Tires recalled over crash concerns

LITTLE ROCK, AR - Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is recalling about 41,000 Wrangler Silent Armor tires produced from March to May of 2009 over concerns the tires could tear, leading to crashes.

It's not uncommon for companies to recall tires from time to time. This particular recall is just a precaution. Drivers need to know where to look on their tires to find out if theirs are part of the recall.

Owner of Cross Tire, Lelon Cross, knows immediately when a company recalls tires and where to look to find out if he has those in stock. There's a 12 digit code stamped into the rubber with all the information.

"The first numbers in the code are where the tire was built and what plant and what shift. The important numbers are the last four digits. The last 2 digits are the year made and the two numbers next to that is the week the tires were built."

With that information, Cross says drivers you can call to find out if their tires are part of a recall. The dealer will replace the tires and the company picks up the cost.

There have been huge tire recalls of hundreds of thousands of tires. This recent recall is small, with only 27,000 tires believed to still be in service. However, since two people died last year in a rollover accident involving a vehicle with the recalled tires, Goodyear is taking a necessary safety precaution, because even one crash is too many.

Recalled tires are ground up and destroyed, so there's no chance they'll ever end up on the road again. Cross says the most important maintenance drivers can do for their tires to keep them in shape is to check the inside of the door for the air pressure level, and keep tires inflated as indicated.