can explode during mounting. Also, mismatched tires and rims can result
in dangerous tire failure on the road. If a tire is mounted by error on the
wrong-sized rim, do not remount it on the proper rim - scrap it. It may
have been damaged internally (which is not externally visible) by having
been dangerously stretched and could fail on the highway.
Old valves may leak. When new tubeless tires are mounted, have new
valves of the correct type installed. Tubeless tires must only be
mounted on wheels designed for tubeless tires i.e., wheels which have
safety humps or ledges.
It is recommended that you have your tires and wheels balanced. Tires
and wheels which are not balanced may cause steering difficulties, a
bumpy ride, and irregular tire wear.
Be sure that all your valves have suitable valve caps. The valve cap is
the primary seal against air loss.
SERVICE LIFE FOR PASSENGER CAR AND LIGHT TRUCK
TIRES INCLUDING SPARE TIRES
The following recommendation applies to passenger car and light truck
tires. Tires are composed of various types of material and rubber
compounds, having performance properties essential to the proper
functioning of the tire itself. These component properties evolve over
time. For each tire, this evolution depends upon many factors such as
weather, storage conditions, and conditions of use (load, speed, inflation
pressure, maintenance etc.) to which the tire is subjected throughout its
life. This service-related evolution varies widely so that accurately
predicting the serviceable life of any specific tire in advance is not
possible.
That it is why, in addition to regular inspections and inflation pressure
maintenance by consumers, it is recommended to have passenger car and
light truck tires, including spare tires, inspected regularly by a qualified
tire specialist, such as a tire dealer, who will assess the tire’s suitability for
continued service. Tires which have been in use for 5 years or more
should continue to be inspected by a specialist at least annually.
Consumers are strongly encouraged to be aware not only of their tires’
visual condition and inflation pressure but also of any change in dynamic
performance such as increased air loss, noise or vibration, which could be
an indication that the tires need to be removed from service to prevent
tire failure.
BFGOODRICH TIRES
42
BRIDGESTONE® - FIRESTONE®
TIRE MAINTENANCE, SAFETY and WARRANTY MANUAL ORIGI-
NAL EQUIPMENT PASSENGER and LIGHT TRUCK TIRES Includ-
ing RFT Tires with Run-Flat Technology
Congratulations!
Your new vehicle comes equipped with quality BRIDGESTONE or
FIRESTONE brand tires.
To ensure optimum tire performance and reduce the risk of a tire failure,
Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC strongly recommends
you read and follow all maintenance and safety information contained in
this manual. In addition, we recommend periodic inspection and main-
tenance, if necessary, by a qualified tire service professional.
Inflate.
Check your tire pressure monthly.
Rotate.
Rotate your tires as recommended by the vehicle manufacturer or every
5,000 miles.
Evaluate.
Routinely look for signs of tread wear or damage.
TIRE CARE BASICS
Quick Reference Guide to Maintenance for All Tires, Including the
Spare.
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45
HIGH PERFORMANCE, LOW ASPECT RATIO TIRES
Many new vehicles come equipped from the factory with high perfor-
mance and/or low aspect ratio tires. Generally, these tires provide
increased vehicle handling capability, but may also have numerous
engineering performance trade-offs associated with their designs.
•Low aspect ratio tires, with reduced sidewall height, may be more
susceptible to damage from potholes, road hazards, and other objects
such as curbs. This is true for the wheels as well. Therefore, as with all
other tires, it is important to drive with care and maintain proper
inflation pressure and load conditions. See “Tire Inflation Pressure”
and “Tire Damage, Inspection and Service Life” in this manual.
•Some sports cars and other handling performance enhanced vehicles,
including sedans and light trucks/SUVs, may be originally equipped
with high performance tires that are more optimized for warmer
weather use. Colder, winter weather traction may be reduced for these
types of tires. Winter tires may be recommended by the vehicle
manufacturer for colder weather application. See “Winter Tires,” the
next section in this manual.
•High performance tires may also wear more quickly, ride more firmly,
and produce more noise during operation.
Consult your vehicle owner ’s manual and tire information placard, or a
qualified tire service professional, for more information and specifics
regarding these types of tires.
WINTER TIRES
WARNING!
