howesy replied:

Don't they give a you beaut guarantee to justify their double pricing structure. Most brands will measure tyre usage and give you credit on a new one.

Willem replied:

I couldn't find the thread. Be more specific.

Sidewall or tread failure depends on quite a few factors.

It is possible thet there was already some tyre damage prior to the said tyre coming apart

Tyres are expendable items

Member - Duncs replied:

Have not heard of it before but, based on the amount of rubber one sees lying at the side of the road, it would seem lots of tyres fail on a regular basis.

As Willem says tyres are expendable. Form personal experience no tyre company is going to accept liability for a failed tyre without some investigation. I have had a tyre company rep (not Cooper's) tell me to F$%# off when I showed him a damaged tyre.

Duncs

Bob Y. - Qld replied:

Winaje,

The only brand of tyre that has never self-destructed, for me, are BFG AT's. Did lose about 100mm of tread off edge of one, but the tread was almost u/s.

Have had a good run with different tyres, fitted a new batch, and destroyed a couple before the set was completely worn. Our local dealer suggested that leaving a sticker inside the case was enough to promote a slow leak, then destroy the case.

Never used Coopers. Only ever had Goodyear, BFG's and Toyo's, with the odd Dunlop thrown in. 110 clicks, in above 40 temps is asking for trouble, or at least a gamble. One trip no worries, next, disaster.

Hooroo...

ACDC replied:

Not good news! i have Cooper ST's on my hilux but i hope my tyre monitor will let me know of any problems.
Let us know how you go with warranty?

brd replied:

Quite likely it might have been a defect from new, so I think you should push pretty hard for warranty.

I had my best run with tyres ever on Cooper ST's. I had cloes to 115,000km out of the set without one flat or any problem. At that stage, I staked the treat on a rough dirt road, and didn't become aware of it until the tyre shrerdded. There was still a good amount of tread left, and wear was very even side to side.

I do a 2000km round trip each month, with 1000km in high ambient temperature on bitumen and dirt in one day, and have never had such a problem. Best of luck with your warranty claim.

I replaced them with Cooper STT's, which did not wear well at all...50,000 km life and severe shoulder scolloping.

JR replied:

Will,
Yes Ive had exactly the same with a ST, technically a "delamination" tread tears off leaving case intact and still inflated.
Did quite a lot of damage to the RHS guard too
I hit Cooper for a replacement,although seeing as I was having new ones fitted the next day anyway it was hard to argue as any warranty is pro rata.
They had done over 85000 km so the only real loss was the damage to the car.
Im very happy with the tyres other than this, now on my fourth set, last ST-C's did 110000km with no problems
Just bought another set last week, hope they work out the same
Cheers
JR

WheelTravel replied:

Happy new year all... Is it ever "Happy" when you wake up on new years day? Who wakes up after drinking 15 beers and is happy... Mind you, when 05 became 06, I was pretty darn happy then... I think... don't really remember... but I'm sure I was...

Just a reply post on Cooper St's...

I have run em around oz, and have found them ok puncturewise. 2 sidewalls... but I figure a stake is a stake and most sidewalls would have gone in the same circumstance... What I'm really disappointed in is the fact that their lugs rip right off...

In fact I think this is worthy of a whole new post....

Cheerio People

JR replied:

Will,
Had a look, yes the same thing happenned, RHS front, I think I had more damage.
Delamination isnt unusual, it happens to trucks regularly, usually started by puncture or damage to tread then heat/overloading. Can even be repaired punctures which start the tread separation.
Id would be very hard to prove faulty product, as yours had done so few km you might go OK
I didnt follow through very hard with mine, but Id be interested how you go, I dont think I kept any photos
JR

Neetas replied:

Hi Winaje
Had a set of ST's replaced under warranty a few years ago. I had them on a spare set of rims, so they didn't get a lot of use, however after a few trips the tread looked as though it had melted on all tyres. Although Cooper tried to suggest I had run them at too high a pressure off road, causing the effect, they still replaced them (I had the receipt for proof of purchase). Had another friend who killed a set - his were replaced too. I believe there were some issues earlier on. Hope this helps.
Cheers
Mike

Dave(NSW) replied:

38psi sounds a bit high for that speed at that tempertature! may be if you complain the right way you will hopefully get some satisfaction. Had same experience with a Double Coin truck tyre once.tread peeld out like a recap & did $3000 worth of dammage to front of truck. Double Coin Repaired truck &replaced tyre.hope you have as good an outcome.
Dave

Member - Phil G (SA) replied:

Do a google search with the 3 words
Tread separation Cooper
and see what comes up.

