 15 or 20k miles and they were just fine for a DD tire. I didn't race with them so I don't know about the traction at the track but they were fine in the rain. Now I'm on Nitto DRs though.
11-06-2009, 01:23 AM
#35
that tire has severe runflat damage. you either had a small puncture in the tire or a leaking valve stem that caused the tire to lose air pressure while you were driving. this is what causes the worn ring on the sidewall of the tire that you see in this picture
next step after the ring forms is the sidewall blows out. granted while i do think that sumitomo's are some of the absolute worst quality tires on the market, your issue is a road hazard not a defect
next step after the ring forms is the sidewall blows out. granted while i do think that sumitomo's are some of the absolute worst quality tires on the market, your issue is a road hazard not a defect
11-06-2009, 02:29 AM
#37
TECH Junkie
iTrader: (10)
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Tucson AZ
Posts: 3,261
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
just a heads up, they may try and tell you that your tire was under inflated (due to the heat ring). However, Tirerack should be like Discount and own up to their product failing and pay for damages, tire, etc. Just talk to them and say what happened.
shitty tires FTL, stick with BFG, Yoko, Falken.. theres a few more, but these are most common. Stay AWAY from continental, goodyear, sumitomos and other off brand BS. I worked for DTC for 3 yrs and I cant even tell you how many blow outs come in EVERY DAY due to shitty tires
shitty tires FTL, stick with BFG, Yoko, Falken.. theres a few more, but these are most common. Stay AWAY from continental, goodyear, sumitomos and other off brand BS. I worked for DTC for 3 yrs and I cant even tell you how many blow outs come in EVERY DAY due to shitty tires
11-06-2009, 12:50 PM
#38
On The Tree
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Florida
Posts: 130
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
i have sumitomo's...no problems if you don't beat on them...it looks like they were pretty worn for only 5k miles...be easy on cheap tires ,there not dr's or any other good tire,there meant to last,not meant to go do burnouts/drift do digs...there cheap long lasting tires,for daily use,not for performance use,that's like taking a tire from walmart and going to the track and expecting it to last and hook...good luck with your complaint to the company though.
11-06-2009, 07:50 PM
#39
TECH Resident
iTrader: (15)
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: fl.
Posts: 962
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
i have sumitomo's...no problems if you don't beat on them...it looks like they were pretty worn for only 5k miles...be easy on cheap tires ,there not dr's or any other good tire,there meant to last,not meant to go do burnouts/drift do digs...there cheap long lasting tires,for daily use,not for performance use,that's like taking a tire from walmart and going to the track and expecting it to last and hook...good luck with your complaint to the company though.
11-06-2009, 08:18 PM
#40
What's a Sticky?
iTrader: (16)
Join Date: May 2005
Location: KC
Posts: 697
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
that tire has severe runflat damage. you either had a small puncture in the tire or a leaking valve stem that caused the tire to lose air pressure while you were driving. this is what causes the worn ring on the sidewall of the tire that you see in this picture
next step after the ring forms is the sidewall blows out. granted while i do think that sumitomo's are some of the absolute worst quality tires on the market, your issue is a road hazard not a defect
next step after the ring forms is the sidewall blows out. granted while i do think that sumitomo's are some of the absolute worst quality tires on the market, your issue is a road hazard not a defect