Winter driving presents special challenges for vehicle mobility. The
use of winter tires (including studs and chains)—while improving
traction performance in snow and ice—requires special care with
regard to acceleration, braking, cornering, and speed. It is important
to drive with care, not only on snow and ice, but on dry and wet
roads as well.
In winter driving conditions, vehicle control and safe operation under
braking and cornering is especially dependent upon the rear tires. For
this reason, winter tires are best applied to all wheel positions. Some
BRIDGESTONE® - FIRESTONE®
64
vehicles have specific recommendations regarding winter tire use; con-
sult your vehicle owner ’s manual and tire information placard.
•If winter tires are to be applied to the front axle of any vehicle, they
must also be applied to the rear axle for safe operation. This applies to
all passenger cars and light trucks, including front wheel drive, 4x4,
and all-wheel-drive vehicles.
•If winter tires are to be applied to the rear axle of any vehicle, it is
recommended that they also be installed on the front axle.
•It is generally acceptable to apply a tire with a lower speed rating than
your original tires for use in winter weather conditions; however,
speed should be reduced accordingly. All winter tires should be the
same speed rating. See “Tire Speed Ratings” in this manual.
•Winter tires used in warmer, summer weather conditions may wear
more rapidly.
•Studded winter tires follow the same recommendations as above;
consult a qualified tire service professional for information regarding
any seasonal restrictions.
TIRE MIXING
WARNING!
Driving your vehicle with an improper mix of tires is dangerous.
Your vehicle’s handling characteristics can be seriously affected. You
could have an accident resulting in serious personal injury or death.
Consult your vehicle owner ’s manual and a qualified tire service
professional for proper tire replacement.
HIGH SPEED DRIVING
WARNING!
Driving at high speed is dangerous and can cause a vehicle accident,
including serious personal injury or death.
•Regardless of the speed and handling capabilities of your car and its
tires, a loss of vehicle control can result from exceeding the maximum
speed allowed by law or warranted by traffic, weather, vehicle, or road
conditions.
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65
•High-speed driving should be left to trained professionals operating
under controlled conditions.
•No tire, regardless of its design or speed rating, has unlimited capacity
for speed, and a sudden tire failure can occur if its limits are exceeded.
See “Tire Speed Ratings,” the next section in this manual.
Refer to your vehicle owner ’s manual for any tire pressure recommen-
dations for high speed driving.
TIRE SPEED RATINGS
A tire bearing a letter “speed rating” designation indicates the tire’s
speed capability according to standardized laboratory tests. This speed
rating system is intended to permit comparison of the speed capabilities
of different tires. When replacing your tires, consult your vehicle owner ’s
manual and tire information placard for recommendations, if any,
concerning the use of speed rated tires.
•To avoid reducing the speed capability of the vehicle, replace a speed
rated tire only with another tire having at least the same speed rating.
It is the “top speed” of the “slowest” tire on the vehicle which limits
the vehicle’s top speed without tire failure.
•The tire’s speed rating is void if the tire is repaired, retreaded,
damaged, abused, or otherwise altered from its original condition.
Thereafter, it should be treated as a non-speed rated tire.
•Non-speed rated tires are usually for ordinary passenger car or light
truck service and not for high speed driving.
•For winter tires used in cold weather conditions, it is generally
acceptable to apply a tire with a lower speed rating than your original
tires; however, speed should be reduced accordingly. All winter tires
should be the same speed rating. Some vehicles have specific recom-
mendations regarding winter tire use; consult your vehicle owner ’s
manual and tire information placard. See “Winter Tires” in this
manual.
These speed ratings are based on standardized laboratory tests under
specific, controlled conditions. While these tests may relate to perfor-
mance on the road, real-world driving is rarely identical to any test
conditions. Your tire’s actual speed capability may be less than its rated
speed since it is affected by factors such as inflation pressure, load, tire
BRIDGESTONE® - FIRESTONE®
66
WARNING!
Improper storage can damage your tires in ways that may not be
visible and can lead to a failure resulting in serious personal injury
or death.
The spare tire in your vehicle is intended to be used as a spare when
needed. The spare tire carrier is not intended to be used for long term
storage, except for “temporary use” tires. For more information, see
“Your Spare Tire” and “Radial Tire Rotation” in this manual.
