He said tread belt separation usually can be traced to a cut or damage suffered while driving or a poor repair job that lets water or air get to the steel belts. Tiny problems can grow, Johnson said. This builds up over time. Gashes and cuts need to be looked at by professionals who take the tire off the rim and check the inside, and tire pressure needs to be checked regularly, Johnson said. Details on how to care for tires are part of the warranty, something more people need to read, he said.
People take a great deal of care with their vehicle, and ignore what meets the road.
But in pretrial testimony in one case, a former tire plant worker said it's not always the driver's fault that there are holes and gashes in some tires. Sometimes, they are sold that way, he testified. In 1998, the former Uniroyal employee was questioned in a tire case in Georgia and said tires already rejected for problems were sometimes brought back to mix in with good ones to meet production quotas. Despite being a harsh critic of some tiremakers, Grogan said he believes the industry is improving, with many making more high-quality tires than they turned out a few years ago. The problem, though, is that many of those older tires are still on cars and still on store shelves, he said.