Faulty Chinese tire valve could spark recall of 30 million tires
09/05/2008, 12:00 PM
By Drew Johnson
China doesn’t have the most stellar track record for product design or quality, which, unfortunately, is beginning to leak into the automotive industry. Chinese cars are notorious for their poor crash ratings but, thanks to government regulations, U.S. citizens have been protected from China’s four-wheeled death traps. However, Chinese car components are making it to the U.S. market, the most recent of which could result in the recall of 30 million tires.
Following a rollover crash that took the life of one Florida resident, investigators discovered that the accident was the result of a faulty tire valve. The valve was found to crack prematurely, which, as in the case of the Florida accident, could cause the tire to completely fail, according to Consumer Reports.
Investigators tracked the faulty valve back to Dill Air Control Products of Oxford, North Carolina. Although Dill Air distributed the tire valve, the faulty product had actually originally been sourced from China’s Shanghai Baolong Industries Co.
In all, as many as 30 million tires distributed through North America could be affected, prompting the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to launch an investigation.
However, tracking down the faulty values is no easy task: The values can only be identified by completely removing the tire from the rim. Moreover, tire retails don’t keep records of what valves went on what cars. “Once they are out of the box and on a vehicle there is no tracking for these products so you can’t notify owners,” Sean Kane, president of Safety Research and Strategies, told Consumer Reports.
Anyone who has purchased new tires since July 2006 is urged to have their tires checked by a professional.



09/05, 12:34 PM
posted by:
MercMark
Just look for the flaming wrecks to find the Chinese junk valves.
09/05, 12:35 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
Speaking of rubber, it’s a good thing they don’t make condoms. Or do they….?
09/05, 12:38 PM
posted by:
swamprat
This goes to show that the morons who like free trade and enjoy watching factories in the United States close are costing people jobs, lives, and property damage. Dill Air Products needs to be sued for negligence. Either put their factory back in the United States or be forced to close.
09/05, 12:56 PM
posted by:
Bimmer
That blows!
09/05, 1:11 PM
posted by:
6ix
I had one of them!! The valve on my Pirelli Pzero (MazdaSpeed6) blew out, causing my left rear tire to shred apart at 80mph. It’s a wonder I didn’t get killed considering I was in the fast lane of a 6-lane highway. Car was fish-tailing every which way but I got it under control
This is a scary, scary situation. I consider myself a decent driver…can’t imagine what would have happened to a cell-phone talking sorority girl in daddy’s mercedes SUV.
09/05, 1:22 PM
posted by:
JoshyLofty
maybe they do make condoms and thats why there’s so many preg. teens out in the US. uh oh.
09/05, 1:25 PM
posted by:
mayer_ray_nagin
Hmmm. 30 million valves = 7.5 million cars. 1 car in 7.5 million has a cracked valve.
There are about 200 million cars in the USA, and assuming each car gets new tires every 4 years, since July of 2006 about 100 million cars have had new tires, so about 7.5% of those have Dilldo Brand valves, and 1 car in 100 million had an issue.
Sheesh. About 20% of drivers are complete idiots anyway, and in Florida more like 90% so rollovers there are common. Add to that they are Consumer Reports investigators who are requesting this so basically this is a waste of time.
09/05, 1:30 PM
posted by:
tob
Chinese food = good
Chinese automotive parts = bad
09/05, 1:58 PM
posted by:
bleenky
swamprat, I couldn’t agree more. This is why we need to elect leaders that will make it less profitable to ship jobs to slave labor camps… er countries where they can get cheap crap for pennies on the dollar.
09/05, 2:14 PM
posted by:
Z06ified
Wait until these Chinese made parts start making their way onto airplanes. Then you’re going to start seeing some really nasty crashes. It’s coming – watch.
09/05, 2:15 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
Z06, China already has some nasty airplane crashes. But to them, it’s population control.
09/05, 2:23 PM
posted by:
1c3d0g
swamprat: fully agreed! Cheap Chinese products are a disease, a plague upon mankind. However, if they’re instructed by the letter to build quality products, they are able to do so very well, as is evident by many computer products from major (mostly U.S-based) companies.
09/05, 2:24 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
iPhone anyone?
09/05, 2:32 PM
posted by:
bleenky
all apple products anyone? Do you ever wonder why it says specifically “designed in california”?
09/05, 2:38 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
They are designed in California, but a lot of their products, including the iPhone and iPod are assembled in China. They do a good job assembling Apple products.
09/05, 2:48 PM
posted by:
Need more oil for GM
If it isn’t made in the USA then it’s most likely **** to begin with.
09/05, 2:51 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
And most of your product isn’t Made in the USA, either.
