Thursday, June 12, 2008
Distributor recalls 6 million Chinese-made tire valve stems

David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- A distributor of Chinese-made tire valve stems has agreed to recall 6 million valve stems, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Tech International, a Johnstown, Ohio-based distributor of the Chinese-made parts, announced a recall of 6 million TR413 model valve stems, offering free replacements and to pay for any tire damage caused by the defective part, according to a June 2 letter made public on NHTSA's Web site.

But Tech International doesn't know who actually owns tires with the recalled tire valve stems and said it believes just 8,600 of the stems -- or less than 1 percent -- are defective. The valves are manufactured by Shanghai Baolong Industries Co.

"Tech International does not know the identity of any end-users of the TR413 valves and has no realistic method of determining the identity of such individuals. Furthermore, there is no realistic method for Tech International to identify the production dates of any specific TR413 valves," the company said in its letter to NHTSA.

The distributor will notify tire retailers of the recall.

The Chinese manufacturer conducted tests that showed that no valve stem produced after November 2006 was faulty, Tech International said.

In its recall notice, Tech International said that the stems could crack and tires could gradually lose pressure after they had been in use for more than six months. It said it first received notice of "a small number of potential valve stem failures" from a distributor in January.

Safety advocates on Thursday urged motorists to inspect their valve stems for cracks and to check tire pressure.

"Air loss at highway speeds may result in a tire failure and loss-of-control crash," said Sean Kane, president of Safety Research and Strategies.

He said it was questionable whether Tech's estimate of 8,600 faulty valve stems was accurate.

A lawyer for Tech International didn't return a phone call seeking comment.

In a separate move, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a preliminary investigation into another 30 million Chinese-made "snap-in" tire valve stems in the wake of a Nov. 11 fatal crash. Those valve stems may have come out of the same Chinese factory that made the recalled vales stems distributed by Tech International, safety advocates said.

NHTSA's investigation follows the death of Robert Monk of Orlando, Fla., who was killed when the right rear tire of his 1998 Ford Explorer failed, triggering a rollover crash.

Kane said the tire failure has been linked to a cracked a Dill TR413 valve stem manufactured by Topseal, a subsidiary of Shanghai Baolong Dill Air Control Products, LLC.

In March, the Monk family filed suit against North Carolina-based Dill Air Control Products, alleging that the defective tire valve stem caused the crash.

"The Monk family wants to get the message out there to ensure that no one else is hurt," said Richard Newsome, an attorney with the Newsome Law Firm in Orlando, Fla.

On April 30, after receiving notice of the Monk crash, Dill officials met with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to discuss the problem.

On May 2, Dill sent a Technical Bulletin to major tire retailers advising them that the company had received complaints of surface cracks appearing on the outside of the rubber near the rim hole in several models.

"When the rubber is exposed to high levels of ozone as it is being stressed, surface cracks can appear. High speeds and an unsupportive rim profile allow the rubber valve to flex at a greater angle and may cause these cracks to propagate, leading to a slow leak of air," the bulletin said.

Dill officials told NHTSA that valves -- made from July 2006 to November 2006 -- may leak from cracks caused by ozone exposure.

Brian Rigney, general manager at Dill, didn't return a call seeking comment.

"Tech International does not know the identity of any end-users of the TR413 valves and has no realistic method of determining the identity of such individuals. Furthermore, there is no realistic method for Tech International to identify the production dates of any specific TR413 valves," the company said in its letter to NHTSA.

China doesn’t have the most stellar track record for product design or quality, which, unfortunately, is beginning to leak into the automotive industry. Chinese cars are notorious for their poor crash ratings but, thanks to government regulations, U.S. citizens have been protected from China’s four-wheeled death traps. However, Chinese car components are making it to the U.S. market, the most recent of which could result in the recall of 30 million tires.

Following a rollover crash that took the life of one Florida resident, investigators discovered that the accident was the result of a faulty tire valve. The valve was found to crack prematurely, which, as in the case of the Florida accident, could cause the tire to completely fail, according to Consumer Reports.

Investigators tracked the faulty valve back to Dill Air Control Products of Oxford, North Carolina. Although Dill Air distributed the tire valve, the faulty product had actually originally been sourced from China’s Shanghai Baolong Industries Co.

In all, as many as 30 million tires distributed through North America could be affected, prompting the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to launch an investigation.

However, tracking down the faulty values is no easy task: The values can only be identified by completely removing the tire from the rim. Moreover, tire retails don’t keep records of what valves went on what cars. “Once they are out of the box and on a vehicle there is no tracking for these products so you can’t notify owners,” Sean Kane, president of Safety Research and Strategies, told Consumer Reports.

Anyone who has purchased new tires since July 2006 is urged to have their tires checked by a professional.