Bridgestone N America suggests 10-year limit on car tyre life

Nashville, Tennessee -- Bridgestone/Firestone has sent a technical bulletin to its US dealers, telling them it is adopting the recommendation of parent company Bridgestone Corp. that tyres more than 10 years old should be replaced.

Tokyo-based Bridgestone endorsed the 10-year advisory the first week of November, following the lead of the Japan Automotive Tire Manufacturers Association, which first made the recommendation in September. Earlier this year Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler A.G. began advising customers to replace their tyres after six years, despite protests from tyre makers that no scientific data support such a move.

Despite adopting its parent firm's policy, however, BFS still stands with the rest of the US tyre industry in calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to perform testing to establish how age affects tires, a BFS spokeswoman said.

A spokesman for the Rubber Manufacturers' Association noted that the RMA sent NHTSA a letter earlier this year on this subject, but has head nothing further except for "a couple of conversations" with agency officials, he said.

From Rubber & Plastics News (A Crain publication)

This is an external link and should open in a new window. ERJ is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Wall Street Journal (US) story