UNION, N.J. (Sept. 6) — The recall of about 255,000 light truck tires manufactured by Chinese tire maker Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. Ltd. will end Oct. 25, according to Foreign Tire Sales Inc., the Union-based importer of the tires.
FTS has used video news releases, newspaper advertisements and a dedicated notice on its Web site to disseminate information about the recall, which began Aug. 9. In addition, the Web sites of several state attorneys-general — such as Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Arkansas — contain information about the recall.
An FTS spokesman said he would have an updated total for the tires retrieved so far by Sept. 7. The company is holding up well, financially and otherwise, under the recall, he said. "We have been having an ongoing conversation with the state attorneys-general and, to our knowledge, we have complied with all their requests for information," he said.
The recalled tires, according to FTS, either have no gum strips or insufficient gum strips to prevent the belts and treads from separating. Hangzhou Zhongce, however, said the tires were purposefully redesigned to have excellent belt adhesion without gum strips, and that engineering information it will provide to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will demonstrate this.