TOKYO—Bridgestone Corp. announced it is conducting a voluntary safety recall of 1,204,707 Japanese-made truck and bus tires for possible abnormalities in the tires' inner liners that could lead to slow leaks and tire failures.
Bridgestone Americas announced Nov. 8 that 2,600 of the tires had been sold in Canada, Mexico, Central and South America and Guam.
There was no notice of the recall on the Bridgestone Corp. website in Japan. However, the Bridgestone Americas release said that the Japanese recall was announced Nov. 7, and several foreign news sources issued stories about the Japanese recall.
The tires were manufactured at Bridgestone's plant in Tochigi, Japan between January 2012 and August 2013, according to Bridgestone Americas. Irregularities in the manufacturing process at Tochigi, caused by a production change, led to decreased adhesion levels at the splice that could lead to sidewall cracking and slow leaks in a small number of tires, the tire maker said.
"This action is being taken out of an abundance of caution, as statistically it is estimated that only one unit out of the approximately 2,600 imported into the Americas may have an abnormality that could result in a slow air leak," Bridgestone Americas said.
According to foreign news reports, Bridgestone in Japan said that at least 40 different types of truck and bus tires could have these abnormalities. Bridgestone said it had received 14 complaints to date about the tires, but no reports of accidents.
The Bridgestone Americas release on its website listed models and sizes for the affected tires sold in Canada, Mexico, Guam, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Guatemala and Chile. It also provided customer information numbers for tire owners in those countries to contact.