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Horrible experience with Sumitomo tires

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Old Nov 4, 2009 | 12:17 PM
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Default Horrible experience with Sumitomo tires

I just bought four brand new sumitomo htrz tires from tirerack (I am not flaming on tirerack as they have provided me expert sales and service everytime I have dealt with them)

But as for the tires, they were always properly inflated. Today while driving approximately 60mph to work the rear pass side blew out with only 5k miles on it. WTF





Now I know these are fairly cheap tires but for what I paid, I would expect more than 5k miles out of them. I guess you get what you pay for... I will never buy sumitomos again, I am now shopping for some nittos.

Do you guys think it is even worth me trying to contact the manufacturer? I can't imagine they would do anything.
Old Nov 4, 2009 | 12:33 PM
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Those tires are junk. Try BFG KDWs. You will like the results because they really hook up.
Old Nov 4, 2009 | 12:59 PM
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^ thanks, I only bought them because they looked decent, had good reviews and were dirt cheap. They proven themselves to be inferior, I will look into the BFGs thanks for the recommendation

Last edited by phirepower; Nov 5, 2009 at 12:36 AM.
Old Nov 4, 2009 | 01:01 PM
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contact them, they will most likely do something for you. are you sure you didnt hit anything? i ran those tires for well over a year with no problems
Old Nov 4, 2009 | 01:17 PM
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^ I am positive, I am very meticulous about my car, and I drive extremely cautiously. It took out the entire side wall almost the whole way around i will give them a call thanks
Old Nov 4, 2009 | 02:04 PM
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i had a very bad experience with the same tire too, that was 2 years ago.
Old Nov 4, 2009 | 03:59 PM
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I have them on my fbody toy and my daily driver f150 in 22" w/65 miles round trip a day, 5 days a week, no issues what so ever, YMMV

Contact tirerack.
Old Nov 4, 2009 | 11:11 PM
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People actually pay money for sumisuckos?? Contact sumisucko and they actually might want to check it out.

The sidewall is so thin and easy to cut on sumisuckos. Thats why they have so much sidewall overlap during hard cornering. I flip my own tires and cut them off for people. My sawzall went thru sumisuckos with a used blade easier than any other tire. I would only recommend them to a arch enemy. Kumhos and falkens at the least.
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Old Nov 4, 2009 | 11:33 PM
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sumitomo tires must be really shitty.
here's a thread from just the other day where another guy's rear driver's side sumitomo tire blew and (most likely) totaled his camaro.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-l...-ss-today.html

luckily your picture in this thread doesn't look like this:
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 12:34 AM
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Guys I have written a very firm email to Sumitomo which includes links to this thread and the one mentioned above. I have told them I am very dissatisfied with the tires, and that I feel they are entirely too unsafe for road use. I have recommended that they examine the structural integrity of these tires and consider issuing a recall. I have also asked that they take responsibility for the tire flaw and ease my tire dissatisfaction with great customer service. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks everyone. Please research all of your tire purchases more thoroughly than I did.
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 12:47 AM
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Oh snap, time to look at some nittos now.
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 01:02 AM
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Originally Posted by phirepower
Guys I have written a very firm email to Sumitomo which includes links to this thread and the one mentioned above. I have told them I am very dissatisfied with the tires, and that I feel they are entirely too unsafe for road use. I have recommended that they examine the structural integrity of these tires and consider issuing a recall. I have also asked that they take responsibility for the tire flaw and ease my tire dissatisfaction with great customer service. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks everyone. Please research all of your tire purchases more thoroughly than I did.
i disagree with them being unsafe for road use. at my work, we sell Sumitomos on a daily basis, and not once have i heard any complaints or seen any comebacks. i do agree that they might have had a bad batch of tires, happens very rarely but it still happens. i can say that Sumitomo has great customer service. they own Falken, who will bend over backwards for the customer. good luck with your complaint
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 01:12 AM
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Originally Posted by BobDoLe
sumitomo tires must be really shitty.
here's a thread from just the other day where another guy's rear driver's side sumitomo tire blew and (most likely) totaled his camaro.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-l...-ss-today.html

luckily your picture in this thread doesn't look like this:
Hitman check out this thread too
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 01:26 AM
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Hmm, very interesting.

When I bought my car in May of 07 the dealership but new Sumitomos on and they're still on the car today. Thats 2 years and over just about 20k miles on them. They're definitely dont now but I gotta wait a bit before I can get new tires.

They're proven to be ok tires but suck *** for performance. They compound is super hard so they have a good life to them but dont hook for ****.

They're at the point now where they dont even screech or chrip, they just spin.

After seeing both thread I'll have to take it easy till I get new tires. I wouldnt of even thought of going back to sumitomos before seeing these anyway.
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 02:01 AM
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Originally Posted by phirepower
Hitman check out this thread too
i still maintain my statement. i do believe that you got a bad set of tires and they should take care of you. however i still do believe they are safe for road use.
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 07:11 AM
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Originally Posted by hitmanws6
contact them, they will most likely do something for you. are you sure you didnt hit anything? i ran those tires for well over a year with no problems
Originally Posted by 99'CajunFirehawk157
I have them on my fbody toy and my daily driver f150 in 22" w/65 miles round trip a day, 5 days a week, no issues what so ever, YMMV

Contact tirerack.
Originally Posted by TempleU_WS6
Hmm, very interesting.

When I bought my car in May of 07 the dealership but new Sumitomos on and they're still on the car today. Thats 2 years and over just about 20k miles on them. They're definitely dont now but I gotta wait a bit before I can get new tires.

They're proven to be ok tires but suck *** for performance. They compound is super hard so they have a good life to them but dont hook for ****.

They're at the point now where they dont even screech or chrip, they just spin.

After seeing both thread I'll have to take it easy till I get new tires. I wouldnt of even thought of going back to sumitomos before seeing these anyway.
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).
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 09:59 AM
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^^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.
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 10:11 AM
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^ I can go get a penny and take a new picture if you think I'm trying pull a fast one, tread is deep. almost like new. Yesterday it was 55 degrees out. Sidewall was fine until it blew out. Ok I am going to go snap another photo hold on.

Last edited by phirepower; Nov 5, 2009 at 10:22 AM.
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 10:20 AM
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If you look closely at the third image you can see a line of wear around the middle of the side wall. This is where it blew out.
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 10:20 AM
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If you look closely at the third image you can see a line of wear around the middle of the side wall. This is where it blew out.



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