Major Michelin Disappointment

edgewant · 03-01-2016, 11:42 AM

Last fall after returning from a trip a sidewall defect on one my tires grew by about 100% after 180 miles. I dismounted the tire/wheel assembly and took it to TCI in Nashville TN to see if they could get Michelin to warranty it. The tire was only 2-1/2 years old and was mounted by Freightliner when I had the tire and front airbag upgrade.

Michelin's determination was that the tire was either damaged during installation or suffered impact damage and was not a manufacturing defect. As shown in the attached picture there was no wheel damage, so I seriously doubt there was impact damage.

Very disappointed in Michelin.

dogsgocamping · 03-01-2016, 11:48 AM

Had the same thing happen to one of ours. Looks identical. I believe ours was damaged by a pothole at freeway speed.

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**Iwritecode** · 03-01-2016, 11:50 AM

In my experience tire warranties are worthless as it's near impossible to prove that it was a manufacture's defect. I had a tire on my car blow out one week after I had it put on and they still wouldn't cover it.

dogsgocamping · 03-01-2016, 11:55 AM

We had a warranty that paid for the one tire. We chose to replace all of them due to cracking. Our fault, not covered.

dogsgocamping · 03-01-2016, 11:56 AM

Our warranty covered road hazard.

dogsgocamping · 03-01-2016, 12:01 PM

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edgewant · 03-01-2016, 12:38 PM

Well the good news is I have a tire and wheel road hazard warranty that Lazydays talked me into. Its with United States Warranty and they paid the full amount with no questions asked. So at this point I'm even. The warranty cost about what the tire did.

Phil57 · 03-01-2016, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edgewant

Last fall after returning from a trip a sidewall defect on one my tires grew by about 100% after 180 miles. I dismounted the tire/wheel assembly and took it to TCI in Nashville TN to see if they could get Michelin to warranty it. The tire was only 2-1/2 years old and was mounted by Freightliner when I had the tire and front airbag upgrade.

Michelin's determination was that the tire was either damaged during installation or suffered impact damage and was not a manufacturing defect. As shown in the attached picture there was no wheel damage, so I seriously doubt there was impact damage.

Very disappointed in Michelin.

Is that a XZE2?

edgewant · 03-01-2016, 01:57 PM

Yes sir.

Phil57 · 03-01-2016, 02:02 PM

They are made to survive curbs and such on the side walls. I surprised they tried to blame this on a road hazard. Glad you didn't have a blow out. Same tires I have. I'll keep an eye on them. Thanks.

uralman · 03-01-2016, 02:38 PM

Had motor homes for 15 years and the only tires I had problems with were Michelins.

Papa-t · 03-01-2016, 02:42 PM

It's always someone else's fault except the manufacturer it seems!!!!!!!!!!

Phil57 · 03-01-2016, 02:46 PM

I have had no issues with Michelin so far and have always loved the performance. I don't think we need to trash Michelin here but I would not be happy with their response.

edgewant · 03-01-2016, 03:07 PM

I too think they are one if not the best tires made. I wouldn't and couldn't say that about some of the others.

RKNOLA · 03-02-2016, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edgewant

Last fall after returning from a trip a sidewall defect on one my tires grew by about 100% after 180 miles. I dismounted the tire/wheel assembly and took it to TCI in Nashville TN to see if they could get Michelin to warranty it. The tire was only 2-1/2 years old and was mounted by Freightliner when I had the tire and front airbag upgrade.

Michelin's determination was that the tire was either damaged during installation or suffered impact damage and was not a manufacturing defect. As shown in the attached picture there was no wheel damage, so I seriously doubt there was impact damage.

Very disappointed in Michelin.

Hello edgewant,
Thank you for sharing this tire info and giving other Berk owners a heads up!
Did you speak to the people at Michelin yourself to get their determination? I know there have been times when we were told "the company won't do anything" when actually it was "gee, I don't have time to call that company so I will just tell customer NO". Back when we had a Forest River Travel Trailer and had problems with Chinese Tires we contacted Forest River AND the Tire manufacturer ourselves. (at that point, what did we have to lose). We were pleasantly surprised at both Forest River AND the tire manufacturer's willingness to help us. This was of course after having the tires changed at a shop that told us "the tire manufacturer won't do anything about that......... tires blow, it is just part of owning an RV".
Now I know the tire situation on a TT vs a MH are worlds apart, but being brushed off by a company too busy to help a customer is NEVER ok!! For ANY product!
We will definitely keep an eye on the tires on our Berkshire! Hopefully we don't have any problems with ours.

