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Once again the safety of Chinese imported products is endangering the safety of American Consumers. Dill Air Controls, who imports valves for tires, was required to issue a recall for valve stems in April.
First it was our dog food, then lead in toys. This February the safety of our entire drug industry was brought into question in the Heparin Debacle (see http://heparin-law.com) and now the safety of what could be millions and millions of tires. Were it not for a lawsuit filed from a 2007 fatality, this recall might not have occurred.
From the NHTSA recall notice:
"Problem Description: The tire valves can crack and leak air. A leaking tire valve could result in deflation, tire damage (e.g., overheating, rupture) and possible vehicle control problems.
"On April 30, 2008, Dill Air Controls (Dill) met with ODI to discuss a potential defect in some of the snap-in tire valves manufactured for Dill by Topseal, a subsidiary of the Shanghai Baolong Automotive Corporation. Dill described a problem with valves leaking from cracks due to apparent ozone exposure and indicated that early investigation had traced the concern not a five-month manufacturing period in 2006. Dill also indicated that it had recently been served with a lawsuit alleging that air leakage from a cracked valve installed in September 2006 in their right rear wheel of a Model Year 1998 Ford Explorer resulted in a fatal crash in November 2007.
"On May 2, 2008, Dill issue an advisory to its North American customers in the Tire Retail Industry describing potential concerns with a ozone resistance in TR 413, TR 413 Chrome, TR 414 and TR 418 Dill ACP valve stems manufactured from July 2006 and November 2006. Dill indicated that the suspect valves were shipped to North American customers from August 2006 and November 2006. Dill indicated that the suspect valves were shipped to North American customers from August 2006 to February 2007. According to the bulletin, Dill’s analysis of tire valves returned from the field identified problems with surface cracks on the outside of the rubber near the rim hold and that initial investigation centered on ozone exposure. Dill has advised ODI that approximately 30 million valves were manufactured during the suspect manufacturing range.
"Dill’s bulletin request that its customers inspect lot numbers of stock at all levels of distribution and return all product manufactured in 2006 (lot numbers starting in 06). The bulletin also recommends that retailers inspect all valve stems installed form September 2006 and thru June 2007 as customers return to tire stores for regular service.
"A preliminary Evaluation has been opened to assess the scope, frequency and safety consequences of the alleged defect."
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g@gordonjohnson.com
©Gordon S. Johnson, Jr. 2008