The NHTSA and Cooper Tire are announcing recalls on 8 different tire lines this week, including tires by Cooper, Pep Boys, Del-Nat and TBC. Cooper asked for the voluntary recall after determining that a mistake caused "non-standard" rubber to be mixed into specialized tread rubber compounds at Cooper's plant in Texarkana, Arkansas.
According to the NHTSA's defect notice, Cooper determined that someone used the tread machine for a "project" tire tread and didn't clean up properly:
"...on December 12, 201 I and again on January 4, 2012 a project extrusion was run on the tread line. When completed, the extruder head was not properly converted back to production configuration which resulted in a small amount of non-standard stock being "mixed" with the specified tread stock. Based upon our review of production data, we estimate that a small percentage of tread was suspect and used to produce tires."
I'm not sure if that means it was a prototype run or if somebody decided to make themselves a set of tires in the middle of the night, but I suppose it's probably the former.
The contaminated tread can begin to separate very quickly, leading to failures early in the tread wear cycle. Because Cooper also makes a number of "off-brand" tires for retailers, additional lines branded as Del-Nat, TBC and Pep Boys are all being immediately recalled, to a total of just over 10,000 tires..
Because the recall is limited to tires built in one plant, if you have one of the brands and sizes listed below, you'll want to match the entire TIN number, not just the date of manufacture. The entire TIN is usually only on one side of the tire. Basically, if your TIN begins with UT (the plant code), and ends with either 5011 or 0112 (the week and year of manufacture), you win the recall sweepstakes - a new set of tires!
Kudos are justly due to Cooper Tire for figuring this out themselves, and acting immediately and responsibly.
| Brand | Size | Date of Manufacture | TIN Number |
| COOPER DISCOVERER H/T | LT235/85R16 | DEC 11 - DEC 17, 2011 | UT0RC5M5011 UT0R1BH5011 |
| COOPER DISCOVERER H/T | P265/70R17 | JAN 01 - JAN 07, 2012 | UTT6C5U01I2 |
| COOPER DISCOVERER LSX | 265/70R17 | JAN 01 - JAN 07, 2012 | UT1YCL70112 |
| COOPER MASTERCRAFT COURSER HTR | LT235/85R16 | DEC 11 - DEC 17, 2011 | UT0RFL85011 |
| DEL-NAT DELTA A/S SIERRADIAL | 265/70R17 | JAN 01 - JAN 07, 2012 | UT1YWHD0112 |
| DEL-NAT NATIONAL A/S COMMANDO | 265/70R17 | JAN 01 - JAN 07, 2012 | UT1YWHA0112 |
| PEP BOYS DEFINITY DAKOTA H/T | P265/70R17 | JAN 01 - JAN 07, 2012 | UTT6PA70112 |
| TBC SIGMA STAMPEDE RADIAL SUV | P265/70R17 | JAN 01 - JAN 07, 2012 | UTT6TX60112 |
Why does a company have to ask permission to recall their own product?
Well, technically a tire company is not asking permission of the NHTSA to initiate a recall, but rather complying with the law that they must initiate a “voluntary recall” along with the NHTSA if they have reason to believe a product is dangerous. In that context, “voluntary” really means “NHTSA didn’t have to find out and prove something you already knew in order to force a recall.” Involuntary recalls generally involve fines, Toyota, for example.