Toyota Firestone Cracks Called Cosmetic

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Small cracks discovered in the sidewalls of Bridgestone/Firestone tires affixed to two Toyota models are said to be cosmetic in nature and not dangerous, according to the two companies.

Toyota had stopped using Firestone’s Dueler HT 689 model, size P265/70R16, in September after workers at the automaker’s Indiana plant found the sidewall cracks. The Duelers were standard equipment on Toyota’s full-size Tundra pickup trucks and on its new 2001 Sequoia sport utility vehicle.

Toyota said testing revealed “no serious safety threat” and that it planned to quickly resume using the Firestones on its vehicles. The problem was called “just a cosmetic blemish.”

None of the 2001 Sequoias had been shipped to dealers, and the tires had been replaced with Dunlops. Some 4,000 Tundra trucks contained Firestone tires, and dealers were instructed to replace them if customers complained.

The tires were made at Bridgestone/Firestone’s Wilson, N.C., plant, which also makes some of the company’s Steeltex tires that remain under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

According to documents that have surfaced in a Georgia lawsuit, customers complained about tread separations in tires made between 1990 and 1995 at the Wilson Firestone plant more often than about tires made at other Firestone facilities.

Firestone countered that “there is no reason to believe” that there are quality control problems within the Wilson operation.

“The tire manufacturer, not Toyota, warranties the tires on our products,” said Toyota on its website. “If a customer wishes to have the tires inspected or exchanged, or has a tire warranty complaint, he or she should contact a Firestone dealer.”