Dunlop Sport 9000 problem

[chasevdr]

After a year of ownership, my Dunlop 9000 front right tire has developed a bulge about the size of a US quarter. I do not have any experience with tire bulges, but I would guess this is a bad thing, right?

[lotusguy]

chasevdr said:

After a year of ownership, my Dunlop 9000 front right tire has developed a bulge about the size of a US quarter. I do not have any experience with tire bulges, but I would guess this is a bad thing, right?

Hi,

That usually means the tire has delaminated, that is, the belt(s) have separated from the carcass. Did you hit a big pothole, curb or parking stop? This can cause the tire to delam.

There is really no fix for this, the tire will need to be replaced. Because the strength and the heat dissipating qualities have been compromised, it's best not to run the car, especially hard, until the tire is replaced.

I know that sounds extreme, but a blowout, especially at speed, could cause the carcass to separate from the wheel damaging the wheel as well as possibly some bodywork. Emminently more expensive than the cost of the tire alone. Happy Motoring! ...Jim'85TE

[kylie]

Hi sorry to hear your problem, a friend of mine just recently had the same problem, but is running a different brand, his tyre was less than a year old which he looked into the gaurantee which said they will replace faulty tires of this nature, depending on the type of delamination.I havent heard back whether he got a new tyre or not.
It might be well worth following up to see if you can get it replaced for free.

[chasevdr]

Thanks called 2 Dunlop dealers today to inquire about a replacement and examination into if it was covered by a warranty. Sight unseen they said it wasn't covered, said it was due to road hazard. No matter what, it is getting replaced, but sounds like Dunlop doesn't really honor their warranties as I never hit a pot hole or struck a curb. Or if they do on paper, they have somehow incentivized the dealers to avoid replacing tires via a warranty. Surely without seeing it it is impossible to assess whether it is a tire defect or road hazard?

[kylie]

Thats crap isn't it, so what does a warrantee cover then? Your paying big bucks for high performance tyres, delamination in my books means poor quality control.

[madmike]

If it were me, and they refused to honor the warranty, I would inform them of my intent to choose a new make of tire for my car, and if they still wouldn't honor it, do exactly that. There are lots of very good shoes for your Esprit out there.

[chasevdr]

Those Michelin Sport Cup tires are starting to look good! NO warranty on those! At least they are honest about it.

The Dunlop 9000 tires are Z speed rated tires, the highest quality. Supposedly they are good up to 186+ miles per hour. Even if I did hit a pothole, a tire built to withstand 200 mph speeds should be pretty tough.

[JeffYoung]

This is a known problem with Dunlop performance tires. Have seen it happen at the track. I would avoid Dunlops. I know they are an easy choice due to sizing issues, but Michelin Pilot Sports or Potenza S-03s are in my view a far better street tire choice.

[JK1]

Chase,

Have you checked out the Goodyear F1 GS-D3? Great tire and cheaper than the Pilot Sports. Check the reviews at Tirerack, they are the #1 rated high performance tire.

I've had them on my car for almost a year since I went to the V8 size wheels and tires and have been very pleased. Great traction wet and dry, quiet and smooth ride and cool tread pattern. Much better than the Yoko's I had previously.


Jim


>> Edited by JK1 on Wednesday 21st April 05:14

[chasevdr]

I see those, rated numero uno on their site for Max Performance Summer tires. Looks to be a more well rounded tire scoring 9.2, 9.1 and 9.1 for DRY, WET and HYDRO RESISTANCE. Was attracted to those Michelin Sport Cups because of reading more than one breathless tire reviewer in magazines of how well they worked. I recall hearing somewhere that they are standard equipment on the Porsche GT2 and BMW CSL, among others. And the germans can usually be trusted to the "correct" thing, at least when it comes to their cars and other engineering issues. The german courts releasing from prison that convicted terrorist for Sept 11 involvement on a technicality comes to mind when thinking about things they do "incorrectly".