TIRE SERVICE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Normal tire maintenance and Limited Warranty services are available at
locations across the U.S.A. and Canada. For more information, visit us on
the internet at
www.bridgestonetire.com, or please call the Technical
Service Department:
U.S.A.: 800-356-4644 or Canada: 800-267-1318 .
Additional information on the care and service of automobile and light
truck tires is available from the following organizations:
Rubber Manufacturers Association 1400 K Street, N.W. Washington, DC
20005-2403
www.rma.org
Rubber Association of Canada 2000 Argentia Road, Plaza 4, Suite 250
Mississauga, Ontario L5N 1W1
www.rubberassociation.ca
TIRE REGISTRATION
Registration of your tires is an important safety precaution since it
enables the manufacturer to notify you in the event of a recall. When you
purchase replacement tires, the retailer will provide a registration card on
which the tire identification numbers have been recorded; fill in your
name and address on the card and mail it promptly. Some retailers may
submit the registration for you. You do not need to register tires which
come as original equipment on new vehicles—the vehicle and tire
manufacturers handle that for you.
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71
RFT Tire Damage and Repair
No tire, regardless of its design or quality is indestructible. RFT tires can
be ultimately rendered unusable due to a puncture or other road hazard
as well as from improper run-flat or low tire pressure operation. Some
punctures may be repaired under certain restrictions and prescribed
procedures.
When driven flat or with low pressure, factors affecting reparability
include vehicle speed, load, and maneuvering; the amount of inflation
pressure loss; and ambient temperature. In any situation, the extent and
location of direct damage from a puncturing object or other road hazard
are also critical factors.
RFT tires are not repairable in any of the following situations:
•
If the tire was operated with inflation pressure less than 15 psi (100 kPa).
•Abrasion or other damage is present on the exterior tread, sidewall or
bead areas.
•Abrasion, wrinkling, or separation is present on the tire interior.
•Any condition or damage is present that disqualifies repair of a
conventional tire.
Run-Flat Certified Retailers will fully inspect your tire, inside and out, to
determine if the tire can be repaired. Tire damage is not always visible
from the outside and the tire must be removed from the wheel for a
complete inspection. For more information, see the section “Tire Repairs”
in this manual.
NOTE:Some vehicle manufacturers do not recommend using repaired
tires. Consult your vehicle owner ’s manual or contact the vehicle
manufacturer before operating a repaired tire on your vehicle.
REFERENCE INFORMATION
TIRE SIDEWALL LABELING
A lot can be learned by reading the tire’s sidewall. The following figures
show typical information on the sidewall of passenger (Figure 3) and
light truck tires (Figure 4):
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76
LIMITED WARRANTY
ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT
PASSENGER AND LIGHT TRUCK TIRES
Including
Tires with Run-Flat Technology
ELIGIBILITY
This Limited Warranty covers BRIDGESTONE and FIRESTONE brand
passenger and light truck tires, including RFT and temporary spare tires,
originally installed by the vehicle manufacturer on a new vehicle. You are
covered under the terms of this Limited Warranty if the tire was
produced after July 4, 2004 (DOT serial 2704 or later) and has been used
only on the vehicle on which it was originally installed in non-
commercial service.
WHAT IS WARRANTED AND FOR HOW LONG
Before wearing down to 2/32 inch (1.6 mm) remaining original tread
depth (i.e. worn down to the top of the built-in indicators in the tread
grooves) and within 6 years from the date of purchase (proof of purchase
date required; without proof of purchase date, then within 6 years from
the date of tire manufacture), for any reason other than those excluded in
the section entitled “What This Limited Warranty Does Not Cover,” any
eligible tire that becomes unusable for any reason within the manufac-
turer ’s control will be replaced with an equivalent new tire on the basis
set forth in this Limited Warranty.
WHAT THIS LIMITED WARRANTY DOES NOT COVER
This Limited Warranty does not cover the following:
1. Tire damage or irregular wear due to:
A.Road hazards,including, without limitation: Puncture, cut, impact
break, stone drill, bruise, bulge, snag, etc.
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