New Goodyear Billboard Out-of-Round

CWizard · #1 (**permalink**) 06-28-2010, 06:33 PM

I just got a set of Goodyear billboards (aka Sport Car Special aka Cobra tires) and have a problem with one of them. The tires were balanced on a Hunter GSP 9700 Road Force machine and three of them came out very nicely. One, however, had a road force of 88 pounds (lower is better, with less than 20 desirable) and the tech told me (and showed me) that it had a pretty obvious flat spot. This was after he matched low spot on the tire to high spot on the rim, etc. I know from other posts here that these tires are prone to flat-spotting after setting up a while on the car, and that this self-corrects after a few miles of driving. I haven't put these tires on the car yet but I'm wondering if I should go ahead and drive it a bit and see if the flat spot goes away. Anyone else have a similar experience? Suggestions?
Thanks in advance.

mickmate · #2 (**permalink**) 06-28-2010, 06:39 PM

That seems odd it is flat spotted without being on the car. They definetely do that when they are parked warm on a cold garage floor. That shakes out as they warm up in a couple of miles. Run it and see how it works..

cobred · #3 (**permalink**) 06-28-2010, 07:07 PM

I think you should contact your supplier first. If you drive on the tire you may not be able to return it.

MaSnaka · #4 (**permalink**) 06-28-2010, 08:45 PM

I was able to get two of my four replaced after they had been driven on. Same problem but with all four tires. Never could get a clean ride out of them even with the replacements. I would contact your supplier and see what they recomend you do. The Roadforce does not lie.

John

PANAVIA · #5 (**permalink**) 06-28-2010, 10:28 PM

Driving vs no driving makes not a bit of diff in this case. -- if it is mal-molded I find it surprising that it made it out of QA.

i would leave it in the hot sun and let the heat do its thing and then drive on it a bit to see if it can be reshaped. -- same thing happened on some more conventional tires i purchased - turns out mine were on the bottom of a pile of tires.

maybe the same thing happened here -- worth more investigation before tossing them back.

jhv48 · #6 (**permalink**) 06-29-2010, 06:55 AM

If it's going on the front, you're in trouble.

The front ends on SPF's are very sensitive to imbalance and imperfections.

Clois Harlan · #7 (**permalink**) 06-29-2010, 10:12 AM

My second set had an obvious flat spot that went away after driving a couple miles. My installer told me the same thing so I called Roger Krause and he assured me they were okay. After our conversation I never thought twice about putting them on the street since they always seemed square for a mile or two.

CWizard · #8 (**permalink**) 06-30-2010, 06:18 PM

Thanks for the replies. I have discussed the problem with the supplier and they have talked to Goodyear and everyone agrees that the best solution is to replace the tire. So the supplier is doing that now. Also, the best guess on what caused the problem is similar to what PANAVIA reported, the tire was probably at the bottom of a tall stack of tires in storage. ie, smished.
Thanks again.