09/05, 2:55 PM
posted by:
Rafa LL
The news part is not the issue but the recall. Only Apple can control chinese quality.
09/05, 3:40 PM
posted by:
yarddog82abn
The labile that say MADE IN THE USA, are not made in the USA…. FACT!!!
09/05, 5:19 PM
posted by:
bauer100
Ive had mine replaced by Discount Tire, funny because i had a few slow leakers. They sent out a recall notice about a month ago.
09/05, 5:41 PM
posted by:
DeansterTJ
Great. Thanks China, yet again. ****ing assholes.
09/05, 8:04 PM
posted by:
sharpie
Hey thanks your corporate pigs. They made the decisions to relocate FIRST and foremost. Yes, the pigs are Caucasians, dare I say?
09/05, 9:56 PM
posted by:
elviososa
This news is crap again….don’t you guys know that the part is designed and order by yhe Americans?? And China only produce it. If there’s any fault, it would be the Americans who design the part and their choice of materials. Beside, misuse the part is, too, a problem. Get a live you ignorants!
09/06, 1:05 AM
posted by:
C6Racer
English, pal… english. I got a headache from reading all that horrible grammar. No, I’m not kidding.
All Caucasians do is sue. I can’t remember the last time someone sued motivated by something other than money. VERY few people do it to help the general public.
Don’t be afraid to exercise you’re freedom of speech, sharpie. Who cares if what you say upsets some people.
09/06, 1:08 AM
posted by:
C6Racer
Do it LLN, erase my post. I’ve NEVER said anything wrong. “WTF” is probably the most offensive thing I’ve ever typed here.
09/06, 11:25 AM
posted by:
olds307
elviososa your an idiot.
TIRE VALVES are something that is a STANDARD DESIGN WORLD WIDE…. there is no “Americans who design the part and their choice of materials”
The only thing the “americans” did was call around to different factories in China that manufacture tire valves to find the cheapest supplier, idiot.
09/07, 10:24 AM
posted by:
jayjc08
mayer- I’m pretty sure that there has been more than one accident for this sort of tire valve, or seven and a half (one in a million for 7.5 million?). Assuming that one in one million is faulty would be too risky. You figure that’s just one more injury or death that will put someones life in the crapper, because of a little tire valve. Better they take responsibility for it, but I doubt anybody will.
09/07, 10:58 AM
posted by:
elviososa
Are you kidding me old307??? Standard?? Don’t tell me your American standard is the standard of the world. This is exactly why the rest of the world is so pissed about American. Anf this makes you an idiot of the world.
09/07, 12:43 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
Elvio, Olds is right. However, he never said the valve standard was an American design. The Schrader valve has been the standard valve since the bicycle age, and it is of German origin. Having a standard means people don’t need to make different valves, pumps, compressor heads, etc. The only other valve standard for tires is the Presta valve, which is French, and has no business on cars. It is strictly a bicycle tire valve for street racing bicycles.
And also, he is right in that the Americans called around to find the lowest bidder. We do that a lot.
09/08, 9:56 AM
posted by:
mugengsr
Stop blaming China for all your problems. You people wanted cheap goods, right? So the manufacturers got cheap factorys with cheap labor in China, producing cheap stuff. Remember the Firestone tire recalls and deaths, weren’t those made in the USA???
09/08, 12:00 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
Bridgestone/Firestone, and the problem was with US made tires.
But either way, you have to “give credit where credit is due.” Yes, we found the cheapest supplier. Yes, the cheapest supplier messed up. Both are sort of to blame. Now we need to fix the problem. And they are fixing the problem…
…in the form of a recall.
Looks bad, but at least it’s getting taken care of.
09/08, 12:41 PM
posted by:
oldraven
How is it that not one person, including those at LLN, take issue with a tire being recalled when a valve stem is at fault? They are two completely separate parts. Should they recall the wheels too? Lug nuts?
09/08, 2:10 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
Probably because you still have to bring the whole freakin’ car in to the shop in order to get the problem fixed, and I’m sure the tire has to be removed before the valve stem can be replaced.
09/08, 2:45 PM
posted by:
oldraven
You have to remove the wheel to change a faulty brake rotor too. Would that warrant a recall on the wheel if the rotor was of a faulty design? No, something still isn’t adding up here.
09/08, 2:51 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
Aren’t the tire and valve stuck together? I don’t think they can swap out the valves and leave the tires without a lot of work. That’s why they probably have to recall the whole tire.
09/08, 3:11 PM
posted by:
oldraven
You also don’t have to remove the tire, just deflate it and unseat the tire on that face. You only need a pair of pliers to replace a valve stem.
09/09, 12:51 AM
posted by:
olds307
LMAO!
I am an idiot of the world!
Feels like an honor!