Truck manufacturer Peterbilt has issued a voluntary recall on more than 2,000 trucks because the tires they were outfitted with may not properly withstand high speeds.
According to Peterbilt, the tires that the tractors were sold with were Michelins only rated up to 65 mph while the trucks are able to go faster than 75 mph. This could cause “premature tire failure” that could result in a crash. To fix the issue Peterbilt will be reprograming truck computers to keep the trucks from exceeding 65 mph.
Peterbilt says that the majority of its trucks that were affected were auto haulers from model years 2009 to 2016.
Michelin meanwhile claims that their tires are performing as designed and are safe, but this issue follows a probe launched by the NHTSA back in late 2014 which found 16 complaints, three crashes, and two police crash reports involving alleged tire failures of Michelin’s tires in question. The probe was closed a few months later when investigators determined that the issues were caused by outside factors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has called on other truck manufacturers to come forward and address the issue. No other recalls have been made.
Source: cnbc, abcnews, detroitnews, omaha, tirereview
Yea that makes sense,have a high hp truck to get the job done then castrate it because of a tire problem. How about Having Michelin put the proper tires on the units.
Michelin wasn’t the one who put the tires on the trucks, PACCAR did. And they probably did it at the behest of the dealer and trucking company
Funny but I have known about this for years….My friend in the tire business and I have talked about this before…There isn’t a big truck tire made that is made that is rated for a speed higher than 65 MPH…that includes the one of that size mounted on buses and RVs too..(This was true at the time…I can’t be sure about today because I have not examined the data since that day.)…..
So it appears to me that every time there is a crash…anyone operating a heavy vehicle in speeds exceeding that rated speed is libel for knowingly violating that designation..much like the regulations for brakes and lights seat belts and weight and length restrictions…It looks to me like this open Pandora’s box for all kinds of liability lawsuits especially Joint and several liability…
How do you defend and argue in court in a case like this?
How long ago was your friend in the tire business? 50 years ago? Not true that no tire can exceed 65mph. For example right on the sidewall of a Firestone FS591 steer tire it says “75mph/120kph Speed Rating”. Either your talking about the past or your friend sells cheap double coin junk (which if I remember correctly also have a L speed rating)
Almost all name brand truck tires are rated for 75 MPH and have been for years. This recall is mainly car haulers that run 295/60R22.5 tires, it is an odd size tire that has a much lower profile than a standard low pro. Since that size tire has a 65 MPH rating, there are only 2 options, slow the truck down or switch to a taller tire.
Thanks Joe, I was wondering what tire it was. I’m an o/o so if it were mine I’d just replace them instead of governing my truck.
Joe, all tires are NOT rated for 75 mph, you are slightly mis-informed. The tires in question here are steer tires, 425/65R22.5 and 445/65R22.5 in particular, along with some others. These are the big boys on some mixers, dumps, and crane trucks etc. and are rated by the manufacturer. As I have 2 trucks with these size tires, I have had to look into my options, and found out that some brands even rate these tires at just 60 mph.
I never said that all tire were rated for 75 MPH, what I said was, “Almost all name brand truck tires are rated for 75 MPH…” This is recall # 1115P. It does NOT include 425/65R22.5 or 445/65R22.5 tires at all. It only include Michelin XZA-2 295/60R22.5 tires, mostly used in car hauler applications.
In 37 years of driving i have seen or had several steer tire blowouts, where the sidewall blew out of the tire..one thing in common in every one of these failed tires wss that they ALL were imprinted with MICHELIN on the sidewall..Peterbilt needs to do something other than derate their trucks, they need to change tiremaker instead !
If all trucks that were affected were tmc trucks as pictured shouldn’t matter they are neutered to 65 anyway.
62 actually. –TMC driver
reprogram the trucks??? w?F?! That means a run up to the proposed speed limiters.
“The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has called on other truck manufacturers to come forward and address the issue. No other recalls have been made.” The National Highway Traffic Safety Ad has called on other truck manufacturers to come forward and address the issue. No other recalls have been made.”
Had to reads that twice. SEE SPEED LIMITERS! Michelin Tires are that poor?
Their price sure is high! So no truck will ever have a tire failure. How many failures in 100,000 tires? Something fishy here and it ain’t the fish!
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is the bunch of pencil necked desk jockies asleep at their desks and the wheel!
No , this is an end run to put SPEED LIMITERS in place, so no truck can pass another.
There are tires rated up to 75 mph now. I have 18 of them on my truck. But if my truck had been included in this recall they would be replacing the tired not turning my truck down!
You can demand new tires all you want, but they cannot give you something that doesn’t exist. That size tire is only available with a 65 MPH rating. These are mainly car haulers with very low profile tires, not a standard size that is rated for 75 MPH. The only other option other than slowing down is changing to a taller tire and reducing room for a car over the hood.
I wonder how many Owner Operators will be buying 2016 or newer Peterbilts. Smart move Peterbilt. Well… At least the big name Companies will be buying them.
Looks like Pete is going slowly down the hill…
PACCAR sucks.
Volvo rules.
For anyone who does have Michelin XZA-2 295/60R22.5’s, another option might be Continental, they do make that size and the spec book says rated for 75 MPH. Something to look into rather than slowing down the truck or running a taller tire.
Anybody else wonder if they’ve done any research into speed limiters yet? Am I the only one that knows what’s going to happen if you put 200 trucks cut to 65mph on the same stretch of road? Absolute gridlock. The whole string of trucks will be reduced to the power of the truck in front of the line. You think they’re bitching about us being in the way now??