Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is recalling 79,857 tires- encompassing many models within the Cooper brand and several private brand names-because of faulty belt wire coat stock.
The tires were all made at Cooper's Albany, Ga., plant during an eight-day period between Aug. 6 and Aug. 19, according to information on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Web site. For safety's sake, all the tires made at Albany during the two-week period have been recalled, even though fewer than half are likely to have the non-conforming coat stock, Findlay-based Cooper said.
``If placed in service, the subject tires may develop a belt separation due to a reduced ability to prevent corrosion of the steel wires in an instance where moisture reaches the steel belt,'' the NHTSA notice stated.
Cooper sent letters to all its dealers in early October, giving them the size and identification numbers for the recalled tires. The letters direct dealers to return all unsold recalled tires within 60 days of receiving notification and to replace all recalled tires brought in by customers free of charge.
The recalled tires include numerous sizes of Cooper Cobra Radial G/T, Discoverer ATR, Discoverer H/T, Discoverer S/T, Discoverer STT, Lifeliner Touring SLE and Trendsetter SE tires; Dean Alpha 365A/S, Quasar Plus, Stinger Radial GTS, Trailcat All Season, Wildcat Radial A/T, Wildcat Touring SLT and Courser Radial LT tires; Mastercraft A/S IV, Avenger G/T, Avenger LSR, Courser A/T, Court AWT, Courser C/T, Courser HTR, Courser MT and Sensys 01 tires; Starfire Flite-Line IV, Solarus, Spectrum LXR and SX 5000 tires; Dominator All Season, Sport A/T and Sport SR4 tires; Mentor All Terrain Radial SXT tires; and Dick Cepek Mountaincat Radial E/T tires.