matthelin

Hello All,

Never posted here before, but I wanted some feedback from some seasoned Acura drivers. I have a 2005 TSX and about six months ago I bought 4 new Mastercraft tires. A few weeks ago I noticed one of the front tires was low so I stopped to fill it back up. Last week, this tire went completely flat while driving a short distance and thankfully did not blow. I replaced it and thought nothing more of it. Now today one of my rear tires completely blew out on the highway at about 70 mph. I'm not exactly sure how long I drove on the bare rim, but I'm guessing about a half a mile.

My first question is has anyone else had this kind of trouble with Mastercraft? To me it seems that the odds are in the millions that two tire failures would occur within a week of eachother, especially since these tires are only six months old. Cold weather an issue? My second question is regarding my rim. Granted there is no damage that I can see, but my guess is that the rim got bent after driving on it at highway speeds. Assuming I need to replace it, where is the best\cheapest place to get a stock replacement wheel? Should I just go through the dealer or is there a good place on the net? Thanks in advance for your help.

- Matt

kenbangbang

first problem would be purchasing mastercraft in the first place...

PACman

Hey Matt,

Welcome to the AZine. First off, glad to hear you're okay from getting a blow out at 70mph. This sounds like a manufacturers defect. Mastercraft tires are from parent company Cooper tires, right? You'll need to make a warranty claim either through the tire shop that you got them from and/or http://www.mastercrafttires.com/html/contactus.aspx.
Who knows?...they may refund your money and pay for damages.

In regards to finding '05 rims, eBay or check out the Black Market section here of the forum to see if anyone's selling. Also try hitting up Kaleb, aka WholeSalePartsGuy,..works for Prestige Acura. Or just go aftermarket rims.

BTW...why Mastercraft tires? I don't know anyone using these on a TSX.

Itchytoe

Mastercraft tires are horrible. Spend the extra few bucks on some good quality tires. It's definitely worth the cost, as you now know. I made the mistake of getting mastercraft tires once and won't be doing it again.
You didn't necessarily damage your rim. It could be fine. You'll have to put it up on a balance machine and spin it to make sure it's not bent. Any tire shop should do that for you for free.
I think Cooper tires are from Goodyear (parent company), but haven't heard anything about Mastercraft being related to them. This isn't exactly my field of knowledge so I could be mistaken.

LuvMyTSX

Hmm never even heard of Mastercraft tires. Definitely get a better set this time around. There are plenty of threads around here on tires. Also check tirerack.com for reviews before you buy.

matthelin

Thanks to everyone for their responses. I never wanted to buy the Mastercrafts in the first place. I had a set of Michelins picked out but the shop was out of stock and the salesman told me Mastercrafts were one of the best tires they had. I had never heard of them, but he insisted they were better so I bit... stupid me.

Had the tire replaced today at a different shop, luckily no major rim damage. After the holiday I'm going back to the original shop I bought them from to change all four out to something better.

If you're interested, the tires are Mastercraft Touring LSR.

Thanks again.

- Matt

feuss2

iTrader: (1)

Did these have the correct load and speed rating for the car? Are the XL rated?

Simba91102

No offense to anyone, but...... if I may, I'd like to add some slightly more reasoned comments. First, Mastercraft tires (as are many other "generic" branded tires) are indeed manufactured by Copper Tire. Cooper Tire company is a stand alone tire company that markets their own brand and numerous other generic or "House" branded tires for the tire and auto parts chain stores. And I don't doubt that there are millions of them of the road as we speak. They're probably not the best tire out there, but I'll bet you they're not the worst either (or we would have heard about it. After the Ford Explorer fiasco, you can be sure that tires are much more closely regulated). Also, were the two tires that you had trouble with on the same side? Sounds like you may have encountered a road hazard that damaged both tires. The front one more so since it went flat fairly soon and the back one that just took a little longer to fail (though more dramatically). Or they may well have been defective. No matter....... you did have trouble with the tires. I wouldn't buy Mastercaft tires (for a TSX anyway), but I'm reluctant to paint the brand with such a wide brush as has been used in the posts here. The brand has been around for quite a while in a very competitive market, so I really doubt that they're that bad. Feel free to replace them with a better known tire, but you shouldn't feel bad about buying the tires that you did. You took a recommendation by the salesman. Good luck.