Not HD but important. Problem with Chinese-Made Valve Stems

[HarleyCruiser]

Fatal Rollover Prompts Probe Into Chinese-Made Tire Valve Stems Safety
Safety advocates are urging motorists to inspect their valve stems for cracks and to check their tire pressure in the wake of one distributor’s recall of defective valve stems made in China by Shanghai Baolong Industries Co. and a federal probe into premature cracking prompted by a fatal rollover crash.
As many as 30 million replacement rubber valves stems, imported to the U.S. from China beginning in August 2006, can crack prematurely, causing tires to lose air. Air loss at highway speeds may result in a tire failure and loss-of-control crash.
On November 11, Robert Monk of Orlando, Fla. died when the right rear tire of his 1998 Ford Explorer failed, triggering a rollover crash. The tire failure has been linked to a cracked Dill TR413 valve stem manufactured by Topseal, a subsidiary of Shanghai Baolong Industries Co., Ltd for Dill Air Control Products, LLC. In March, the Monk family filed suit against Dill Air Control Products, alleging that the defective tire valve stem caused the crash.
Auto safety consultant Sean Kane advises any motorist who has had a tire replaced after July 2006, to immediately have their valves inspected for signs of cracking. Kane said, “The only way to tell if you have a valve stem made by this company is to dismount the tire from the wheel to examine it from the inside. Once they are out of the box, and on a vehicle there is no tracking for these products so you can’t notify owners.”
In April, 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: TR 413, TR 413 chrome, TR 414, and TR 418 Dill ACP valve stems. “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, manufactured from July 2006 to November 2006, may leak from cracks caused by ozone exposure. NHTSA opened a formal investigation on May 15.
On June 2, Tech International, a distributor of Shanghai Baolong-made replacement tire valve stems, announced a recall of 6 million TR413 valve stems, offering free replacements and compensation for any tire damage caused by the defective part. According to their recall letter “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 problem, says Kane, is that the parts are untraceable once they are fitted to vehicles and worse, these companies haven’t alerted the public of impending danger. Dill Air Control Products, LLC located in North Carolina, has only notified its customers to inspect their inventory for the suspect lots and recommended “out of an abundance of caution” that tire retailers inspect the valve stems on vehicles that received replacements between September 2006 and June 2007 if they return for service.
Valve stem failures should be reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq or 888-327-4236.

[shovelmike]

Thanks for the heads up on that, Harleycruiser. That figures. Many jobs in this country have been lost because there is no way American workers can compete with slave labor. To make matters worse, the quality of the goods is lousy and in this case it is costing people their lives. I am so tired of the politicians and businessmen so anxious to stuff their pockets with money that they don't care what they do to America and it's people.

[JCourneyaP]

Hey lets send more jobs over there to save a few bucks! Tires blowing up. Cant play with the "Lead" painted toys. A well thought out process by our corporate leaders. Gotta show a gain to the Share Holders no matter if its right or wrong huh? Hang Em!

[texan321]

Think things have gotten a little out of control - when you out source a product - aren't the manufacturers supposed to QC at least 10% of the products when they are received? it would stand to reason that should be happening.......or am I living in a dream world?

[evoKENevo]

"Sweet dreams", Tex.

[texan321]

Please don't burst the bubble................oh no.we aren't in Kansas any more????

[Whopper]

MBA's come into a company, throw phrases like "core competancy" around, get paid big $$ and bail out before the changes they make screw the company up and they get caught. Outsourcing trades American labor dollars for quality and transportation headaches; I lived with those problems when I worked for a tier one automotive supplier. Done the "right" way the cost comes out the same or higher because you have to have a bunch of quality control people who visit your vendors and make sure they are doing their job. But then, the MBA who came up with the idea is two companies further along and never suffers the consequences. Sorry, I'm venting

[evoKENevo]

nothing to be sorry for,Whopper,,,you're RIGHT on the money.

[47knuck]

Problem is probably that the stems are metric and the Harleys are SAE