Nokian Warranty? Huge rip in interior sidewall!

[ChilliConCarnage]

On a recent camping trip, I was horrified to find an enormous rip on the inside sidewall of one of my Nokian WRC Van (size 205/70-15). This was right before our trip home, where we would have been doing 60+ mph coming down a windy mountain pass.

I do not have the original receipt, but the tires were only purchased 3+ years ago, with a manufacture date on the tire of 2009. I regularly check the tire pressure and keep it around 50-58psi.

The opposite tire has a crack forming on the outside sidewall.

I had the van towed to NorthWesty (thank goodness I had just renewed my AAA RV Premier membership and didn't have to pay for the 170 mile tow). Kirk felt as though this was a manufacturing defect:

I went to two local dealers who are supposed to carry Nokian, but one no longer carries Nokian and the other said they are only authorized to carry Nokian winter tires. Neither could provide any local distributor contact names or numbers, so I emailed [email protected], but have not heard back yet.

Anybody else have any probs with their Nokians? There were 3 other vans at Northwesty that had Nokians, but there was no sign of any cracks like I have on mine.
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[dobryan]

I have a Nokian that went bad due to inner belt failure, no cracking. But we also hit some really bad potholes fully loaded on the trip to Florida and I attribute the internal damage to that. Nothing like your issue.
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2010 Subaru EJ25 (Vanaru) and Peloquin TBD

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[geo_tonz]

Looks like a tire failure to me. Glad it didn't happen on the freeway!

I've run Vativas on a lot of work trucks and never had an issue. Weird, but I guess they're built different with different compounds.

Call them !

[Jake de Villiers]

You should be talking to the dealer who sold the tires, the distributor or the manufacturer, not us.
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[ChilliConCarnage]

[WestyBob]

I've used the same brand, model and size of tire and have not had any problems (yet).

Check the sidewalls to see how old the tire is. While it looks like a defect to me too, if the tires are older than six and especially ten years then the tire powers that be recommend changing out (although many if not most of us are riding on older tires getting our money's worth including me).

Many newer Nokian tires are now made in Russia and I'm not sure this has anything to do with it other than if there's a future similar trend that emerges.

[ChilliConCarnage]

[jerrydog411]

"with a manufacture date on the tire of 2009."


so ... they are 5 years old.

you may wait a while for an email ... and who knows who will answer it. Call them; if not satisfied with the response you get ... move up the food chain until you are.

Good Luck

[BillWYellowstone]

You may have had them mounted 3 years ago, but 2009 is 5 years ao, (Capt Obvious)... Tires start aging after manufacturer, not just after mounting. Having an RV and big expensive tires I make sure the replacements are within tat year.
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[Syncroincity]

That's a bit strange, it looks more like an age-related failure than road damage, like dry-rotted rubber, or it was run for a long time seriously under-inflated.
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[Jon_slider]

ChilliConCarnage, thanks sharing your report, sorry for your tire failure, glad you spotted it before driving

pat yourself on the back for doing a proper pretrip inspection

what are your tire specs, max inflation and max load, on the sidewall

I have WRC Van 205x65x15 on my 85 Westy. they are rated 1874 lbs @ 55 psi. I use 42psi front, 50 psi rear. No problems. I have not weighed my van, but I travel alone, very little cargo. And my inflation carries a load of about 1340 pounds more than my GVWR

there is a recent thread http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=595640 in which a 2wd westy with "No cargo other than kitchen stuff (pots, plastic dishes, etc., and repair-type gear under the rear seat)", weighed 4520 pounds, leaving a cargo capacity of just 680 more pounds

what was your vans actual weight when you discovered the failure? (how many people, any extra cargo?)

purpose of my questions is to determine whether you were overloaded

looks like your rubber failed mainly because it is old.. thanks for including your inflation.. 55-58 would be overinflated for my tire, it would be equivalent to inflating for a load of 7500 pounds, 2340 pounds more than GVWR

It is "normal" for VW to recommend inflation of about 1000 pounds more than GVWR

more about tires and load inflation capacities VW used here
http://www.roadhaus.com/tires/guideline.html

glad you're safe
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[luVWagn]

My 1st thought was the tire pressure seemed high, but not sure it would cause that damage...
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[OddN]

I have seen such damage on old tires, like tires that were 10+ years.

However there are conditions that will accelerate the aging process, like everyday exposal to direct sunlight, high temperatures or moist driving conditions especially if road salt is used in the winter. But then it is more common to observe multiple smaller cracks, usually all around the sidewall.

Im tempted to call this a production defect, mainly because it is one large crack and the rest of the sidewall seems ok. But since the tires are 5 years old (although you have only owned them for three) it might be difficult to get a refund from the seller, or from the manufacturer.
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[Jon_slider]

[flomulgator]

I bought Nokian WRC Van tires from South Park Tire Factory in south Seattle, FWIW.
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[ChilliConCarnage]

[Jon_slider]

Here is a VW load inflation table.
http://www.roadhaus.com/tires/OE%20Tire%20Load%20Inflation%20Table.html

Note that for a 2wd the highest front load inflation they used was 1365 pounds front, 1580 pounds rear

IF your tire is rated for 2095 lbs @ 65 psi,
load tables show that 36psi carries 1365 pounds
and 44psi carries 1580 pounds

load tables can be downloaded here
http://cache.toyotires.com/sites/default/files/imce/LoadInflation_Table_P-LT_102913.pdf
see the line for a 215x75x15" LT tire rated for 2095lbs@65psi (your 20570x15 is not listed, but the max load and max inflation specs are the same)

at 58 psi you're inflating to 1895 lbs load capacity, per tire, this is over inflating the front by 22psi, and over inflating the rear by 14psi

I suggest you stop using such high inflations, when you replace your tires (and I am a total fan of Nokian WRC, properly inflated). I also suggest you stop by the dump for a free weighing of your van, so you have more factual information on your actual weight.
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[PDXWesty]

I've had numurous tire and front end shops tell me to inflate to pressures listed on the tire, not what's on the vehicle. These are people with a great number of years in the industry. You're again making this into the "Let me preach the proper tire inflation gospel" thread of which we already have too many to count.

Over inflation is above what's listed on the tire, NOT what you calculate as the pressure for the actual load. There's no reason a tire would fail for "over inflation" when you're still well under the tire rating. If the tire is rated for 65 psi, 70 is over inflated, not 48 psi or 50 psi. That's just wrong.
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[fraggle00]

Slow leak could have lead to low pressure and overheating. At this point who knows, count your blessings and get new tires.
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[dobryan]

Jon, I look at the inflation for a given weight as the minimum psi to carry that weight for that tire, not as a not to exceed (overinflated).
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2010 Subaru EJ25 (Vanaru) and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794