Its not unknown.
one link

I remember in the 1970's Kleber tyres offered very high mileage, but their tyres suffered tread separation.

P.G. (Tas) replied:

Hey Winaje, just to sort the hay from the chaff, what size Coopers are you running, what ply rating, and what is correct tyre pressure?

Cheers

P.G. (Tas) replied:

OK, here's my spin on the situation. Heat is the number 1 enemy for all tires. Cooper informed me that the maximum pressure for all Cooper LT tires is 80psi, so I am speculating that 38psi in mid 40 degree heat at 110kph is definately not enough for the conditions and delamination has occurred.

My empty GU III Patrol runs 265/75R16LT's run at 42psi front and 40psi rear in 20 degree tempretures and has a nice 4 psi buildup after an hour of highway running at 90-100 kph.

At those tempretures and speed I'd probably be looking at putting another 6-10psi in to compensate for those conditions.

Cheers,

Peter

12HT75 replied:

The exact same thing happened to me while driving on Cooper ST's at about 100kmh on the bitumen, but it wasn't that hot although it happened in January since it was 4am. Damage to the vehicle was limited to the mudflap and some rubber marks on the paintwork. I got a pro-rata refund on a new Cooper ST-C for that one, after some running around.
When the second ST did the same thing a few weeks later, I cut my losses and junked the other 3 ST's I had on the vehicle and bought a set of Toyo OPATS (not bad tyres but a less aggressive tread than I would have liked).
Fortunately when the second tyre let go it was in the same position on the vehicle and did no further damage.
All tyres were about half worn and had only done approx 30,000 km so I wasn't going to get 80,000 km out them anyway. The tyres were pretty chunked from the rocky roads up here (Pilbara).

Sorry to reply late, I have only just found the thread.

Peter

winaje replied:

Update:

Insurance company have agreed to fix the vehicle, but at this stage it will be a claim on my policy.

Gave the tyres to the Cooper Rep today. Will wait and see what they have to say, and will keep you all informed. So far they've been excellent, and I hope that the trend continues.

winaje replied:

Spent about 30 minutes on the phone to John Pfeffer, at Exclusive Tyre Distributors (07)3255 6595.

The main tyre, which caused the damage, is being sent to the US for the lab to determine the cause of the failure. John said to me that he has found what appears to be impact damage on the bead, and "buttress" cracking near the bead. He said that buttress cracking is caused either by "high load or high heat".

The spare tyre has had 2 plug repairs done on it, so is not going to be warranted at all.

At this stage he has suggested my insurance company talk to him, as I am lodging a warranty claim for the tyre, and that the insurance company issue a letter of demand with a view to recouping their costs. This will prevent any change to my insurance policy, IF Cooper find that the problem was caused in the factory, and was not an "environmental issue".

I spoke to him further on the topic of the remaining 3 Cooper ST's still on the vehicle. I explained to him that the presence of the 3 ST's is of serious concern to me (having had these problems, and another tyre replaced because of a deep split in the entire sidewall near the bead) and that I feel it would be fair for Exclusive to provide me with a pro rata refund on all 5 ST's. In doing so, they could credit this refund to a Cooper dealer which would allow me to chose tyres of a different make.

He nicely, but categorically refused to provide any refund on the 3 remaining tyres (remember that the spare has been repaired, so it's warranty is automatically void), because he does not feel that there is necessarily anything wrong with them. I don't know if there is anything wrong with them either, but then again I'M the one who has them on the front of the vehicle, so I'M the one that's very worried about them failing with very likely far worse consquences than previously.

At this stage, prior to hearing from the Cooper lab, John has offered me a 50% discount on the replacement of 1 tyre only, as a goodwill gesture.

I am disappointed with this initial offer, but as John and I agreed, there are 2 separate issues involved:

1. The repair costs to the vehicle
2. Replacement of the tyres.

Hopefully some appropriate resolution can be reached, that takes into account all that is at stake for both parties...

It will be interesting to see the outcome of Cooper Tires lab investigations...!

As always, I will continue to update this and other forums on the issue.