New Cooper Discoverer ST tires, problem already?

[deadbeat son]

New Cooper Discoverer ST tires -- warranty issue or no?

Hey everyone,

I bought some new Discoverer STs for my 09 Tacoma to use through the winter 11 days ago. I have put about a thousand miles on the tires. This morning while driving to work, I heard a thunk and felt something weird. After a second, things smoothed back out so I brushed it off. A couple of miles later, my TPMS warning light was on. I pulled over and looked at my tires, and all appeared well. I drove the final 10 minutes to my office and when I got out, one of the tires was about 1/2 flat. I drove a couple of more blocks to a nearby tire shop (not the same shop where I bought the Coopers; I have a 35 mile commute). I left the truck with the shop and asked them to put my spare tire on the rim with the flat tire, and patch the flat and install it on the spare rim. This is what they found in the tire:

It's a 1" wide flat file, and measures just under 1/4" thick. Here's the deal, it wasn't just stuck in the tire, it punctured the tire completely and was found loose in the wheel.

Is this just a freak accident, or should I be stopping by my Cooper dealer when I have time to see about getting this tire warranted?

One final note, these tires are NOT LT rated tires; they are P Metric sized. (4 ply equivalent as opposed to a C, D, or E rating which are 6, 8, and 10 ply equivalents respectively.)

 

[java]

might as well try to get it warrentied, but its not a tire issue. looks like something you ran over. did you get road hazzard protection?

 

[Kilroy]

The front tire can flip something back with an incredible amount of force. At shops that do tire repairs I've seen collections of the stuff they have taken out of tires. Some of it is amazing, and large!

Lucky that file didn't give you an immediate blow out.

 

[deadbeat son]

might as well try to get it warrentied, but its not a tire issue. looks like something you ran over. did you get road hazzard protection?

I realize it's something I ran over; that was never the question. The question is if it's reasonable to expect a tire, which for all intents and purposes is brand new, to be not just pierced, but completely breached, by something as large and relatively unsharp (is that even a word?) as the file in the photo. I included both a pencil and a key for size reference.

The front tire can flip something back with an incredible amount of force...Lucky that file didn't give you an immediate blow out.

Thank you, that is the kind of information I'm looking for!

 

[FlatlinesUp]

put the jagged edge of that file anywhere against your body and put 10lbs of force on it and tell us how "relatively unsharp" (we're making it a word lol) it is.

Odd things happen all the time. If the front tire happend to flip that piece up and it got trapped at an angle between the leading edge of your tire and the ground with the entire weight of your truck rear on it, yeah, I could see it easily going in. It might easily have had well over 1,000lbs of force pushing that sharp edge, or one of the other corners first, into your tire

I wouldn't worry about the strength of the cooper in this case, but I'd prob get it warrantee'd if they will or at least get a new tire and put this patched one on your spare as it's now got a weak spot

Good luck with it man
B

 

[deadbeat son]

put the jagged edge of that file anywhere against your body and put 10lbs of force on it and tell us how "relatively unsharp" (we're making it a word lol) it is.

Odd things happen all the time. If the front tire happend to flip that piece up and it got trapped at an angle between the leading edge of your tire and the ground with the entire weight of your truck rear on it, yeah, I could see it easily going in. It might easily have had well over 1,000lbs of force pushing that sharp edge, or one of the other corners first, into your tire

I wouldn't worry about the strength of the cooper in this case, but I'd prob get it warrantee'd if they will or at least get a new tire and put this patched one on your spare as it's now got a weak spot

Good luck with it man
B

Thanks; I already had them mount the spare (also a new Cooper) to the rim where the punctured tire was. The patched tire is on the spare. I'll probably pick up another tire soon, as I don't really want to rely on a spare with that large of a hole in it (even after being patched).

 

[tommudd]

I used to work ( manage ) tire shops and have seen all types of strange things inside of tires that you would not even think would puncture one but does. Not the tires fault just bad luck. Tires after driving only a few miles get pretty warm and that makes them even easier for something to slice through.
I always kept a collection as well, nails, wrenches, keys, screwdrivers, sockets, 3/8 drive 6 inch long extension one time, crescent wrench, plus all kinds of other strange things like I said

 

[R_Lefebvre]

That doesn't surprise me at all, and I don't think it says much about the tire. I'm guessing you ran over a whole file, some it it went in and as the tire rolled it snapped off that part, and that's what's in the tire.

FWIW, I stopped to help somebody once, who turned out to have a 1/2" bolt through the tread. My can of fix-a-flat didn't do him any good.

 

[deadbeat son]

There are some valid points in here for sure. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't throwing money away before simply ordering a new tire.

 

[78Bronco]

Do the tires come with a road hazard warranty?

A lot of dealers will cover this if they have a RHW...prorated of course. It's worth asking them. Don't tell them what it is over the phone. Phone and say that you got a flat on your way to work and had to take it shop XYZ to get the spare mounted up. You might be surprised.

As for the LT or P rated deal. P rated tires have no place on a truck.

 

[deadbeat son]

As for the LT or P rated deal. P rated tires have no place on a truck.

No road hazard warranty. The factory tires were P rated. The load rating of the current tires exceed the GVWR of the truck; however, in the summer (when I carry heavier loads) I run a load range C LT tire.

 

[deadbeat son]

As for the LT or P rated deal. P rated tires have no place on a truck.

One other note. The P265/75-16 Discoverer ST on my Tacoma has a load rating of 2765 lbs. According to a technical bulletin I read, when using a P-metric tire on a truck, you need to multiply the load rating by 0.91 to determine a valid capacity for that tire on a truck versus a car. This comes to 2516 lbs. The Cooper Discoverer ST in a LT265/75-16 with a C load rating is only 2470 lbs.

In this case, what is the advantage to the LT tire? It can't handle as much weight and its speed rating is lower. The only plus I see is the LT model adds 3/32" of tread depth, which I would assume may lead to a longer life.

I guess I could technically load this thing heavier with the Coopers on it now than I can with the BFG MT LT tires I run in the summer. They're only rated at 2405 lbs, but I really think it's splitting hairs as I wouldn't load that heavy regardless.

Thoughts?