GENERAL TIRE ALTIMAX RT43 TIRES Complaints

Tire 235/55 R-17 99 T. the steering wheel started to shimmy while driving. I took the vehicle into the service shop found that the a section of the tire was indented and the inside of the tire had a bubble. The repair shop stated this was caused by the tread separating. The tire had to be replaced. The tire is 2.5 years old and the tread on the inside was heavily worn while the outside tread was in good shape. The replace tire indicator was still intact. I purchased this tire at the same time i purchased the driver side tire.

Driving at 45 mph and rear General Tire Altimax RT43 tire blew out. No accidents or injuries but consider myself lucky as this could of been serious at highway speeds and if a front tire blew out. Tire is available for inspection. Tire shop noticed dry rot in bottom of outer tread grooves and vehicle was garage parked approximately 50% of time. Tire was manufactured in November 9-15, 2020; installed on vehicle on 8-2-21 with 137,739 miles; tire replaced on 8-23-23 with 160,103 miles. Tire had 22,364 miles to failure, and was driven 2 years and 16 days to failure. No low pressure tire warning on vehicle at or before tire blew out. Tire mechanic said all 3 remaining tires had normal pressure. Tire separated into three sections, the thread area, and both sidewalls. Looks like there are safety recalls on various General Altimax RT43 tires due to manufacturing defect from over curing, but this tire size was not mentioned. Tire size is 215/60R16. I have copies of installation paperwork documenting tire DOT number, odometer readings, and install date as well as final replacement paperwork documenting odometer reading and dates.

The contact owns a 2015 Mercedes-Benz E350 equipped with General Tires, Tire Line: Altimax RT43, Tire Size: 245/45/17, DOT Number: 838RWC094518. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH and making a left turn, the front passenger’s side tire suddenly experienced a blowout. The cause of the failure was not determined. The tire was replaced at the local dealer. The contact later discovered that the rear passenger’s side tire had experienced outer sidewall bubbling. The manufacturer was notified of the failures, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 25,000.

On 6/12/2022, minutes after exiting 45 miles of highway driving, I parked the car. Less than 90 seconds after parking, the left front tire experienced an explosive loss of air pressure. An approx 2" x 1-1/2" piece of the sidewall near the tread was missing, and the reinforcing belt inside the tire was torn. It was the inside (engine side) sidewall. There was no apparent damage from any road hazard that could have contributed to the failure. Could not find the missing sidewall section. The General Altimax 235/65R16 103T tires were purchased new on 6/1/2022 with 200,583 miles on the vehicle. Failure occurred at 217,525 miles. The tire was replaced by the original seller (Belle Tire, New Hudson, MI), who now have the tire. They also inspected for previous damage and found none. Availability for inspection unknown. Belle Tire reps indicate that this is a very unusual failure and will be reporting to manufacturer. No other entities have inspected the failed tire. No warnings/symptoms present prior to the explosion. The DOT number on the failed tire is 6546 WBMH. It is notable that the other 3 identical tires on the vehicle have four additional digits (e.g. 6546 WMBH 0421) following the letter code, which Belle Tire said was the manufacture date of the tire. (0421 would be the 4th week of 2021). The failed tire lacked this information. Obviously, my wife and I were very lucky that this failure did not occur while driving on the highway as it almost certainly would have resulted in a loss of control at high speed.

Side wall of tire split causing tire to lose air pressure available for inspection upon request. Tire went flat when driving. No No No

COMPLETE AND SUDDEN LOSS OF AIR (SIDEWALL BLOWOUT) AT HIGHWAY SPEED OF DRIVER SIDE REAR TIRE. GENERAL ALTIMAX RT43 102H BW 225/65R17 102H DOT VY2Y WBL4 1319. TIRE BEAD REMAINED INTACT ON THE RIM AFTER DRIVING TO SAFETY. THERE IS A ONE INCH TEAR IN THE SIDEWALL NO OTHER PUNCTURES OR TEARS ON ANY OTHER PART OF THE TIRE.

TIRES HAVE VIRTUALLY NO WET TRACTION. EVEN LIGHT RAIN RESULTS IN VEHICLE BEING DIFFICULT TO CONTROL. BOUGHT AS REPLACEMENT TIRES TO THE MICHELIN TIRES THE VEHICLE CAME WITH. EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE WORN TO THE POINT OF NEEDING TO BE REPLACED, THEY HAD BETTER WET TRACTION THAN THESE TIRES. EITHER THE TREAD DOESN'T SHED ANY WATER, OR THE MATERIAL THE TIRE IS MADE FROM IS TOO HARD RESULTING IN NO CONTACT ON EVEN SLIGHTLY WET ROADS. CONTACTED MANUFACTURER OF TIRES, AND THEY OFFERED NO RESOLUTION.