Karen

**wmtire** · 03-02-2016, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edgewant

Last fall after returning from a trip a sidewall defect on one my tires grew by about 100% after 180 miles. I dismounted the tire/wheel assembly and took it to TCI in Nashville TN to see if they could get Michelin to warranty it. The tire was only 2-1/2 years old and was mounted by Freightliner when I had the tire and front airbag upgrade.

Michelin's determination was that the tire was either damaged during installation or suffered impact damage and was not a manufacturing defect. As shown in the attached picture there was no wheel damage, so I seriously doubt there was impact damage.

Very disappointed in Michelin.

Edgewant, what you have in the picture is many times what we in the tire business refer to as pinch shock or rim pinch. It's not just Michelin who will not adjust tires with this condition, since it is considered a road hazard. Every brand of tire we sell, either passenger or commercial have a disclaimer for pinch shock.

It can be caused by several things, a few of which are potholes and curbs. Many people drive up over curbs when pulling in parking lots, etc.

The progressive problem is that the bulge may not occur till awhile later, well after the impact that caused the break.

EDIT after rereading OP: When they dismounted your tire, they most likely were able to find a little tear in the inner liner. That's the first thing that the adjusters look for.

Here is some reading material on this occurrence, as well as Michelins service manual.

Page 26:

http://www.rma.org/wp-content/upload...Guide_2013.pdf

Michelin:

Michelin Demo - Truck Tire Service Manual

There is a pretty good video on the TIA site about pinch shock, but I haven't figured out how to share it since it's a member only site that would require my password. Let me do some looking around and see if I can find something similar.

EDIT 2: Here is a youtube video that helps explain a rim pinch. I've seen it happen several times on the larger stuff, when going up over curbs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtqpUaRbqQU

Phil57 · 03-02-2016, 11:53 AM

Good info. Thanks for sharing.

kingwood390bh · 03-02-2016, 12:15 PM

I had a blow out on 3 year old Michelin tires on my 390bh. Michelin didn't look for a reason to deny my refund request, they sent me a check.

RKNOLA · 03-02-2016, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmtire

Edgewant, what you have in the picture is many times what we in the tire business refer to as pinch shock or rim pinch. It's not just Michelin who will not adjust tires with this condition, since it is considered a road hazard. Every brand of tire we sell, either passenger or commercial have a disclaimer for pinch shock.

It can be caused by several things, a few of which are potholes and curbs. Many people drive up over curbs when pulling in parking lots, etc.

The progressive problem is that the bulge may not occur till awhile later, well after the impact that caused the break.

EDIT after rereading OP: When they dismounted your tire, they most likely were able to find a little tear in the inner liner. That's the first thing that the adjusters look for.

Here is some reading material on this occurrence, as well as Michelins service manual.

Page 26:

http://www.rma.org/wp-content/upload...Guide_2013.pdf

Michelin:

Michelin Demo - Truck Tire Service Manual

There is a pretty good video on the TIA site about pinch shock, but I haven't figured out how to share it since it's a member only site that would require my password. Let me do some looking around and see if I can find something similar.

EDIT 2: Here is a youtube video that helps explain a rim pinch. I've seen it happen several times on the larger stuff, when going up over curbs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtqpUaRbqQU

If "Pinch Shock" is caused by potholes, RVs in Louisiana are in trouble!! Thanks for the info. We will try to be careful out there.
Karen

accumack · 03-02-2016, 07:09 PM

I wouldn't run anything else. I've had too many problems with other manufacturers especially GOODYEAR and DUNLAP. You couldn't pay me enough money to run either of them. I've been running Michelin for the past 20 years with no problems. That being said every manufacturer has some bad tires.

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